Taxpayers who filed using TurboTax, TaxWise and other software packages reported delays and errors.

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"Other software packages in this space, like Orb and Single-Click, are focused on streaming digital content to various devices on the network, or are utilities that only attempt to deal with one kind of hardware device, " he said.

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After cleaning up its accounting scandals, Dell next decided to enter other businesses like providing turnkey software packages to major corporations, copying the approach of major tech firms like IBM, by buying Perot systems.

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In fact, a growing number of electronic devices and software packages contain identifying numbers to help them interact with each other.

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Among other interests he is pursuing for Microsoft are new ways of writing big, complex software packages, as well as new ways to realize superfast, sub-atomic quantum computing.

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