Donationware (or nagware) is a licensing model that supplies fully operational software to the user and pleads for an optional donation be paid to the programmer or a third-party beneficiary (usually a non-profit). The amount of the donation may also be stipulated by the author, or it may be left to the discretion of the user, based on individual perceptions of the software's value. Since donationware comes fully operational (i.e. not crippleware) when payment is optional, it is a type of freeware.
Shareware (from this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shareware )
The term shareware (also known as trialware or demoware) is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability[further explanation needed], or convenience[further explanation needed]. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a periodical such as a newspaper or magazine. The rationale behind shareware is to give buyers the opportunity to use the program and judge its usefulness before purchasing a license for the full version of the software. Firms with superior software thus have an incentive to offer samples, except if their product is already well known, or if they do not want to be listed in direct competition with other products on shareware repositories.[1]
Shareware is usually offered either with certain features only available after the license is purchased, or as a full version but for a limited trial period of time. Once the trial period has passed, the program may stop running until a license is purchased. Shareware is often offered without supports or updates which only become available with the purchase of a license. The words "free trial" or "trial version" are indicative of shareware.
The term shareware is used in contrast to retail software, which refers to commercial software available only with the purchase of a license which may not be copied for others, public domain software, which refers to software not copyright protected, open source software, in which the source code is available for anyone to inspect and alter, and freeware, which refers to copyrighted software for which the author solicits no payment (though he or she may request donations).
Freeware (from this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeware )
Freeware (from "free" and "software") is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee,[1] but usually with one or more restricted usage rights.[2][3][4] Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the aim to expand the marketshare of a "premium" product. Freeware is a loosely defined category and it has no clear accepted definition.[4] The term "freeware" is commonly used for closed source or proprietary software, but since the term is related to price (and not clearly to issues like license terms, availability of the source code or copyright status) it is sometimes also applied to free software/open-source software. Popular examples of freeware include Google Chrome or Adobe Flash Player. Popular examples of free/open source software which is sometimes referred to as freeware, include Firefox or 7-Zip.
FWIW!
