Editing Softmodem (section)

== Advantages and disadvantages ==
The original stated purpose of the [[Digital signal processor|DSP]]-based softmodem was to provide for upgradeability, a concern in an era when modem standards were changing rapidly. Both DSP and pure software modems offer this feature.

Softmodems provide cost and efficiency advantages over traditional hardware [[Modem|modems]]. Their minimal [[hardware design]] reduces [[manufacturing]] costs and [[power consumption]].

A downside of either type of softmodem is that drivers must be provided, and the terms "softmodem" and "winmodem" have gained negative connotations, particularly within the open-source community, due to drivers for Linux often being omitted or provided only as unmaintainable binaries.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lawyer |first=David S. |date=2007 |title=Modem-HOWTO |url=https://tldp.org/HOWTO/Modem-HOWTO-2.html |work=[[Linux Documentation Project]] |access-date=2020-08-14}}</ref>

While DSP-based softmodems usually only require host attention during startup, pure software modems consume some [[Central processing unit|CPU]] cycles on the host, which can conceivably slow down [[application software]] on older computers. This was a major issue in the 1990s, when [[Central processing unit|CPU]]s were not nearly as powerful as today's typical hardware.