"Freeware" needs Redefinition

Free-Ware is getting harder and harder to find.

I seldom use ZD-Net, or CNET's Download.com

I use www.nonags.com and www.snapfiles.com when I am looking for free-ware.

Even better, is true open source software. Check out the list of projects and foundries at www.sourceforge.net

Most of the commercial web sites offering software are drawn into the share-ware and trial-ware offerings as a mode of generating revenue. Hosting a web site with a lot of download traffic is not free. The sites need to find a way to offer services and collect revenue.

Chas

Freeware - a license denoting binary blob software for use at not cost and to be legally shared with friends.

Shareware - a license denoting a temporary trial or minimal feature version of a retail product meant to be shared around as free advertising and pre-purchase testing samples.

Software developers and big download sites are both guilty of confusing the two; "Here, try my freeware program and if you like it, buy the full copy in thirty days" - Nope. That's Shareware; they can take there bait-and-switch con elsewhere or simply call it Shareware like the honorable development houses do.

My latest is Antivir "Freeware" and it's startup nagg screen asking me to buy the retail version. Maybe I downloaded the trial but I've been around long enough to be pretty sure it said "free version" in the marketing pages.

Network Magic
Format: Software | Size: 1,109KB | Date: Mar 2007 | Version: 4.1.7039 | System Requirements: Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista | License: Free | Screen Shot | Downloads: 39046
Free? Sure the download is, but it's just a sales offer for the REAL version.

I just read your post regarding "freeware" which isn't free.
I recently downloaded an antispyware program claiming to
be 100% free. As I watched it perform its scan, I was
impressed by all of the bad stuff it was finding. When the
scan was complete I selected the option to "completely
remove". Another screen popped up to inform me that I
must pay $49.95 for a registration code which must be
entered before any spyware would be removed. This type
of deception is unethical and unacceptable not to mention
infuriating. I would never buy anything from a company
that uses this kind of "trickery" to sell their products.

I have no problem with paying for additional features if I like what I see.

what I do NOT like is something advertised as "free" when it is only a trial version or WORSE, something that starts, then says in order to finish, you have to shell out a small fortune.

The latter is far worse and pretty much guarantees that I will never send in a penny.

I've played limited versions of games, then gone out and bought the full versions.

I don't mind shareware. They are honest about it and not tricky. "Here, try this for a while, if you like it, it's yours but you have to pay for it." That's fair.

What disgusts me are all the bait-and-switch types out there that advertise free or "no cost to the user" when all that is free is a demonstration of it's features.

I agree wholeheartedly with what you say. In fact, the first time I ran into this type of thing, I complained. Bravenet had a page on their site where they offered "free" software. I downloaded what they advertised as a free web development tool and discovered (only after I installed it) that it was a limited trial. I sent them a message complaining about it. Their reply? They were not being at all misleading because the download was free. I guess the rules about false advertising don't apply to the Internet.

I can understand some small fly-by-night software developer doing something like that, but you would think that large companies would be more accountable.

What bugs me even more than limited-time trial software being advertised as freeware, however, is supposed freeware that isn't a time-limited trial but a seemingly full version of the software that has been so badly crippled that you can't even give it a good test. Every time you click on a menu option or try to perform a task, you get a messagebox telling you that "This feature only works in the pro version of Fake You Out."

Consider my name added to the list.

Irene Smith

This one had a twist, it added 4 separate trojans into my system, and they were also in one of the restore directories. Yeah free, because they were probably ripping off my info! Hopefully I ran the scan in time to prevent any damage. Can't help but think of the old saying "nothing is 'free'"...