On Mon, Jan 1, 2024 at 5:39 PM andrew fabbro via Freedos-user <freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > > Whatever programs are most representative, they might have been > distributed as shareware. There's still "trial software" today but > not like going to a BBS and seeing hundreds of shareware packages, > or getting a CD stuffed with them. [..]
I agree! I first used DOS when DOS was new (1981) but by the time I moved to university (1990) shareware had definitely taken hold. And shareware was just as powerful as the "commercial off the shelf" software but a fraction of the price. And that was a huge deal for a university student. We had Lotus 1-2-3 at home when I was in high school, and I learned a bit about how to use it then. But as a physics student at university, I bought my own copy of As Easy As spreadsheet (shareware). It came with a manual that was great as a reference and to explore new features. Same for word processors. We used a few word processors at home, probably copies of whatever my parents were using at work. So I learned how to use WordPerfect. And I bought my own "student edition" of WordPerfect when I went to university. When the new version came out, I just couldn't afford it (the student edition was less expensive, but still pricey) so I looked through the shareware catalog(*) I subscribed to, and ordered a copy of the most highly rated word processor: Galaxy. It was "only" $100 which was a lot for a student, but much less than the student edition of WordPerfect. (*) Did anyone else subscribe to a shareware catalog? I know you could dial into a BBS to find shareware apps, but I found a catalog that tested tons of shareware apps and games and listed the ones they thought were the best. You sent in an order with a check (to cover copying and shipping) and they mailed back one or more floppies with copies of the shareware (original unregistered zips) that you picked. I think they published a new catalog every few months. I'm sure that's how I found As Easy As. I know I discovered Galaxy, Telix (modem dialer and terminal, like Procomm) and Mercury (equation solver, from the same person who wrote Borland Eureka) from that catalog. And a bunch of games. _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
