Ever since application developers moved from MS-DOS to Windows, everyone's complained about the same significant issue: lack of access to the hardware. It's not like you need access to the hardware every day, but some development tasks do require better access than Windows is willing to provide.

For example, you might really want to know how the user has the CMOS set up or manipulate a serial port for a specific purpose, such as checking a security system. Windows denies access to both, unless you're willing to resort to low-level programming techniques.

Most developers understand that in a multi-tasking environment, the operating system must control the hardware, or chaos would ensue as every application tried to grab the hardware. VSoft Research's Active Port Pro 1.3 is like a breath of fresh air for developers. It gives you access to the hardware without resorting to low-level programming techniques, and you still maintain the integrity of the Windows environment.

Hardware Accessibility Made Easy

Many developers have a story to tell, about a time when they tried to access the hardware and couldn't. My personal story began when I needed to access the serial port to determine the status of a security system component. After several days of writing code that I hope never to write again, I managed to get the application working... but, to this day, I'm still not sure that the code is error-free. That's why I was so happy to discover Active Port Pro. It lets you access the serial and other ports on a machine directly without having to write low-level code. All you need to do is consider the task at hand and write code to access any devices attached to the port.

However, you can do a lot more than simply access I/O ports on a machine.