🚀 go-pugleaf

simon1@bass.bu.edu (Simon Streltsov) writes:

>I would like to hear from some shareware authors,

Well, I'm one...

>1/  What is the typical percent of people, 
>who register shareware vs. those, who just 
>"try it for some time".

How on earth should I know that :-) I just hear from those that register...

>2/ How does it depend on price and availability
>of next version of the program after registration?

Not much, I think - It depends a lot more on the quality of the program and
whether one has a serious need for it.

>3/ How many people use shareware - popular things
>like pkzip and programs like calendars, drivers for
>special needs, stand-alone utilities...

Practically everybody has at least tried one or more shareware programs - but
maybe only around 40% of users use one or more regularly.

>4/ How many people get it from SIMTEL and other archives vs. those, who
>get it through mail-companies, who distribute disks with shareware?

Again, we shareware authors don't really know - those who register only
rarely mention (at least in my case) where they received the program from.

However, the answer really depends on who the customer is.  Big companies that
are looking for  shareware to use on 40.000 machines don't necessarily get it
the same place as a private user, using the same program on a single machine..

My advice is at least to try to use all possible distribution channels.

-frisk