Shareware

Shareware is a marketing method for software, whereby a trial version is distributed without payment ahead of time as is common for proprietary software. Typically shareware software is obtained free of charge by downloading, thus allowing one to try out the program ahead of time. Shareware is also known as try before you buy, demoware, trialware and many other names. A shareware program is accompanied by a request for payment, and often payment is required per the terms of the license past a set period of time. The term shareware was coined by Bob Wallace to describe his word processor PC-Write in the mid-1980s.

Criticism of shareware concept

In the 1980s and early-to-mid 1990s shareware was considered to be a concept for independent software writers to receive a degree of remuneration for their labor. However, after that the shareware model began to degrade as the term was used by commercial startups offering (sometimes substandard) commercial software and labelling non-functional or limited demo versions (known as crippleware) as "shareware". As a result, the term shareware has shown reduced usage in recent years. However, it must be stressed that the shareware software is not always so limited in function, as demonstrated with programs such as GetRight, WinZip, and WinRAR, as well as the game examples mentioned below.

Related Topics:
Startups - Crippleware - GetRight - WinZip - WinRAR

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