Although the term shareware may be familiar to you, some people do not fully understand what it is and how it's supposed to work! I hope, in this review, to make people better understand what it is, how it works and where to go on the internet to find it!

Most people know what shareware is but have a tendency to confuse that with freeware and they are not the same! I'm going to explain both so that people can see the differences between the two thus making you a better user and not an abuser!

Freeware

I chose to talk about this one first as it is much easier to explain and equally as easy to understand. Freeware, simply put, is a program or software title that can be used and shared by anyone and everyone for free! In the past, I've downloaded many freeware programs to use and enjoy with only a select few that have stated that although it is free, if you like it, feel free to send a few bucks to the person that made it. This is not mandatory but occasionally I find myself liking the program so much that I feel obliged to send them something for their time and effort!

Shareware

I'm very familiar with shareware as I've downloaded many and bought disks as well with programs that are either not fully functional or on a very short time limit! I've also noticed a lot with shareware games that they'll give you only a certain number of tries before they stop letting you play. Obviously, those of you that have been using a computer for some time, like myself, know ways to get around this but I really don't think that's right so I will not mention them in this review!

With shareware, their main goal is to give you just enough of the program to entice you into buying it and although that's not necessarily a bad thing, be very cautious before you buy it! I've had several instances where I just bought a disk and find out that it won't work on my computer because of the platform you're now using. If I buy from a store where I can read what platforms it'll work on, fine but a lot of my software used to be purchased by way of the internet. My computer died recently, which had Windows 98 and was replaced with a computer that had Windows ME on it.

Another thing I'd like to mention is the fact that some people think just because they've paid for a disk with shareware programs on it, that no further payment is required. Wrong! You're only paying for the disk and not what's on it so when you get home and pop the disk in your computer, you still have to pay for each program if you want the full version. Also, when I've purchased a disk with a lot of games on it, I either find that some are not compatible or some don't even work.

The final point that I need to mention is something that was brought to my attention by Destinys-Child and I do appreciate this member reminding of this~~:-). Some programs that are shareware such as WinZip or ACDSee will allow you to use their program for an indefinite period as long as you can tolerate banners and/or pop-up ads all the time. I should have remembered this as I use them all the time but my Swiss cheese brain forgot all about this. You know, out of sight, out of mind!

Some resources for good freeware and/or shareware are as follows:

http://www.zdnet.com

http://www.jumbo.com

http://www.tucows.com

http://www.download.com

http://www.galttech.com

There are many other great sites for freeware and shareware but I've listed what I consider the best ones!

My Opinion

Although this review tends to sound a little negative, it's not meant to be. I'm just trying to point out certain aspects of shareware to make you better informed. These types of programs are great and I've enjoyed using them but most of the programs I've used, turned out to be habit forming, which in turn caused me to spend money on them...lol

Enjoy the shareware and buy to your heart's content but check them out thoroughly before you buy so you don't get stuck with something that you can't use or don't want to!









Recommended: Yes