Topic - Free cheese: what are shareware programs and how to make money on them.

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(C) Evgenia Zavalishina
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   We all know very well what kind of program
                            we need to pl-
                            tit. What time-
                            labor workers
                            admired their work
                            must be
                            paid, and pi-
                            brotherhood - ah-
                            Yay-yay. But there is
                            type of programs
                            conditions of use
                            the name of which is
                            we conclude
                            are that
                            you and only you
determine whether to pay money for it or not.
They are called shareware.

What is shareware?

   It’s somehow strange, you say. It turns out
they give me to use the program, but I can
to pay or not to pay. Of course I will
don't pay the mail - you give me the money too
will come in handy. And then what will they eat once?
workers?
   If such a question arises, then it’s time
more detailstell me what kind of phenomenon this is
I'm like this - shareware,and what does it mean
holds up in the market.
   Of course the developer is interested in
to get your money. At the same time
time he understands perfectly well that if,
say, for a product from companies such asAdobe
or Symantec you agree to pay
money because you trust the brand (or,
Let's say we read a couple of reviews in thick magazines
magazines), but for the program Vasi Pupkina
you would prefer not to pay without finding out
it is clear what it is, and
do you really need it?
   In this situation, for Vasya Pupkin,bez-
Apparently, it’s more profitable to give you a free program
but chances are you'll like it,
and you will pay for it, why not give it, and, co-
responsibly, don't get any money at all.
   And then he offers you, for example, that-
which option: you can use it
the program is free, but it is for every
start will remind you that
It would be a waste to pay money. To bother, in ob-
shem. And if the program is really for you
I liked it, and the price is right - you’d rather
in total, pay.
   The above picture needs onenom comments - almost all of this applies
to Western buyers. For them there is no payment
presents no problems - $15 (in addition
measure) are charged to the credit card, and that’s it.
The key to the program is sent by mail. B
Everything is more difficult for Russia - credit cards are spreading
There are few nenas, and the people are much more cunning. But
however, this does not in any way prevent you from saying
get yourself a useful utility and work with
her. About what they are, where they are used
and what pitfalls there could be, I’ll explain
I will say in this article.

What do they give?

   So, it is already clear that shareware is
one of the options so beloved by our fellow
Freebies for our countrymen. What can you do?
to beam "for free"?
   The most common case of shareware  is this.
Some programmer (let's say, already familiar)
mu us Vasya) something prevented us from living (or something
was not enough for happiness), he scratched his
the back of the head and in free time from work
I found a small program that solved the problem
decides.
   Then he looked at her and thought - oh
maybe it will be useful not only to me, but also
who else? I created a page for myself on the Internet.
paid server type geocities,wrote on
there is a description of the program, andput it there myself
for everyone to download.
   This is, so to speak, a start. Then everything is for-
depends on how well it is written and
is the program useful, and how often does it occur?
the problem it solves. Let's assume that Ba-
I hit the nail on the head with my program.
All presenters put links to his page
servers by shareware (about them below), to him
prizes are given at a couple of ZDNet and PC competitions
Magazine, number of program users
we number in tens of thousands and, let's say,
ten percent of them are registered
foxed It is easy to calculate that with a modest
price of the program in $10 Vasya received quite
a tidy sum. And besides, for sure
received thousands of letters with requests
add such and such functions and fix such-and-such
some mistakes. Accordingly, the following emerges:
subsequent versions of the program are slightly more expensive
gee, but it’s easier for them to “unwind” on
wave of first success. To the third version of Va-
Xia is hiring a couple more programmers... So
sometimes entire companies are formed whose business
(and quite successful) built only on
development of shareware programs.

   Having understood how they are born shareware-program
weit is easy to guess what type of program
ramm will be the most. These are small waste-
casts that solve specific problems. Called-
ki, mail transcoders, alarm clocks
commemorative notes, small convenient “notebooks”...
Most of all shareware among programs that
The area of application of which is the Internet.

What will happen to me for this?

   Choosing the best among different options
shareware program that is convenient for youneed
but keep in mind that the author of such a program,
although he gives it for free, he still hopes
for reward, and therefore introduces into his
the program some "inconveniences", eliminate -
from which you can only pay for it. And
These inconveniences may affect different programs
vary significantly.

   I will list the most typical options
in descending order of their troubles. :)

   1. Work term limitation. This is on-
the most unpleasant case. Strictly speaking,
time-limited program
should not be called shareware - for
for such cases there are more correct
names like "Try & Buy" (Try and buy
pi) or "Demo" (demo version).
If you don't understand in time what's in front of you
this is exactly the version of the program, you can
fall into an unpleasant situation when, for example,
measures, your efforts to enter information without
paid address (telephone) book will go
down the drain - you simply won’t be able to use it
to call, say, a month from the date of establishment
new, or after 15 starts. Programs with
validity period is worth using
use only if you seriously
Don't consider buying them.
For free use they are practically
honestly, unsuitable.

   2. Inability to save information.
This option is not far from the previous one.
In this case, you can work with the program
as much as you like, but nothing but pleasure
twiya from the process, you will not be able to get -
- the result cannot be saved to disk. Or,
in some cases, output to a printer
(when this is exactly the point of the work
programs). This option is also, strictly
thief, not shareware, but simply a demonstration
this version. It does not allow freedom
work with the program for a fee, it only yes-
There is a general idea of the possibilities. This
option is exactly the same as the previous one, not
suitable for free use.

   However, in some cases this is a limitation
the difference can be circumvented. Life story: mine
mom dreamed aboutopportunities to transform
an ordinary picture (photo or drawing,
in electronic form, of course) into a diagram for
cross stitch. After several unsuccessful
hasty attempts to achieve this with the help
Photoshop I went to the Internet, to a site with
shareware programs,and found what I needed
but... The program worked great, ma-
Ma is happy, but... one problem, the conclusion is
The printer in the free version does not work,
and the program costs as much as $69! Unliftable bag
ma for the average housewife. The solution turned out to be
simple, like all ingenious things: we deduce the result -
diagram onto the screen, click PrintScreen
(in this case, the contents of the screen are copied to
clipboard), open any graphic
program and say “Paste”.
That's it, our diagram can now be edited
download or print.
   In the case of working with text and not graphics
physical information, approximately the same
mine can be done using a simple co-
copying the text to the buffer, followed by
paste in any text editor.

   All this, on the one hand, is a little un-
honestly - after all, the author expected to receive
money for your program. On the other hand,
rons - after all, he gave you that ver-
the one youyou use it. How about you?
Do you prefer to use it? It’s your personal matter.
no. :)

   3. Limit on quantity entered
information. In general, work with the program
it’s possible, but whether it makes sense depends on
your requests. Such a limitation means
It’s true that you can, say, only start
25 cards in the phone book, or only
40 entries in the database, etc. Obviously
that such a program is worth using,
only if you are satisfied with this quantity
cards or notes.

   4. Session duration limit
work. The program will work, but every
for about half an hour, it will be on its own
close. You will have to regularly launch
roll it again. Very inconvenient, but useful
you can fight.

   5. Show annoying screensavers. One of
the most common options. When
every time you start the program or when you open
with its help, every file (or maybe not every
before, but randomly selected), according to
A screensaver will appear on which it will be written,
that the author of the program wants money, moreover,
the screensaver will not disappear until you poke it
close button or wait a while
me. In general, if youperson is very different
pretentious, this is a limitation, practically,
does not interfere with the use of shareware-program
mine.

   6. Lack of some additional
convenience. This method is used by many of
Russian developers who calculated
They mainly target the Western market. Rus-
They actually don't release Chinese versions.
hoping for a special return, and therefore,
virtually do not reduce the functionality of the wireless
paid version of the program - it does not have
only a few, quite “advanced” ones, fight
functions. Use such programs
quite convenient.

   7. Adding a line about unregistered
baths to the product of vital activity and
(or) the word "unregistered" on the screen
"About the program." This is the most "philanthropic"
ny" option. In fact, the developers are
They rely only on your conscience or self-esteem
not trying to swindle your money in any way
with special efforts. For example, from-
personal email client The Bat! Vunforeseen
hystered version adds to the end
letters with a line stating that he is unregistered
rovan. This does not interfere with their use at all.
it’s just that in some circles it’s already
looks indecent - and the client bears his own
money. There are less harmless options,
when, for example, the free version of the software
we-photo album on top of the displayed photo-
raffia covers a good quarter of the area
line  "This is unregistered version...".
But usually this option is shareware programs
most convenient for “freeloaders”, preferring
Readers can use the free version -
mi.

   8. No restrictions. This too
it happens - the program is distributed freely
paid without any restrictions. Sometimes av-
Thor doesn't even expect you to
pay him for using his product,
and offers it completely “for free” - on-
Such programs are called freeware.

Other hazards.

   In addition to the inconvenience of using the
programs, unfortunately, you can get
and some big problems. You're not
Do you know for sure what kind of person wrote it?
program, and why is he giving it away for free?
but? In a harmless screensaver downloaded from
someone's home page, maybehide
quite a bit of trouble.

   The first thing, of course, all of you immediately
thought it was a virus. As a rule, the program
we, located on large shareware servers,
checked for these problems. By
at least this applies to those listed
me below foreign servers. For the rest-
In most cases, the advice is obvious: if you don’t
firmly confident in the source of receiving the program
frame, before starting, check it vi-
Russ (by the way, for this you can free
download beta version of DrWeb for Win95/98/NT)
If after installing the free program
the computer started to “fool”, again, it started
download antivirus. For particularly active lovers
install everything you can get your hands on
ku, resident antiviruses are recommended,
which are loaded with the system and
are constantly monitoring the situation - isn't it
suspicious attempts to "seize power"
from the running programs.
   The second possible trouble threatens
those whose computers are connected to the Internet -
- a convenient utility that provides dialing
to the provider, can insidiously drag away
your passwords and send them over the network to yours
creator. This, as you might guess, can-
can result in a hefty access bill
to the Internet, which was not used at all
you.

   To reassure you after the described
horrors :), I’ll say that not once in three years
Internet use and shareware-program
frames I personally have nothing like this
happened. Although, perhaps, precisely because
Mu that I knew about the existence of such dangerous
news

Where can I get it?

   It is clear that to do what to run around
home pages of all programmers in
hoping to find a suitable program, no one
there won't be. Yes, and you have to find it somehow first
these same pages.
   That's why there are special sites
which collected a large number
shareware programs,with descriptions, screenshots
tami and editorial assessments. Usually programs
organized into sections according to
area of use, which allows easy
to find options for the utility you need. Wednesday
di dozens of notebooks presented
or "dialers" on the Internet, you practically
you will surely choose something suitable for yourself
dying.

            English-language sites

             Tucows

   Large collection of shareware programs,
mainly related to the use
I eat mains. Has a large number of "mirrors"
(copies) on different servers around the world.
There are two mirrors in Russia - in Rineta
http://tucows.rinet.ru/)and in Russia-On-Line
(http://tucows.online.ru/). The presence of such
"mirrors" is a big plus, because you can
select to download the program
the server with which you have better connection
everything. It is usually more convenient to use Russian-
Chinese mirrors. Each program pre-
placed in the collection is assessed according to five
tibal scale, and take part in
program evaluation is offered to everyone
downloaders. As my experience shows,
The ki are quite adequate, they can be used
live. The description of the programs is quite brief.

 Zdnet Software Library

   This collection of programs has been selected according to
The focus is on quality rather than quantity.
There are not many programs, but they are “selected”.
Unfortunately, there is also a downside to this -
first choice: most presented in
collections of programs, strictly speaking, relative to
belong not to the shareware category, but to the category
Try&Buy categories, that is, they are trial
versions of commercial programs.

 CNet Download.com

   The collection is very rich and well organized
textured. In addition to the general description,
Each program is given a sign in which
basic information about the program is summarized - date
release, file size, home page
developer, etc. Most Valuable- uka-
Knowing the type of restrictions in the free version
these. By downloading the program from this server, you
do you know if you can use it?
will it stop working in two weeks?
whether. To some of the most popular and in-
Interesting programs come with an editor -
ski reviews.

SoftSeek

   My favorite shareware server. He's good
structured, very full, with normal
but working search. But the most important thing is
- these are program descriptions: they are on Softseek
the most detailed of all listed
servers, include not only a description of the program
frames (indicating the limitations of the free
version), but also a screenshot! No matter how funny it is,
the presence of a screenshot in the program description is
is called in practice extremely convenient -
- on many occasions when I doubted,
Is the program worth downloading, one glance
on the program window made it possible to understand whether
this is what I need.

              Russian sites


         Freeware.ru

   Collection of free programs, more
partly - written by Russian programmer -
mi for Russian users, but not only.
The site is quite easy to use, regularly
is updated and contains a significant number
interesting programs that you won't find anywhere
on what are the largest shareware sites?It is possible to receive information
about site updates by email.

         Download.ru

   Classic case for computer
world - it is not the quality of the product that makes it
popular and profitable. The site is significantly smaller
it is more convenient to use than the previous one
(looks ugly, font is small, structured)
little has been done, so I always have to
click on "next page"), contains
too much blatant junk, and for
in order to find something decent, you need
look through a bunch of useless information,
but... but the marketing of this site is great
better, so he is more famous, more
advertised, lotteries are held on it,
etc.

         ListSoft

   Personal website Dmitry Turetsky, with a huge
a large number of programs in the collection. Os-
its new difference from other collections
free naming software
but the fact is that instead of dry descriptions, prog-
frames are accompanied by a personal comment
author of the site. The site gained popularity
mainly due to its
"animacy", and grew from the same name
mailing list. Updates quite often -
Xia.
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