“If you love someone, set him/her free,” so goes a saying. But being free is not only applicable in love but also in information technology. Free software programs can be easily downloaded over the Internet in a flash. But the term “free” doesn’t always mean free. Free software programs are computer programs that you can download and never pay for it.
Why do we have programmers and companies who offer freeware? Here are some reasons:
1. Early-stage product commercialization (Personal and educational use versions)
– Software that are not for commercial or professional use have lesserfunctionalities. Hence, these are less-powerful compared to the commercial or licensed version.
2. Humanitarian or promotion purposes
– Software of this kind that have its full functionalities and with no restrictions. As a hobbyist, some people develop software for humanitarian reasons. On the other hand, big companies make and donate software for humanitarian reasons but also as promotional materials for the company. (e.g. McDonalds made an educational puzzle game program that illustrates the picture of their meal products)
In computer lingo, to be in particular, free software may be classified as:
1. Trialware vs. Shareware – these are software programs that can be played for limited number of usage or trial-period (e.g. 15-day or 30 times number of usage). Usually, some of the programs’ functionalities are disabled to attract the user to buy the full version. Shareware is an old term that is not applicable nowadays because of the misnomer that “sharing” which may connote that it is right to obtain the software then share it to others. It is not the same as buying a single licensed copy of the software, and then, installing it to several machines or PCs.
2. Freeware – software programs that have its full or basic functionalties that you don’t have to pay for. (e.g. PDF Readers, Image viewers like Irfanview, Anti-virus programs)
3. Open Source program – Unlike trialwares, this type of free software have no restrictions and the source codes of the program are ready for customization. It is a software that can be legally modified by the user for his or her own purposes and it does not have a copyright and ownership or license restrictions. Linux Operating System, MySQL database and OpenOffice suite are some examples of this free software.
4. Other Freeware software – these are software which may be similar from abovementioned but the user may not be aware of the main behavior of the software after installation. It may be fully functional but sometimes it may be harmful, for example, the PC-system configuration may be altered without owner’s informed consent. As a word of advice, do not download it if you are uncertain of the source. (e.g. PC games that has advertising-supported software (adware or malware). On the other hand, old software may be free because of re-engineering. IBM’s Lotus symphony version 1.2 was released in November 2008 after making some arrangements with Openoffice.org suite groups to use their open source software for development. To date, Openoffice version 3 has the ability to open document files formatted from MS-Office Word version 2007.
There are a lot of downloadable software from the Internet, but I think you must be careful in handling these programs. Just ask yourself if really need to have that software in order for you to be secured.
Below are some sites for you to browse on. Again, think twice.
http://www.downloads.com
http://www.filehippo.com
http://www.freeware4pc.com
