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vaporware

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Acronyms, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.

vaporware

Software that is not yet in production, but the announced delivery date has long since passed. At times, software vendors are criticized for intentionally producing vaporware in order to keep customers from switching to competitive products that offer more features. However, programmers are notorious for being awful estimators of time. As a result, shipping dates often slip over and over again.

Sometimes, the gap between management and technical staff in software companies is just as large as in user organizations. Dates slip because the project is not managed properly, which can be caused by management's lack of understanding of the scope of the project as well as a lack of knowledge of the competence of the technical staff. In addition, as software projects progress from stage to stage, new functions and changes always seem to creep in.

Remember This Well
"As bad as programmers are at estimating the length of a project, they are equally as optimistic about their ability to meet the requirements and deadlines."

(jargon)vaporware - /vay'pr-weir/ (UK "vapourware") Products announced far in advance of any release (which may or may not actually take place). The term came from Atari users and was later applied by Infoworld to Microsoft's continuous lying about Microsoft Windows.

See also brochureware.


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It contained a good deal of copy about what's right and what's vaporware about the new XYZ system and promised the next issue would have an extensive user report on the new product.
Testing copy and offers in a launch test by Goss, Fred / The Newsletter on Newsletters
Too much vaporware in this business and too many interface engines.
Survey reveals physicians' love/hate relationship with technology by Weber, David O. / Physician Executive
As business editors, we at CE are ever admiring the inventive dialect of Silicon Valley wordsmiths, whose ingenuity and humor introduced mainstream nouns like vaporware (much-hyped, but never available software) and coasterware (software so useless it remains shrinkwrapped).
When "e" Was Just a Letter by PRINCE, C.J. / Chief Executive (U.S.)
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