forward compatibility
forward compatible
forwards compatibility
forwards compatible

    The ability to accept input from later versions of
   itself.

   Forward compatibility is harder to achieve than backward
   compatibility, since, in the backward case, the input format
   is know whereas a forward compatible system needs to cope
   gracefully with unknown future features.  An example of future
   compatibility is the stipulation that a web browser should
   ignore HTML tags it does not recognise.

   See also extensible.

   (2003-06-23)