Shareware Shareware is available for computer users in a number of ways these days. You can order it from a shareware vendor who is usually offering a selection of titles for you to purchase through mail order. The vendor publishes a catalog with hundreds of shareware titles that you can order from. The catalogs include short descriptions of the programs to give you an idea of the tasks the program will do. Some of the fancier catalogs include a screen shot of the programs.
Some programs require more than one disk to hold it.
Even though the programs themselves are free for you to try out, the vendor charges a fee for the disks because he needs to maintain an inventory of possibly thousands of program disks and he must operate an ordering and shipping facility. The vendor and his employees make an income from these operations. You select the titles you want from the catalog, add up the number of disks the programs are on, and send a check for the total amount plus a small shipping and handling fee. You receive your programs by return mail. Most vendors also have a toll-free order line you can call to place your order and pay for it with a credit card.