Difficulties in adapting key software (in particular, Adobe's proprietary Flash Player) to the ARM architecture delayed releases until the first quarter of 2010.

From the 1990s on, there were efforts to develop fonts and even web content by adapting other software and fonts.

For example, i18n abbreviates internationalization, a computer-science term for adapting software for worldwide use.

Meanwhile, most companies find that attempts by harried programming staff and freelance programmers to adapt old software to new needs often fail to live up to expectations.

"Spy agencies adapt social software, federated search tools", Government Computer News, September 25, 2006.

Leading the way was Citrix, which adapts software for computer networks.

Work to adapt such software to analyse, say, customer-spending patterns would also not be R&D.

Other companies are working on adapting object-based software to handle industrial-strength corporate computing chores.

As part of that upgrade, technicians have adapted software to send a daily report automatically from the operations center to Washington so officials there have immediate access to the most recent information.

MIPS also adapts and resells software developed by other companies.