Shareware

Shareware is a marketing method for 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.

Implementations

Open source software and shareware are similar in that they can be obtained and used without monetary cost. Usually shareware differs from open source software in that requests of voluntary "shareware fees" are made, often within the program itself, and in that source code for shareware programs is generally not available in a form that would allow others to extend the program. Notwithstanding that tradition, some freeware authors ask for voluntary "donations," although there is no requirement to do so.

Sometimes, paying the fee and obtaining a password results in access to expanded features, documentation, or support. In some cases, unpaid use of the software is limited in time—in which case the software is vernacularly called crippleware.

The original shareware programs were applications running under DOS, but are now more commonly utilities running on Microsoft Windows, although gaming, editing and other examples also exist. Shareware is rarely found on non-Macintosh Unix-like operating systems, which may be due to the corporate use of Unix until the advent of Linux, which championed free software as opposed to shareware. But it is more likely due to the fact that the Unix/Linux market is still small compared to MS Windows thus drastically reducing the "shareware licensing fee" potential.

Logistics

In using a shareware approach to distributing a program, a developer bypasses the normal distribution channel (eliminating the normal retail middleman markups) and directly markets to the end user. The end result is a relatively low end-user cost compared to the retail channel. Users of shareware are encouraged to copy & distribute unregistered versions of the software to friends, co-workers and other acquaintances. The hope is that users will find the program useful or entertaining and will register it (by paying a fee) to unlock a full suite of features.

Nowadays, shareware is rarely found with large complex programs requiring many programmers because of the large costs associated with the same. A shareware's program source, maintenance and extensibililty can sometimes be negotiated for a licensing fee with the author(s) similar to standard proprietary software.

Pertaining more towards shareware games, large online distribution channels known as "Portals", such as Yahoo! Games and RealArcade, have emerged in recent years. These portals acts as a medium for the shareware developers, providing their audience base for a percentage of the software's sale.

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, replaced by either "demo" for trial software or "freeware" for full editions. 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.

Examples

In the early 1990s, shareware distribution was a popular method of publishing games for smaller developers, including then-fledgling companies such as Apogee Software (now 3D Realms), Epic Megagames (now Epic Games), and id Software. It gave consumers the chance to try a trial portion of the game, usually restricted to the game's complete first section or "episode", before purchasing the rest of the adventure. Racks of games on single 5 1/4" and later 3.5" floppy disks were common in many stores, often very cheaply. Since the shareware versions were essentially free, the cost only needed to cover the disk and minimal packaging. Sometimes, the demo disks were packaged within the box of another game by the same company.

As the increasing size of games in the mid-90s made them impractical to fit on floppies, and retail publishers and developers began to earnestly mimic the practice, shareware games were replaced by shorter demos that were either distributed free on CDs with gaming magazines or as free downloads over the Internet, in some cases becoming exclusive content for specific websites.

There is a technical difference between shareware and demos. Up to the early 1990s, shareware could easily be upgraded to the full version by adding the "other episodes" or full portion of the game; this would leave the existing shareware files instact. Demos are different in that they are "self-contained" programs which are not upgradable to the full version. A good example is the Descent shareware versus the Descent II demo; players were able to retain their saved games on the former but not the latter.

External links

• All of ID Software's Shareware titles
• Shareware Industry Conference
• European Shareware Conference
• Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP)
• The History of Shareware by Michael E. Callahan
• Bob Wallace biography (pdf)
• Interview with Jim Button
• Shareware at the Open Directory Project