Related Research Articles
Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer. Shareware is often offered as a download from a website. Shareware differs from freeware, which is fully-featured software distributed at no cost to the user but without source code being made available; and free and open-source software, in which the source code is freely available for anyone to inspect and alter.
WordPerfect (WP) is a word processing application, now owned by Alludo, with a long history on multiple personal computer platforms. At the height of its popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s, it was the market leader of word processors, displacing the prior market leader WordStar.
PDFCreator is an application for converting documents into Portable Document Format (PDF) format on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It works by creating a virtual printer that prints to PDF files, and thereby allows practically any application to create PDF files by choosing to print from within the application and then printing to the PDFCreator printer.
Microsoft Reader is a discontinued Microsoft application for reading e-books, first released in August 2000, that used its own .LIT format. It was available for Windows computers and Pocket PC PDAs. The name was also used later for an unrelated application for reading PDF and XPS files, first released with Windows 8 - this app was discontinued in 2018.
CutePDF is a proprietary Portable Document Format converter and editor for Microsoft Windows developed by Acro Software. CutePDF Writer can create PDF files, and CutePDF Form Filler can edit simple PDF forms so that they can be sent without using more expensive PDF authoring software.
Foxit PDF Reader is a multilingual freemium PDF tool that can create, view, edit, digitally sign, and print PDF files. Foxit Reader is developed by Fuzhou, China-based Foxit Software. Early versions of Foxit Reader were notable for startup performance and small file size. Foxit v3.0 was found to be comparable to Adobe Reader. The Windows version allows annotating and saving unfinished PDF forms, FDF import/export, converting to text, highlighting, and drawing. Until version 9.7.2 Foxit Reader had PDF creation features, including a "Foxit PDF Printer" for Windows, allowing all programs to "print" output to PDF; they were removed in May 2020 from later versions. Foxit PDF Reader also includes an Enterprise version, which requires a Foxit account.
OpenCandy was an adware module and a potentially unwanted program classified as malware by many anti-virus vendors. They flagged OpenCandy due to its undesirable side-effects. It was designed to run during installation of other desired software. Produced by SweetLabs, it consisted of a Microsoft Windows library incorporated in a Windows Installer. When a user installed an application that had bundled the OpenCandy library, an option appeared to install software it recommended based on a scan of the user's system and geolocation. Both the option and offers it generated were selected by default and would be installed unless the user unchecked them before continuing with the installation.
Tao ExDOS is an emulator software application designed to allow users of old MS-DOS applications to run these applications on new operating systems such as Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Terminal Server.
Bullzip PDF printer is free-of-charge virtual printer computer software that allows programs running under Microsoft Windows operating systems to create Portable Document Format (PDF) files by selecting to "print" to the Bullzip PDF printer instead of a physical printer. Version 12.x of the software was approved for use by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, with AES encryption listed as a benefit, subject to some decision constraints such as keeping up-to-date, and banning the use of FTP, unapproved by the VA.
WinDirStat is a free and open-source graphical disk usage analyzer for Microsoft Windows. It presents a sub-tree view with disk-use percentage alongside a usage-sorted list of file extensions that is interactively integrated with a colorful graphical display. Created as an open-source project released under the GNU GPL, it was developed using Visual C++/MFC and distributed using GitHub. The project was inspired by SequoiaView, an application based on research done by the Visualization Section of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven.
Freemake Video Downloader is a crippleware download manager for Microsoft Windows, developed by Ellora Assets Corporation. It is proprietary software that can download online video and audio. Both HTTP and HTTPS protocols are supported. Users must purchase a premium upgrade to remove Freemake branding on videos and unlock the ability to download media longer than 3 minutes in length.
Solid PDF Creator is proprietary document processing software which converts virtually any Windows-based document into a PDF. Suitable for home and office use, the program appears as a printer option in the Print menu of any print-capable Windows application. The same technology used in the software's Solid Framework SDK is licensed by Adobe for Acrobat X
SpaceSniffer is a freeware computer disk space analyser from Uderzo Software for Microsoft Windows platforms. It uses a treemap to visualise disk usage.
Torch was a Chromium-based web browser and Internet suite developed by the North Carolina–based Torch Media. As of November 2022, downloads for Torch are no longer available, and upon clicking the download button, users are redirected to the Torch Search extension on the Chrome Web Store.
A potentially unwanted program (PUP) or potentially unwanted application (PUA) is software that a user may perceive as unwanted or unnecessary. It is used as a subjective tagging criterion by security and parental control products. Such software may use an implementation that can compromise privacy or weaken the computer's security. Companies often bundle a wanted program download with a wrapper application and may offer to install an unwanted application, and in some cases without providing a clear opt-out method. Antivirus companies define the software bundled as potentially unwanted programs which can include software that displays intrusive advertising (adware), or tracks the user's Internet usage to sell information to advertisers (spyware), injects its own advertising into web pages that a user looks at, or uses premium SMS services to rack up charges for the user. A growing number of open-source software projects have expressed dismay at third-party websites wrapping their downloads with unwanted bundles, without the project's knowledge or consent. Nearly every third-party free download site bundles their downloads with potentially unwanted software. The practice is widely considered unethical because it violates the security interests of users without their informed consent. Some unwanted software bundles install a root certificate on a user's device, which allows hackers to intercept private data such as banking details, without a browser giving security warnings. The United States Department of Homeland Security has advised removing an insecure root certificate, because they make computers vulnerable to serious cyberattacks. Software developers and security experts recommend that people always download the latest version from the official project website, or a trusted package manager or app store.
PDF24 Creator is an application software by Geek Software GmbH for the creation of PDF files from any application and for converting files to the PDF format. The application is released under a proprietary freeware license.
References
- ↑ Steyer Phelps, Anne ActivePDF PrimoPDF, PC Today Software Reviews, July 2004 • Vol.2 Issue 7 Page(s) 82 in print issue
- ↑ Richards, Gizmo (2014-02-08). "Controversial Advertising Program Now Being Embedded in More Software". Gizmo's Freeware. Archived from the original on 2014-08-07. Retrieved 2014-08-30.
OpenCandy (OC) is a relatively new advertising product that more and more software developers are bundling with their programs. It can now be found in the installers of dozens of popular programs including IZArc, mirC, PrimoPDF, Trillian Astra and more.
- ↑ OpenCandy (October 1, 2009). "Nitro PDF Software Opts-In to OpenCandy to Monetize Downloads of PrimoPDF". BusinessWire. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
- ↑ "Welcome PrimoPDF users". Download.com. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
- ↑ "PrimoPDF Source Code". Nitro PDF Pty. Ltd. 2010. Archived from the original (Zip) on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
- Seth Rosenblatt, CNET editors' review, October 8, 2009, CNet
- Davey Winder, PrimoPDF Review, 15 Dec 2006, PC Pro