The Principle of "Shareware" |
We get a surprisingly large number of people who register, and therefore pay for, our programs before they have even downloaded them and installed them on their machines. Now obviously we have no objections to this :-)) but it does mean they are wasting a valuable opportunity.
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of Shareware, it is designed so that the program itself is given away for nothing, and you can obtain it either by downloading from the Web or Bulletin Boards or from 'free' discs/CDs on magazines, or maybe from a friend who is already using it. You then have the opportunity to try the program out for a period of time to decide if it suits your requirements, before you actually pay for it. Obviously this offers huge benefits over commercial software.
However, there is a catch. Although some authors just rely on people's honesty to pay them for the program, most of us offer some good reason for doing so. Some authors put a time limit on the program so it stops working after a few weeks, some authors disable part of the program (often the 'Save' routine), and other authors, like me, limit the functionality of the program. For example, in RMRBANK you are limited to 3 Accounts in any group. However, it still means you can check the program out first. In fact, if you have only 3 Accounts, you might never need to register (although we would prefer it if you did !!)
So, don't waste this opportunity. Check the program out first and make sure it does everything you need, then register. After all you have nothing to lose !!