What Are Shareware And Freeware Collections On CD-ROM?
Freeware programs are created for the love of it, often by amateurs or new professionals making a name for themselves. Shareware authors might be dedicated amateurs, or professional [-1-] programmers working independently or for small firms. They offer a “try-before-you-buy” policy, allowing would-be purchasers to evaluate the programs before purchasing the license to use them. Either kind of program may be distributed freely via a variety of electronic means, from floppy disks to Internet archive sites. Entire commercial publishing houses build their businesses around frequently updated releases of shareware and freeware. Walnut Creek CD-ROM and InfoMagic, for instance, provide frequently updated compilations of popular Internet archives for DOS, MS-Windows, Macintosh, OS/2 and Unix operating systems. Thanks to the low production costs for CD-ROMs in quantity (under $1 per disc, and still falling), these collections can be had for as little as $10 to $30, even for multi-disc collectio