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

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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.

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DataLore 1.01 - Uses Spotlight & Bonjour to search/share files on your network. (Shareware) http://bit.ly/18udUD
MacOSXrss (Mac RSS) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:52:17 -0000
DataLore 1.01 - Uses Spotlight & Bonjour to search/share files on your network. (Shareware) http://bit.ly/18udUD
Free shareware software download http://bit.ly/1Lo6vY
DownloadPages (Download Pages) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:31:34 -0000
Free shareware software download http://bit.ly/1Lo6vY
Is there any way to bypass the restrictions on shareware software ... http://cli.gs/zTEJZ
Thondleyom (Maisie Thondley) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:30:28 -0000
Is there any way to bypass the restrictions on shareware software ... http://cli.gs/zTEJZ
What is a good freeware/shareware download website you'd recommend ... http://cli.gs/VyXtU
Mona6i36k (Mona Forward) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:28:47 -0000
What is a good freeware/shareware download website you'd recommend ... http://cli.gs/VyXtU
Esta es la nota de MS http://ito.mx/M7F y su super Shareware para atar a las PyME de Mexico,Que facil confunden los terminos
miguelGastelum (Miguel Gastélum) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:27:12 -0000
Esta es la nota de MS http://ito.mx/M7F y su super Shareware para atar a las PyME de Mexico,Que facil confunden los terminos
TinyGrab 1.02 - Snap and instantly upload screenshots. (Shareware) http://bit.ly/19ZpGw Mac.alltop.com
Alltop_Mac (Alltop) Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:12:22 -0000
TinyGrab 1.02 - Snap and instantly upload screenshots. (Shareware) http://bit.ly/19ZpGw Mac.alltop.com

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