I was having a thought, but haven't really done the maths yet. I was thinking about some common use programs, like browse, analyze, edit, command etc. and I was thinking "wouldn't those programs just come with the OS? The OS is of course the System rating. Now I imagine that because they'd be loaded with the OS, they'd count as specially optimized programs, not counting towards the response limit.

It just seems like that with all these new rules for program degradation, and all the expensive program options, not to mention IC, Nexi, etc. that we want to buy, why bother with book-keeping on common use programs (excluding attack, armour and reality filter, of course)?

But like I said, I haven't done the maths. What does everyone think? Would it be a workable houserule, or is it exceptionally broken?

Nope, software bundling is no longer needed, as there's no more monopolies trying to crush the competition. Just nice, friendly computer software rivalries.

Please don't pay any attention to the burning cubical farms of programmers screaming in agony behind me...

I view it as there are possibly packages (subject to GM's flavor) but the RAW only lists how they are individually

I see many of the common programs being a wide choice of makers, however they all function the same so the branding is skipped in the rules. The OS however have differences in ratings and what not so some common ones are listed.

I'm guessing with some of the new toys in Unwired there would be functional differences with programs like UltraEdit, BobsEdit, Edit-n-bits.