B

Backward Compatibility Level: 1 Definition: Refers to the ability of any electronic system-consumer or professional equipment, software system, or software applicationto operate in a compatible manner with an earlier generation of the same technology to prevent immediate market obsolescence. Backward compatibility is as much a policy issue as a consumer economics issue, particularly in areas where serious dislocations could occur as a result of major upgrading of television and radio broadcast or telecommunications systems from analog to new digital formats. Used in a sentence: “Our IT department wanted

to ensure backward compatibility for our new billing system so that the software would work with our legacy systems.”