"Once the cameras are installed and operational, once they're networked to central computers, then it's a simple matter of upgrading the software, " he says.

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Microsoft could sell all of the peripheral businesses and commit to simply upgrading those two pieces of software (and perhaps the enterprise stuff) into the future until they are entirely finished in the marketplace.

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It is too soon to say that the "reset" -- or, to use a broader metaphor, the upgrading of Italy's cultural, political and economic software -- will fail again.

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Equally important are the engineering practices of Extreme Programming (XP), particularly test-driven development, simplicity of design, pair programming and re-factoring (upgrading and simplifying) software code.

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The problem with servers and software, however, is that they are in constant need of upgrading--an expensive and time-consuming process.

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