Downloading software

Links are at the bottom of the page.

Much software can be obtained by download from the Internet.  There are two ways of doing this - FTP and HTTP. FTP - File Transfer Protocol is the faster, more efficient way, but needs a little knowledge to use effectively, so we'll stick with HTTP, or using your browser.

Software Licences.

The following are the different types of software licence you may encounter.

• COMMERCIAL.  This is probably the type you are most familiar with.  You buy it in a box, and it comes on CD (or DVD) with, if you are lucky, a manual.  You are usually allowed to install the software on one computer only. Only if the physically faulty (i.e... the software won't load) do you stand any chance of a refund if the software doesn't work.
• SHAREWARE. Sometimes supplied on disk, but more usually by Internet download, this is a "try before you buy" system. The version you receive is a trial.  Often it will work for 30 days and then give up.  If, after having tried it, you decide you like it, you can pay the money for the licence and either receive a full version or simply a code which unlocks the trial version to work indefinitely.  If you don't like the software after trying it, you simply uninstall it and owe nothing.
• FREEWARE. This is what it says.  The software, usually downloaded from the Internet, is free to use (sometimes there's a "not for profit" condition). The author retains the copyright - you can use it, but you can't use it, or parts of it, in any other software.
• GPL. General Public Licence. Most often associated with the Linux operating system, this is completely open source. Not only is the finished product (the binary) available for free download and use, but also the source code - how it was written and works.  The source code may be used in other software, or improved upon and republished, but only as GPL - once GPL, always GPL.
• Public Domain. This is much the same as GPL, except there is no requirement to make the source code available.

For our purposes, the last three can all do under the general heading of "free" - you can use them without payment.

Software is generally downloaded in one of two compressed forms - a self extracting executable, or a zip file.  With the former, you simply have to run it and it will install itself, maybe asking you a couple of questions along the way.  With the second, you will need to copy the zip file into the directory you want the software to reside in, unzip it and read any further instructions. To zip and unzip files, you will need appropriate software.  Winzip is the commonest for the Windows platform, but there are many alternatives.

If you pay the licence fee for a shareware program, you will generally find that support is good, often from the author themselves.  Support for freeware software is often non-existent - the author has given you the software for free, and owes you nothing. Software available on the Internet runs from the magnificent to the truly abysmal.  You have to find out which is which by trial and error - which is fun!

So, how do we find this software?

Every software author makes their own programs available from their own sites, but the usual way to find and download is to make use of one of the many download repositories and search facilities. I have given links to a couple which I think are particularly useful for non-experts below.

Well, that's it until September. Have a nice summer break!

Software links.

Download Winzip

WinZip is shareware.  A free alternative, Freezip is Here

A major source of freeware and shareware, easy to use is Download.com

An excellent source of mainly shareware is Tucows.com

For anything that's free, try Freestuff

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