I. OVERVIEW OF TOPIC

The term shareware refers most often to software that is offered free for a limited time or with limited features. You may have seen software downloads on the Web offered on a free trial basis; this is shareware. It is a great way to test out a new program or see what new features you would get if you bought an upgraded version of your existing software. Shareware allows you to play around and experience these new features before you commit to buying anything.<>

Why is it free?

The idea behind offering software for free is to get the user to try out the program before he or she buys a fully operable product. Software companies realize that when users have the ability to use their product for a significant period of time, they will crave it when it gets taken away. Hence, they want to buy it. Have you ever experienced high-definition TV at a hotel and then come home to your old grainy television? It's hard not to want that HD again once you've experienced its crystal clarity.

Is it safe?

Shareware is completely honest and fair, as long as you are downloading safe and virus-free software. Many reputable companies will offer shareware of their latest updated software. Make sure you have anti-virus software on your computer before downloading anything, shareware or otherwise, onto your computer.

What's the catch?

There's no catch, other than the limitations set forth by the shareware provider. For example, you may download a trial version of the latest Microsoft Office software. It might work for 30 days just fine, then it will ask you to upgrade to the full version before you can continue to use the programs. If you are asked for your credit card information when downloading the shareware, keep in mind that you will most likely be charged a fee for use after a trial period. Read the fine print before giving any financial information.

How is shareware different than freeware?

Simply put, shareware is free with limitations. Freeware is truly free. You will not be asked to upgrade later with a freeware download. Any program that you would find sold on the shelf at a store, you probably are not going to find as freeware. On the other hand, you may find Adobe and Microsoft programs for example as shareware.

II. FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Gaming Shareware

Gamers are always looking for cool, new programs to keep their imaginations entertained. Try these links for fun games designed for young kids, older kids, and adults:

DOSgames - Download over 500 free DOS games.

Halo � Free download and review of the mega hit Xbox game, now for Windows.

DivoGames - Action, arcade, shooter, puzzle games all for free.

Jumbo - All shareware games, updated a couple times a week.

Astatix - Puzzle, arcade games and much more. All new.

Games-Soft -  Download best newest action, shooter, arcade, board, card, puzzle, sports, shooter, strategy, word shareware games. 

Arasan - Freeware chess program for Windows, MAC and Linux.

Bruno's Chessproblem of the day - Everyday a new chess problem; logic puzzles and free chess strategies or tactics.

Chess-it! - Free chess program for Windows. You get your choice of three sets of game pieces and can configure the playing board from a full palette of colours. Either or both players can be human or computer. Moves are listed as they are made, and you can retrace the sequence backwards or forwards. Save the record of your game and print it for future reference. Version 3.0. Created by Yoto Yotov.

Chessville - Chess news, tactical training, openings reviews, games, problem of the week, newsletter and much more.

ChessWorld.net - This is a friendly online chess club where you can play chess with players from all over the World: compete in tournaments, join teams, learn, keep in touch with old friends and make new friends worldwide.

Cubic checkers - This two-player game is played with eight white and eight black cubes on a checkerboard of 8 x 8 squares. Sides of a cube contain symbols rook, bishop, knight and pawn. The symbol on the top side of a cube determines its power. A player can jump across this opponent's cube to any empty square behind it; after this, the cube is rotated so that it changes its value and thus its power.

En Passant - Excellent chess site with free chess software and resources for chess publishing like chess fonts, diagram utilities, graphics and more.

Free InternetChess Server - The Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) is the worlds largest FREE Internet Chess Server where you can play chess, observe games, talk to friends, obtain a rating, and rank yourself among other players from all over the world. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Membership is free.

GameKnot - Free online chess, multi-player or solo. The GameKnot Java applet allows you to play chess in your Web browser.

jChecks - An open source Java chess program designed to introduce the basics of computer chess programming; it also can be used "as is" by chess beginners. It runs on any computer which has Java installed.

Online Checkers - Play checkers online, in your Web browser, without installing any software.

Checkerboard - Very strong freeware checkers program for Windows with many options.

Damas - Strong freeware checkers program for Windows.

Checkers - Freeware checkers program for Windows.

GoBase.org - Comprehensive Go-site, existing since October 1994. Lots of information on Go, including the Go rules, go Encyclopedia, history of Go, Go study material, online Go servers, Go and computers, daily updated tournament site, etc.

Game of Go Webring - This ring is devoted to the game of GO or WeiQi. Go is one of the oldest games in history of mankind.

Free onlinecard games - Play card games online, in your Web browser: Blackjack, Bridge, Canasta, Hearts, Poker, Rummy, Solitaire, Spades, etc.

Download freecard games - Poker, Solitaire, Gin, Hearts, etc.

Cheat Solitaire - Free solitaire game for Windows which allows you to cheat by looking at cards which are faced down, unlimited drawing of cards, unlimited undo, etc.

123 Free Solitaire - 123 free solitaire card games for Windows. The freeware version can be found at the bottom of the page.

Card Games - Provides information on rules and information about card and tile games from all parts of the world.

IRC Poker - Greg's Poker client, an IRC poker program to play online with other people.

Free Puzzle Collections - Puzzle games, puzzle links, geometry puzzles, logic puzzles, math puzzles, etc.

Puzzle Games - Free online versions of many puzzle games, both classics and originals. Non-Java based.

Sudokus-Online.com - Free sudoku puzzles which you can play online (inside your Webbrowser).

CandyStand - Free online sports games.

Arcade 7 - Free online Flash Arcade games.

Arcade Games Online - Site listing a lot of free online games which can be played directly in your browser.

ArcadeCity.net - A multitude of free Flash arcade games which you can play in your browser.

Flyordie - Developer and publisher of online multiplayer games. The games are free, you can also buy versions with added features, better graphics and sound.

Free Arcade Games - Free online arcade games by Atari.

Free Games - Many categories: action games, adventure games, card games, casino games, educational and kids games, etc.

Gomoku - Play Gomoku online (free). Gomoku is an extended version of tic-tac-toe.

3dcarp - Free carp fishing game/simulator for Windows XP. Note: you need to have  installed to visit this site.

c2e - Complex strategy game for Win 9x/NT based on Sid Meier's Civilization II.

Cult - Freeware, Windows. Game based on negotiations and trade in order to solve a case of a barricaded cult. As you play, you wander in the villa, meet the brainwashed cult members (and some reasonable people). You talk to them, find out what they want, and learn to trade items with them for information. You learn a little about the social structure of the cult and even get to save some lives.

Pyva.net - Free games for Windows.

SL4 - An Open Source 6/49 Lotto Database Application based on the South-African National Lottery

- Free Tic-Tac-Toe game for Win 9x/NT, but made much more interesting because it has a grid of 11*11 (instead of 3*3).

Layton Music:Free Games and Resources - Free music games and resources for teachers and students to download, print, and use.

Game Maker - Freeware! With this program you can make your own computer games without any programming, including: backgrounds, images, animated graphics, music and sound effects.
If you really want to program, Game Maker has a built-in scripting language.

dragondropland.com � Paperdolls and online dress up characters.

Fun for Girls � Fun paperdoll game.

Puter Dolls � Game fun for girls who like dolls.

Earth2Jane � Great dress-up/character game.

OpenRPG - An Internet application that allows people to play Role Playing Games in real-time over the Internet. Freeware, open source.

RPG Registry - Online RPG database which helps you find other players, games, and special events in your area or using the online game tool of your choice.

Grophland - "Welcome to Grophland, the land of the Grophs. Grophs are waiting here for you looking for an owner to take care of them."

Mara Pets - A free virtual pet site with fun-filled virtual worlds and dress up dolls.

Neopets - A community of over 70 million virtual pet owners across the world.

Virtual Pets World - Explore your own 3D virtual world, adopt a virtual pet and care for it, and more!

Office Shareware

There are many other programs out there besides the basic MS Office Suite. You can try many of them as shareware. See below for some interesting links that may help make your business flow a little more smoothly. Or, try the new MS Office Suite 2010 Beta:

Freebyte - Free office suites.

Ajax13 - Freeware, open-source office suite, containing a word processor, spreadsheet, drawing program, presentation program, and a music player which all run in your  Web browser.

ContactOffice - Personal and/or shared office tools, such as calendar, addressbook, documents, notes, tasks, forums, meetings, bookmarks, webmail, etc. Import your contacts from Outlook. Synchronisation with Palm Pilot, Outlook, Windows CE, or Lotus Organizer. Receive your agenda by SMS on a daily basis. Send SMS messages straight out of your addressbook.

EditGrid - Free advanced online spreadsheet with templates and collaboration features.

Google Docs - Free online word processor and spreadsheet.

ThinkFree - Free online web office, word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program, blog, etc.

Page PLUS - Free desktop publishing and print program for Windows created by Serif Software. Useful when you want to create Ads, Brochures, Flyers, Forms, Newsletters, Handouts, Posters, Pricelists, Reports, Invitations, Calendars, Greeting cards, etc.

Poster Forge - Free program for creating professional looking posters. It contains predesigned templates for creation of inspirational, motivational, movie or old west "Wanted" posters.

Scribus - Open Source Desktop Publishing program for Linux, MAC OS and Windows.

Free Templates Depot - Free templates to download, edit, and print, such as: invoice templates, memo templates, resume templates, powerpoint presentation templates, invoices, flyers, fax cover sheets, invitations, thank you notes, resume templates.

WorldLabel.comtemplates - Address label templates, Avery label templates, Neato, Stomper and Memorex CD label templates, mailing label templates, shipping label templates, round label templates, audio cassette label templates, diskette label templates, VHS and cassette label templates.
All available for free, and in various formats: PDF, MS Word, etc.

Powerbullet Presenter - Free program for creating Flash presentations, including: splash screens, slideshows, self-running shows, and multi-page presentations that are commonly used in electronic sales brochures and catalogues. Your presentations can be exported as an HTML page with an embedded SWF (Flash) file or as an executeable file which you can run on any Windows PC.

ScreenStream - A modern equivalent of the overhead projector. Freeware screen (and audio) broadcasting software for windows. Lets others watch your screen from their own computer. Connects over a network or the internet. Viewers do not need to install any special software, just a regular Web browser.

TeeChart Office - Free charting and plotting tool with hundreds of charting styles and multiple configuration parameters. Includes importing data and exporting charts to several formats (JPEG, PNG, GIF...). Versions available for Linux and Windows. Freeware, open source, GPL.

OpenOffice � The free and open productivity suite.

ShareMe � Any Windows software.

FreeDownloadsCenter � Free downloads for MS Office and more.

Ashampoo - Ashampoo Office 2010 is a powerful, efficient, yet easy to handle office software that serves the needs of both private users and companies.

Inventory Tracker Plus - Inventory Tracking and management system for Mac and Windows. 10 day free trial.

Personal Finance Shareware

Do you get a headache just thinking about your finances? Stay organized and get a clear picture of your finances with the following shareware for your home office:

CornerStone � Personal finance manager.

Budget for Windows 4.5.4 (Windows) - Budget and manage your bills using the envelope method.

StSoft Calculator 1.1 (Windows) - Convenient and powerful calculator program.

Foreign Exchange 1.0 (Mobile) - A currency conversion calculator

HPlot (Histogram Plot) 1.0 (Mobile) - plot a histogram, including stats, for a given data set.

Lease-It! 2.1 (Mobile) - lease payment calculator.

CarPal 1.6 (Mobile) - Car loan calculator

TickerTrend Cash Flow 1.0 (Mobile) - TickerTrend Cash Flow enables users to compute discounted cash flow, PE, PE.

Expense Watcher 3.1.1 (Mobile) - Track of expenditure

PocketBilling GI Procedures 2.02 (Mobile) - Customize your procedures list

PalmCoins 0.4.2 (Mobile) - OpenSource finance program

Cupdate (Currency Updates) 1.0 (Mobile) - Currency updates for H. Martin's Currency application

A2Z Home Inventory 3.1 - Popular Home Inventory and Maintenance costs manager. Easy to install and use.

Abassis Finance Manager 1.4 - Take control of your expenses with this easy to use budget and finance manager

Account Xpress 3.4 - Account Xpress is designed to help you manage your money easily and efficiently

Auction Misspeller Software 1.02 - Auction Misspelled Tool - find the 1000' s of auction that are misspelled on eBay

Autoshare 4.11 - Technical analysis software with share price downloads, data mining & backtests.

Simple Home Budget - Budget software will show where your money is going right down to the penny

RichOrPoor - Full-featured personal finance software that's easy-to-use!

Stock Quotes Pro - Download historical quotes of stocks, indices and mutual funds

Actual Planner - Actual Planner: keep your Schedule, Blogs and Contacts in one place

CozyRestaurant Reservation for Workgroup - The networking system for anyone operating in the restaurant business.

TradeLogger - Free money management software for day traders and swing traders.

Home Bookkeeping - Become a savvy spender and protect yourself from debt danger.

My Little Note Saver - Personal information manager to keep all your notes and data.

LeaderCode Personal Information Manager - Manages notes, files, urls, RSS feeds, contact information in folders.

Vehicle Expense Manager - Vehicle Expense Manager program The Industry Standard Software

Education Shareware

Students and teachers need to stay organized too. Here are a few links to shareware you may want to try if you are a student or teacher trying to stay ahead of the game with technology. You can even find shareware for younger kids to help them with their basic academic skills like math and spelling:

Layton Music:Free Games and Resources - Free music games and resources for teachers and students to download, print, and use.

MyLife - MyLife - Your ULTIMATE Alarm, Reminder, Scheduler, Organizer, and MUCH more!

TurboNote+ - Desktop sticky notes.

Teachers Report Assistant - Is a software that helps teachers easily create a student report card.

TurboNote - Free sticky note post it PIM software; download to boost your productivity.

YearPlanner - An interactive software Year Planner, with reminders and WYSIWYG Interface.

Personal Student Tutor Student - Personal Student Tutor Student is developed by McDougal Littell and is used by 10 users of Software Informer.

Student Life - Simplify the chaos of college life with this cool student organizer software.

AquaSpelling - AquaSpelling helps create groups of words and practice vocabulary and spelling.

Math Stars 5.5.1 - practice basic math

winPenPack Flash School 3.5.2 - Use a collection of portable applications for use with USB drive or from a hard disk.

MATH DITTOS 2: Fact Controlled MULTIPLICATION for Special Learners 3.2 - Fact controlled teaching aid.

Students grades - A simple software to manage student grades, calculations are all over. FEATURES: possibility toenter 30 exercises, etc. DIRECTIONS: decompress in a folder and click twice on the file "Student" choose tocontinue if a message appears.

Collegiate Daily Planner - A unique daily planner designed to help today's collegestudents manage their academic workload as well as their daily activities.

Animated States and Capitals - Learn the U.S. states and capitals in a fun (and funny) way!
NetSupport School - NetSupport School is the classroom managementsoftware that provides teachers and trainers with the ability to interact effortlessly with their Students.

Animated Beginning Phonics - Designed for beginning readers (pre-K to 2nd grade).

SAT GRE Crash Course � Test prep and study aid for the SATs.

ViaSchool 2.0 - Via School is an online accessible internet application used by students, teachers and parents/guardians in schools and at home to help progress in school.

Assignment Organizer - A program for students for scheduling and organizing .

License Plate Math � A fun game you can play on your computer to help kids with their math skills.

Teachers Journal 2005 � Software to help insure good documentation of parent-teacher conferences.

Create A Quiz - Create A Quiz is a "computer assisted learning" software.

Animated Alphabet for Windows - Teaches letter sounds using upper and lower case letters.

Flashcard Suite (Educato 1.2) - Flashcard creation/editing tool This is the big brother to Flashcard Suite (Student Edition).

Graphic Design Shareware

A plethora of shareware for the designer, including 3-D modeling, desktop publishing, CAD software, fonts, flash, and more:

RealZoom Quartz 1.3 (Mac) - Generate close up images of LCD, CRT or paper.

CD Cover 2.01 (Windows) - Designer for CD covers and inlaycards.

Envisioneer Express - Envisioneer Express is the easiest to use residential design program available. This program was designed specifically to introduce clients to the simple creation of floor plans, 3D models, and interior design concepts.

Cabinet Planner - Custom cabinet design software, elevation & floor planviews, shop plans, proposals and contracts, master cut lists, easy to use. free trial

Logo Design Studio - Create a professional logo in minutes for websites, documents, personal print jobs and professional print shops. Trademark and copyright your logo design with help from Logo Design Studio.

Fast Plans 11 - CAD floor plan design software, very easy to use - takes care of drawing and MATH - leaving you to design. This version includes wizards and an Easy Draw function to add baths, beds, stairs, tables & chairs etc - all at your sizes and style.

Magic Photo Editor - Magic Photo easilly blend your digital photo onto another picture (a landscape picture etc). You can also add some pretty frames, flowers, cartoon pictures or write your comments on the photo to make it more beautiful and attractive.

Photo-Suit Professional - Photo editing software that provides easy imageediting. This free photo editing software trial is simple, yet, includes drawing tools, color and saturation adjustments, image and canvas sizing, and a good set of filters.

Company Logo Designer - Designing your company logo yourself is easy. The Company Logo Designer makes it incredibly easy. You just have to click on what you like. No graphical talent needed. Try it!

Realtime Landscaping Photo - Import a photo of your home and design the landscape in full 3D. Add decks, patios, fences, gardens, driveways, and more. See your landscaping ideascome to life with soft shadows, accurate lighting, plants swaying in the wind, all in real time 3D.

Realtime Landscaping Plus - Design and visualize your landscape in fast, photo-realistic 3D. Design houses, decks, gardens, patios, fencing, 3D plants, and more. It's fun and easy to use - no CAD experience required.

Fast Plans - CAD floor plan design software, very easy to use - takes care of drawing and MATH - leaving you to design.

Logo Desing Studio 1.28 - An impressive logo design, creation and graphic design studio.

Alibre Design Xpress 9.2 - 3D solid modeler for creating mechanical parts, assemblies and 2D drawings.

Pencil 0.4.2 - Graphic editor specifically for designing and creating cartoons .

IcoText 0.5 - Convert an icon into a textual graphic design using shaded letters.

Piranesi 5.0 - One of the solidest options for 3D graphic design and creation settings

PaintBuster 12.1 - A complete graphic editing packet with everything you could imagine.

Wings3D 0.98 - Open code program to design and create 3D graphic models.

Cube Construct - Cube Construct is a new website build tool for which you do not need to learn any HTML knowledge, web design, graphic design or programming in order to have your own professional website setup in a few minutes.

Free Fonts

You can never have too many fonts to create fun text. To install a font, download the font file, then place it in your �Fonts� folder via control panel:

1001 Free Fonts - Free fonts for download.

Absolute Fonts Archive - 6800+ free true type fonts.

Chess Fonts - Page containing True Type Chess fonts and symbols for download.

dafont.com - Many free fonts for download. A sample of each font can be previewed online.

Dina Programming Font - Dina is a monospace bitmap font, primarily aimed at programmers. It is relatively compact to allow a lot of code on screen.

Dingbat pages - Freeware and shareware dingbat fonts.

Dingbats-UK - Includes 300 dingbats for immediate preview and download and a dingbat helper with links to 2000+ individual dingbat fonts.

Download Free Fonts - Download Free Fonts - Download thousands of free true type fonts for windows and mac.

DynaFonts - Collection of high-quality simplified and traditional Chinese unicode fonts. Non-free.

Font GardensDingbat Archive - Dingbat fonts ordered by category.

Fontco - Font search engine for freeware and shareware fonts.

Fontmagic - Free fonts archive, over 5000 freeware and shareware fonts. All fonts are in True Type format.

Fonts Search Engine - Search and download over 10000 Postcript and TrueType fonts for Windows and MAC.

Free Font Fiesta - A collection of free and non-free fonts for download.

FreewareFonts.com - List of free-font sites.

Liberation fonts - Free fonts distributed by RedHat as RPM package and .tar.gz file (true type): Sans (a substitute for Arial, Albany, Helvetica, Nimbus Sans L, and Bitstream Vera Sans), Serif (a substitute for Times New Roman, Thorndale, Nimbus Roman, and Bitstream Vera Serif) and Mono (a substitute for Courier New, Cumberland, Courier, Nimbus Mono L, and Bitstream Vera Sans Mono).

Microsoft Typography - TrueType and Open Type font specification including Apple Advanced Typography specs.

Only Free Fonts - An online font browser that lets you preview your fonts before downloading.

TopFreeFonts.com - List of free-font sites.

Unicode Fonts - A listing of unicode fonts (True Type and Open Type).

Vietnamese Fonts - Free Vietnamese Unicode Fonts