Let’s now try to differentiate between shareware and freeware, in order to understand what it really is all about. You might also want to check up for information in examples of software.

     Shareware
     Bob Wallace coined the term ‘shareware’. This term came before the birth of IBM personal computers. Shareware is a proprietary software, which is given to users on a trial basis without charging them anything. The functionalities available in this software is limited, in other words the complete software is not given to the users. This software is available either by downloading it from a website or it is given in a compact disc along with periodicals or magazines. You can also refer to how to get a free software download. The words ‘trial version’ or ‘free trial’ is mentioned on these types of software. Compatible shareware software is available for all computer platforms like Unix, Linux, Microsoft Windows and Macintosh.

     The purpose of sharing a software is to give the software a wide range of buyers. These buyers will use the software and then decide whether it is worthy of purchasing the license to get the full version of the software or not. There are some types of software which are available as full versions as well, but only for a limited trial period.

     At the end of the trial period the software stops working. The full version license has to be purchased to get the software working again. There is no support, updates or help menus, which are made available with shareware. These become available after purchasing the license for the same. If you are using shareware, it can be copied and circulated amongst friends and colleagues, while it’s still in it’s trial period. The trial period can range from anything between 10 to 60 days. There are some shareware trial software available, which can be used for a particular number of times. After which if the user wishes to continue using it, he will have to buy a licensed copy of the software.

     The author of a shareware makes the software available free of cost, but he may request donations. This software is copyright protected. The source code of this software is generally not made available, with which some one else can extend the code to make another software, using this as the base. (more…)

Shareware