Windows Almost any software that's available for downloading to your Windows machine is going to be compressed. That means the file containing the software information has been downsized, so to speak, to reduce downloading time. And chances are, any compressed file you try to download has been shrunk into what's called the ZIP format. And that takes a special program. Most of it is, but not all of it.
Software is another story.
Freeware, as you no doubt guessed, is free. With shareware, you have to pay the author if you use the program. You can be confident that the people who make the software available will let you know if any money is expected to change hands. But what you do with it after you've downloaded it is another question. Governments around the world are wrestling with a host of legal issues involving the Internet and the World Wide Web.