In reply to the reference to #deprecation, removal is the only viable option in this case.
The implementations of WideString >> #asPacked and WideString class >> #fromPacked: fundamentally disagree in what it means for a WideString to be packed, and there's no telling how long it's been that way. In other words; straight up remove it, and leave it up to whichever user may require it to provide a consistent implementation as per his/her usage. Cheers, Henry
