Shareware is a marketing method for commercial software, whereby a trial version is distributed in advance and without payment, as is common for proprietary software. Shareware software is typically obtained free of charge, either by downloading from the Internet or on magazine cover-disks. A user tries out the program, and thus shareware has also been known as "try before you buy", demoware, trialware and by many other names. A shareware program is accompanied by a request for payment, and the software's distribution license often requires such a payment. Payment is often required once a set period of time has elapsed after installation. The term shareware was coined by Bob Wallace to describe his word processor PC-Write in the mid-1980s.

History

---

Wallace came up with the name that stuck, but many consider the "fathers" of the shareware marketing model to be Jim Button and Andrew Fluegelman. Their coordinated offerings of PC-File (database) and PC-Talk (telecommunications) programs, respectively, pre-dated PC-Write by several months. Button referred to his distribution method as "user supported software," and Fluegelman called his "freeware." Among the three of them, they clearly established shareware as a viable software marketing method. Via the shareware model, PC-File and PC-Talk made Button and Fluegelman millionaires.

More on [ Shareware ]

Shareware - Twitter Search

#shareware #software UPDATED - SEO Report: Comprehensive unique SEO reports, including monitoring your... http://www.hotlib.com/5307
hotlib (hotlib.com) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:02:04 -0000
#shareware #software UPDATED - SEO Report: Comprehensive unique SEO reports, including monitoring your... http://www.hotlib.com/5307
#shareware #software UPDATED - DTM DB Stress: DTM DB Stress is a utility for database and db-applicatio... http://www.hotlib.com/5297
hotlib (hotlib.com) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:01:34 -0000
#shareware #software UPDATED - DTM DB Stress: DTM DB Stress is a utility for database and db-applicatio... http://www.hotlib.com/5297
#shareware #software UPDATED - SecureBlackbox (VCL): Add SSL/TLS, SSH, PKI, SFTP, PGP, PDF, XML, ZIP, E... http://www.hotlib.com/4523
hotlib (hotlib.com) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:54:12 -0000
#shareware #software UPDATED - SecureBlackbox (VCL): Add SSL/TLS, SSH, PKI, SFTP, PGP, PDF, XML, ZIP, E... http://www.hotlib.com/4523
#shareware #software UPDATED - Mpeg Joiner: MPEG Joiner is an easy-to-use tool to join MPEG files into... http://www.hotlib.com/4507
hotlib (hotlib.com) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:52:59 -0000
#shareware #software UPDATED - Mpeg Joiner: MPEG Joiner is an easy-to-use tool to join MPEG files into... http://www.hotlib.com/4507
#shareware #software UPDATED - FlyTreeX: Fast, powerful and flexible Tree/Grid/List/Outline ActiveX con... http://www.hotlib.com/4739
hotlib (hotlib.com) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:46:46 -0000
#shareware #software UPDATED - FlyTreeX: Fast, powerful and flexible Tree/Grid/List/Outline ActiveX con... http://www.hotlib.com/4739
#shareware #software UPDATED - Web Log Explorer: Web log analysis on-the-fly. Get as deep into your log... http://www.hotlib.com/4726
hotlib (hotlib.com) Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:45:43 -0000
#shareware #software UPDATED - Web Log Explorer: Web log analysis on-the-fly. Get as deep into your log... http://www.hotlib.com/4726

Subscribe to Shareware RSS feed