free software

Freeware (a.k.a., free software) is software that is available at no cost to the user, now or ever. Developers often cover their development costs by running ads on their sites or accepting donations from users via PayPal or other means.

Freeware is generally only available in its final form and cannot be modified by the user, which is what differentiates it from "free software" or open-source software, where users are allowed and often encouraged to make modifications and improvements and redistribute it.

Andrew Fluegelman is credited with first popularizing the term freeware when looking for ways to distribute his communications software PC-Talk without using traditional costly means of distribution. Freeware is commonly available on the Internet for download, and such digital distribution cuts cost of sales down to almost nothing beyond the bandwidth used to transmit it.

Freeware programs can be almost anything, from screensavers to system utilities to media players to security applications.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “free software”

• 7 Fun App Ideas for the Weekend Tinkerer

  
  Hobbies Fun & entertainment - fun-entertainment.marc8.com — Authority: 166
  ... If you dont think you have what it takes to create your own multiplayer online game, , a free software framework for creating slick ones. Create your own game environment ...
  6 hours ago

• Free Wii Software From Nintendo - Smart House

  
  Nintendo Wii Game and Accessories Review — Authority: 160
  IGN Free Wii Software From Nintendo Smart House According to Nintendo , Wii owners will be able to download demos of some WiiWare titles for free on the Wii Shop Channel. "All that users need to do is ... Black Friday 2009 Walmart Ad: Nintendo Wii Bundle In Entertainment (blog) ...
  7 hours ago

• GlassCalc – Free Calculator with Complex Mathematical Expressions

  
  SoftZilla — Authority: 137
  GlassCalc 1.00 Release Date: 2009-11-23 GlassCalc 1.00 File Size: 1.22MB Download Free GlassCalc 1.00 GlassCalc 1.00 Website GlassCalc is a simple calculator with extensive support for mathematical expressions. Instead of using buttons, it has a text-only input and keeps a full history of ...
  8 hours ago

• TechPP Mega Christmas Giveaway : SnagIt 9.1

  
  Technically Personal! — Authority: 525
  We kick-start the first ever Christmas giveaway on TechPP with possibly the Best Screen Capturing software available currently – TechSmith ’s SnagIt 9.1 , and 20 lucky readers of TechPP will be winning a free license to this highly useful software tool. All you have to do is leave a comment in the form ...
  14 hours ago

• faderTouch: Pico-Powered Mobile Multi-touch Projection Controller

  
  Create Digital Motion — Authority: 493
  VJ Fader faderTouch Processing – BeiJing studio 1 from VJFader on Vimeo . Multi-touch projection is now easy to do with free software, a projector, and a projection surface. The trick is making a controller that is more portable. VJ Fader has a nice, home-built rig, seen here controlling Processing sketches. It ...
  14 hours ago

• Get FREE 1 Year License of IObit Advanced SystemCare PRO Worth $29.95

  
  Tweaking with Vishal — Authority: 471
  IObit Advanced SystemCare Pro protects and speeds up your computer. It provides an always-on, automated, all-in-one PC Healthcare Service with anti-spyware, privacy protection, performance tune-ups, and system cleaning capabilities. This powerful and award-winning precision tool fixes stubborn errors, cleans out ...
  17 hours ago

• eBay Beta Push BlackBerry Application Launches Today!

  
  BerryReview.com — Authority: 631
  We told you that eBay would be putting out a new push application in November but the app is scheduled to drop today. RIM & eBay let us know that their beta application launches today for all North American users . eBay for BlackBerry smartphones will be available for download through App World and  will even ...
  18 hours ago

• Why I Prefer Free, Open-Source Software

  
  Lawyerist — Authority: 139
  The terms free software and open-source software are hovering at the fringe of most computer users’ consciousness. But whether you know it or not, you already use a lot of free, open-source software every day. You could be saving considerable money by using it in your law practice, too. Free, open-source ...
  18 hours ago

• Shrink And Upload Images With TinyUploads

  
  Techie Buzz — Authority: 540
  Sharing recent vacation pictures with your friends has always been a lengthy process. First of all, you have to create a new account with the free image hosting services, upload all your images, and then you will be able to share them with your friends. Today we are presenting a cool new program that can easily shrink ...
  22 hours ago

• FSF works with PayPal to the benefit of the free software community

  
  fsdaily.com - Free Software News - Published news — Authority: 161
  The Free Software Foundation thanks PayPal for responding to its concerns and making its terms more free software friendly. Advertisement Your ad here!
  1 day ago

• KDE Community Releases KOffice 2.1

  
  fsdaily.com - Free Software News - Published news — Authority: 161
  The KOffice team is very happy to announce version 2.1.0 of KOffice, 6 months after the platform release 2.0.0. This release brings a number of new features as well as general improvements in the maturity of the individual applications. Importing of documents have also been given an overhaul.
  1 day ago

• New York Times Releases free BlackBerry App

  
  BerryReview.com — Authority: 631
  When I first heard about this I could have sworn that the New York Times already had a BlackBerry app. Turns out they only had a homescreen shortcut. The Times developed this new app in house and it looks pretty good. It is sponsored by UPS for now which probably means that they will not be charging for it in the ...
  1 day ago

• Kerala state government going to roll out Google SoC style “fosster” project

  
  The GnuVision Blog — Authority: 112
  The State government will soon roll out the ‘Fosster’ (Free and Open Source Software Training Entrepreneurship and Research) programme in engineering colleges in the State to promote the use of free and open source software among the student community. Fifty projects on the software would receive an assistance of ...
  1 day ago

• Online conflict in the light of mimetic theory

  
  P2P Foundation — Authority: 576
  I am sure most readers of this essay know well the “community cycle” - the way on-line communities get started, they thrive with peaceful, civil conversations, helpful strangers and kind atmosphere, and later how suddenly some seemingly innocent misunderstandings grow into flamewars, people stop listening to each ...
  1 day ago

• Repositioning the KDE Brand: KDE - People Who Create Software

  
  fsdaily.com - Free Software News - Published news — Authority: 161
  KDE has changed over the past 13 years. The application framework has grown, matured and gone cross-platform, as have the applications. Strong growth in our community has created an increasingly diverse and large set of high-quality applications. In the process, KDEs identity has shifted from being simply a desktop ...
  1 day ago

• Max for Live Comes with Some Strings Attached for Creators

  
  Create Digital Music — Authority: 594
  Image ( CC ) akihiko.japan . Max for Live is a fantastic product that treads on genuinely new ground. Its level of integration with the user interface and operation of the host reaches a new high, it comes with a rich selection of instruments, effects, and tools to use as examples, and, in combination with Max 5’s ...
  1 day ago

• You Can Get Cheap or Free Software to Produce Your Ebook!

  
  Internet Marketing and Shopping Resources — Authority: 134
  H ave you got this Yet? Internet experts all agree, for real Internet success and to make serious money online, you need to create your own product.But what if you are a newbie? You are not an Internet expert yet. So what have you got to say?You don’t have to write about the Net. There are already loads of books ...
  1 day ago

• RIM Launches BlackBerry Media Sync 3.0 – Adds 2-way Photo Sync

  
  BerryReview.com — Authority: 631
  UPDATE: RIM let us know that they Media Sync 3.0 software will only be available starting at 12pm EST. RIM gave us an advanced preview of BlackBerry Media Sync 3.0 and I have to say I am liking RIM’s new approach. I have always harbored a bit of hatred towards Roxio and never used it for my BlackBerry. BlackBerry ...
  1 day ago

• BlackBerry Master Control Program 0.9.2 Final Released

  
  BerryReview.com — Authority: 631
  Sgt-d let us know that his team has released BlackBerry Master Control Program 0.9.2.0 final today with a slew of new updates. The new version supports the new JavaLoader 5 beta 5 which should improve things but requires Desktop Manager 5.0. You can read more about this awesome free utility at this link or ...
  1 day ago

• How To Extract Microsoft Office 2010 Product Key?

  
  Techie Buzz — Authority: 540
  Microsoft has already created a lot of hype over its latest version of Office Suite. Recently a beta version of Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus was released and we have posted a download link for the same. After few days, a Starter Edition of Microsoft Office 2010 was also leaked. What’s more? You can ...
  1 day ago

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