SHAREWARE

This term refers to software that is available on public networks and BBSs. Users are asked to remit a small amount to the software developer, but it's on the honor system.

Copyrighted software that is available for personal use for a small fee, and often downloadable from the Internet.

Software that is offered for free download in hopes that the user will decide to keep it and pay a fee for it after trying it out,or the software is released on a trial basis only ,and must be registered after a certain period of time.

Software that is sold by individuals or companies for a nominal fee (compare "freeware"). Typically the software is downloaded and tried out before buying and registering it.

There's commercial software and then there's shareware. With commercial software, you have to pay for the product up front, before you use it. With shareware, you can use the product for a trial period and then decide if you want to keep it. If you want to keep the software after the trial period is up, you're supposed to (and should) register the product and pay the shareware fee. As an extra incentive to pay for the software, many shareware programs have disabled features in the non-registered version or will keep bugging you like mad to register the program after the trial period has expired. Shareware programs are usually less expensive than commercial software, but they are usually less expensive to develop as well. This is why shareware programs are, on average, not as sophisticated as commercial software programs. However, there are numerous shareware programs out there (especially utilities) that can be very useful. The most common way to get shareware these days is off the Internet. Check out Cnet's Shareware.comto see a huge selection of these great little programs.