What is Shareware?
Shareware gives users the opportunity to try a program before buying it. The user is supposed to determine within a limited time period whether to keep the program and register it, or to uninstall the program, and not use it. If the user keeps the program, s/he should register it properly (including paying for it). In addition to the warm and fuzzy feeling you get from doing the right thing by registering, most shareware developers only provide support to registered (paying!) customers. Technically, PSP 4.14 and 5.0x are “trialware”, since they will stop working after a fixed period of time (30 to 90 days), but the concept is similar. While PSP 4.14 does stop working after the trial period, it does not uninstall itself, so it will continue to take up space on your hard-drive and in your registry. If you aren’t going to buy it, uninstall it after it expires. PSP 5 exhibits the same behavior.
Shareware is a marketing method, not a type of software or even just a distribution method. When software is marketed through normal retail channels, you are forced to pay for the product before you’ve even seen it. The shareware marketing method lets you try a program before you buy it. Since you’ve tried the program, you know whether it will meet your needs before you pay for it. A shareware program is just like a program you find in major stores, catalogs, and other places where software is purchased – except you get to use it, on your own computer, before paying for it.
Shareware is a marketing method, not a type of software. Unlike software marketed through normal retail channels, where you are forced to pay for the product before you’ve even seen it, the shareware marketing method lets you try program for a period of time before you buy it. Since you’ve tried a shareware program, you know whether it will meet your needs before you pay for it. Shareware programs are just like programs you find in major stores, catalogs, and other places where people purchase software — except you get to use them, on your own computer, before paying for them.
The software available for free downloads at Downloadplex.com is licensed in a number of different ways. “Shareware” licensed programs (sometimes referred to as “Free To Try”, “Free Trial” or “Try Before You Buy”) offer some type of trial, this can be time or function limited. Since you’ve tried a shareware program, you know whether it will meet your needs before you pay for it. If you like a shareware program and want to continue using it after the end of a trial period (typically 30 days), you have to purchase the full unrestricted version. If on the other hand you do not wish to keep the software, you can just uninstall it.
