There are significant benefits to the consumer involved with having a standardization of system software. System standardization is here defined as a general acceptance by computer users of a single system software. Windows, running roughly 90 percent of all IBM compatible machines, is such a standard.

The more users behind a system software, the more that system will be supported. Literature proliferates on how to best use the system and how to best program software for the system. Software additions to the system also become widely available, guaranteeing flexibility to meet a wide array of users' needs. Resources abound to both teach beginners the system, and give experts the features they desire.

With the uniform market standardization provides, the profit incentive for companies increases. As a result, more software is developed and the consumer benefits from a choice among hundreds, if not thousands, of products. A person running Windows 95 can choose from aisles of utilities, games, and applications - products all of which take full advantage of the system. The consumer's apparant powerlessness in choosing a system, can translate directly into an awesome power to choose everything else.

System software standardization can be likened to an elimination of trade barriers. A world in which everyone runs the same system is like a world in which everyone works in the same economy. Without a standard, the competing systems grind like disjointed walls Ñ the size of the market is limited to the size of the largest user base, which is a mere fraction of total users. With a standard, the industry thrives like a country with free trade; market size increases, competition increases, and the consumer, as a result, reaps great rewards.

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