Yes, yes, an SS has many many advantages over the parallel port. HOWEVER, using it as an argument in this particular thread is... well, beyond the scope of this thread.
See, the SS discussion would only make sense if Warp9 would suddenly become a charity, supporting - let's say - the noble cause of "CNC for the masses" and then lower the price of a SmoothStepper from $155 to $9 - $15 which is the cost of a parallel port, since newer PCs don't have one.