Selecting software vendors

ngpappas (apparently) - 11:29am Jan 19, 2006 PST
via email

I am frequently tempted to buy various utilities. Sometimes there is a choice of vendors - freeware, shareware for a (usually) modest price, and a product from a "real" company for a higher price. I tend to be leery of the freeware - can I trust that the program isn't malware? Could it be badly written so that it could unintentionally mess up my system? Is it a person with a good reputation? And I tend to assume that something from a "real" company is more likely to be professionally developed and that a company will stand behind the product and have the resources to fix serious problems. The longer I hang around, the more I realize these stereotypes are ridiculous. The latest case relates to my search for a file synchronization product. By some published reports and some feedback I had gotten, it looked like You Synchronize from You Software was the best product available. I found the site, downloaded the product, and got distracted for a couple of weeks by some projects I was working on. When I picked up the thread again, I went back to the the You Software site to purchase it (had only downloaded before) and the product wasn't listed in their product family. A message to You Software brought the following response: > Thank you for your interest in You Synchronize. You Software is no longer > distributing You Synchronize. We will, however, continue to support You > Synchronize for the time being via our forums, email and phone line (503) > 973-5054. We apologize for any inconvenience. "for the time being" ?? Talk about leaving your customers high and dry. Who do you trust? The small independent programmer is looking better to me as every day passes. -- Nick Pappas Lizzy's Ice Cream LLC http://www.lizzysicecream.com