Downloading (1 of 2)

Programs that are downloaded by users are, in the main, issued in four different types of licence agreements...
• Freeware - Free for personal use (pay a fee for business use) or sometimes called donateware where the author would appreciate a donation to be made to them to help in the development of the software.
• Shareware - Requiring a payment for registration after a trial period, often registration payments turn on additional features. Most allow continued free un-registered use.
• Trialware - Limited time trial versions (15, 30 days etc) after which the user has to pay for a registration code to continue using the software.
• Commercial - Indicates commercial applications you have to pay for up-front before use.



Trustworthy download sites

Most Freeware and Shareware programs are marketed and reviewed on web sites that are dedicated to downloading. Some are trustworthy but many are as dodgy as a football manager or even a politician. Some are specifically hosted just to distribute spyware. Here is a list of Yaoogloo recommended trustworthy download sites, but before you go download mad, you might find it helpful to read the next section and the 2nd part of this article...
download.com, softpedia, snapfiles, Tucows, filehippo, oldversion.com,

Trustworthy music and film sites...
Virgin Digital , HMV, Tesco Downloads, AudioJelly, MSN, iTunes,

You are also safe to download or upgrade from any of the mainstream web sites such as Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, BBC, Google, Yahoo, High St Banks etc.



Downloading perils

The real dangers in downloading are covered in the Online Security article but even when you are downloading from a safe site there are still some pitfalls to watch out for. There's an annoying practise amongst some companies to include other products in with any download that you request. They do inform you of the extra items but you have to untick a box to stop them being downloaded. It's annoying because the less savvy users tend to miss the warnings and finish up with more toolbars added into their browser and very little room left to view web pages. So watch out!



File sharing

This a loose term for making your files available for others to download and you download other users' files. You have to download a file sharing program that has to be installed and run before you can file share. It typically involves music and video files and there are the two main issues of legality and safety that you need to be aware of...

Legality - Acquiring copyrighted material without the owner's permission is illegal. Whether it's downloading a song on the internet or buying a homemade copy of the latest Bond film from your cousin... it's illegal. The trouble is that there are millions and millions doing it. No one should condone breaking the law and never encourage it, but whilst politicians choose to ignore reality, it will continue.

Safety - When you download a file using a file sharing program you have no idea where that file is coming from so it's imperative that you scan for viruses and spyware after every file sharing session. To make matters worse, the file sharing program themselves very often contain spyware.

So be very cautious and remember every time you connect to the internet you have an IP address and you are not invisible.