Freeware is software that you don't have to pay for! What could be better. Some of these programs have been created to be widely used and therefore available to everyone. One of the most famous is Kermit, a communications program developed at Columbia University which has versions for virtually every computer and is frequently used to download software from the Internet. There are a lot of programs faster and more widely used than Kermit, but it is one of the most reliable.
Shareware is software that is distributed by the author through public channels like the Internet. Often shareware is also available in bookstores and computer stores at a very low price, usually less than five dollars.
Shareware is a "try before you buy" method of distribution. You test the shareware program for a specified time period (30 days for example) and then if you want to continue using the program you would pay a nominal fee for it. The cost of shareware is just a fraction of what a commercial program that performs the same task might be. Netscape and Mosaic, two World Wide Web browsers are still to some extent shareware.
Often, authors of programs don't want to (or cannot) get major companies to distribute their software for them and they do not have the resources to package and sell the disks and documentation. In the days before the Internet became as available to the general public as it is today, some local computer users would set up local "Bulletin Boards" on which software authors could place their shareware programs for no cost.
Typically, a shareware program has been "compressed" to save space on the Bulletin Board's hard drive and to diminish the amount of time required to download it. In fact some of the most popular shareware programs are used to "decompress and compress" shareware (like PKZip). As users tried out these programs and found them useful, they passed them on to other bulletin boards and (hopefully) paid the author the requested fee.
Some may ask "Why you should pay for shareware?" My answer to this question is "because it is the right thing to do." The author spent a lot of time writing the program and refining it. He deserves some compensation for preparing a useful program, especially since it might cost you four or five times as much to purchase a commercial program for this purpose.
There are also some techniques used by shareware authors to influence your decision to pay the fee. Some authors have the program constantly barrage you with reminders that you have not "registered" your copy. These reminders interrupt your use of the program and usually require you to respond before it will continue. Other authors distribute "Lite" versions of their programs this way with some of their features disabled.
Typically, when you register your copy by paying the fee, the author provides you with a "password" that enables all features and disables the reminders or sends you a disk with the "complete" version on it. Printed documentation may also be included with registration. (Shareware usually includes one or more text files explaining how to use the software. You can of course print this out yourself.)
Some shareware authors even accept payment other than cash. (I once got a shareware program that the author only asked for ten dollars and a postcard from my home town for his collection with the promise that he would return the money if he didn't already have the postcard.)
Updates and Fixes are another
category of software available on the Internet. If a company discovers a "bug"
in its software, they can make a corrected version available for users to download.
Also, programs called drivers
for printers, displays, CD-ROM drives, and other peripheral devices can be obtained
from your manufacturer's Web site. Downloading such files is usually just a
matter of clicking on a link on a Web page. A transfer program then takes control
and the necessary file or files are transferred to your computer.
There is a drawback to
downloading. Your computer can catch a virus by downloading it from the Internet,
therefore you should be careful what you download. An article has been published
last week in The Internet Beat on this subject so I won't go into a great deal
of detail in this article.
If you are going to download
shareware files, you definitely should get PKZip the file compression program
mentioned above. A large majority of files on the Interned are compressed using
this program.
You can use a search engine
like Yahoo to find available shareware whether it be games, communication programs,
graphics programs, or many others. Mike Millegan is a Mathematics
and Computer Science Teacher at Roosevelt High School. He is a member of the
Seguin Internet Club. Next week: Susan Wehe writes
about search engines. Among many on-line sites she lists is the CNN Olympic
Site: http://cnn.com/SPORTS/OLYMPICS/games/index.html
Mike Millegan
mikem@tenet.edu
To contribute to this column, contact Gloria Rivera, 303-4764, riverag@connecti.com;
to join the Seguin Internet Club contact Jerry Weers, 303-0818. Weersjt@texas.net;
or Alton Hierholzer, altonh@connecti.com. Previous column articles can be found
in the Internet web page of the club at http://lonestar.texas.net/~weersjt/club/intbeat.html