CompuServe Messages

Greetings, everyone! I'm writing a cover story for CompuServe magazine about shareware. Please feel free to jump right in with answers to any of these questions: How do you separate the good shareware from the bad and the ugly *before* downloading? Once you've downloaded, how do you decide whether a program's worth keeping? Does the name of the shareware developer mean much, or do programs speak for themselves? Are you "brand name" conscious when looking for shareware? In what software categories does shareware seem to be the most useful? What pieces of shareware have you found the most helpful? How did they help? What specific problems did they solve? How did you find those particular pieces of shareware? What do the dropping prices of retail software mean for the shareware market? Have you found any one-of-a-kind shareware programs you *couldn't* find on the commercial market? Have you ever seen your suggestions incorporated into a piece of shareware? So, jump on in — share your opinions on any or all of these questions, and give your favorite piece of shareware a plug!