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DXball (MegaBall based breakout game) runs OK on basic machines, you can still get the free version on cnet:
http://www.download.com/DX-Ball/3000-2099_4-10155579.html
Also, NoNags has a lot of games, all free. I would think anything saying it is Win9x and XP compatable would not be too demanding. At Nonags you want the 6/6 rated software, though some of the 5/6 stuff is OK too.
http://www.nonags.com/

I find that crippleware is the more annoying than nag-ware. With nagware and timebombware, at least someone can still test it in a real world setting, whereas crippleware no one can. Whenever I come across crippleware, I don't care how useful they claim it will be, If I can't check to see if it will fit my needs, I uninstall it and look for something similar. If I can't find anything similar, I decide I don't really need it so badly. If the features are not restricted in any way, I will check it and If I decide it is worthy to purchase, I will do so.

IMO, cripple ware was one of the things that has pretty well killed shareware.

BTW, here are a couple sources for unrestricted shareware/freeware.

No Nags
Association of Shareware professionals

Personally I've used http://www.nonags.com/ a lot, and I think it's a great site. It lists freeware and shareware without "nag-screens" or "crippeled" features.

Other than than that, the new site looks lean and mean.

Nonags.com is very similar in mission to this poster's idea. I have been going there for years. It's the first place I found IrfanView, my favorite freeware/donationware ever. I also used them to find Filezilla.

Why create your own? Why not contribute to the one people already know

in this order . .
http://nonags.com/
http://www.pricelessware.org/thelist/index.htm
http://www.doom9.org/ (click on the download button on the left)
http://theopencd.sunsite.dk/
http://www.komando.com/shareware_index.asp
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best.htm

Do I need to mention sourceforge and freshmeat?

Not sure if http://skype.com/ is listed in the above lists - it is surely worth mentioning but sometimes requires a USB headset purchase to tweak it, which is well worth the expense since this software often rivals Vonage service in quality when calling pots lines (non-free) and blows away anything when calling pc to pc (free).

http://grouper.com/

http://www.ultravnc.com/ is almost always my preference over tightvnc.

Realplayer is not that bad if it is tweaked - you have to look for the setting that disables automatic ownership of filetypes.

http://kerio.com/ is my firewall preference over ZoneAlarm and Sygate, although the windows xp built-in is is usable. Kerio keeps an eye on changing files via an md5 hash.

http://grisoft.com/, in most cases, would be my recommendation for AV software.

http://www.apple.com/itunes/ is great if you have the connection for it.

And if you want more free software then download emule.

um uh . . erase that last line

From their intro page: "Before we list anything here we check for viruses, trojans, spyware etc."

From their intro page: "Before we list anything here we check for viruses, trojans, spyware etc."

Independent studios want to create wonderful, experimental titles, but are, in part, held back by business requirements. As businesses, our first priority is to become profitable, and the least-risky way to do this is to create more traditional offerings. (The same is true for large development houses.) Fortunately for us, better middleware tools and increased publicity can free us of this constraint. The former will allow us to experiment and develop easier; the latter will allow us to reach an audience now reserved for the large publishers. As these conditions improve, you'll see independents take more risks.

Middleware comprises the audio libraries, AI plugins, and 3D engines such as Torque, Conitec A6, and FMOD. These tidbits are the lifeblood of independents. Without them, we'd have to code everything from scratch, and you'd see even more Tetris clones than you do now -- little innovation. With them, we're freed from the low-level stuff. We can create games that look and sound good enough to attract consumers. As middleware improves, it'll become even easier to experiment and innovate.

Publicity is trickier -- while events such as the Independent Games Festival allow us to bend the ears of larger publications, it's still the big studios that are going to command the previews and exclusives. Having approached a number of print publications, I've found that it can be difficult to secure a sizable preview for our game, even though I think folks might like to hear about where we're innovating. But even this is improving; sites like The Adrenaline Vault are particularly indie-friendly, often posting press releases from smaller development studios.

I think, then, that it's only a matter of time before the smaller studios attempt experimental titles in substantial numbers. Many will be terrible; some will be great fun. But as it becomes easier to experiment, you bet we'll be doing more of it, simply because we can.

A good site to check out is nonags. It has policy of only carying ad-free, money-free software for those who like to get something for nothing. There is always searching the web. But, I know. That takes effort.

" Those "free" programs you speak of were shareware, and users were on thier honor to pay for them eventually if they continued to use it."

Not true. There has always been true freeware for Windows. Back when I used to have more need for it, one of the best sites for freeware was NoNags. Take a look at their listing guidelines to see for yourself whether these are really shareware.

All that said, I haven't tried to use the site in several months, so I don't really know how good the selection is these days - or whether quality is as high as I remember it.

" Those "free" programs you speak of were shareware, and users were on thier honor to pay for them eventually if they continued to use it."

Not true. There has always been true freeware for Windows. Back when I used to have more need for it, one of the best sites for freeware was NoNags. Take a look at their listing guidelines to see for yourself whether these are really shareware.

All that said, I haven't tried to use the site in several months, so I don't really know how good the selection is these days - or whether quality is as high as I remember it.

1. Open Directory: Freeware - Lists hundreds of sites offering freeware.
2. Nonags - Better that tucows for Windows stuff because it doesn't list nagware.

I've been using Nonags.com for years.

Anyone know of a shareware site that lists crippleware as such, and not calling "X Lite" (where Lite means crippled) proper shareware when it's only a thinly veiled marketing release?

You might want to try the aptly named NoNags.com. Unfortunately, it only lists Freeware, not shareware, which has the potential to exclude some good things.

I pretty much agree with you. I used to recommend PKZip, but then they started installing an "adbot". Yuck. Nagware is a cold. Adware is the flu. Spyware is anthrax. No wonder shareware isn't what it used to be--it decided to make biological weapons so now a coalition of freeware, bundled software, and Open Source is bombing it to smithereens... sorry... too much war on all our minds.

Now that Winamp3 is out, there's no reason to use Windows Media player. Winamp3 plays .WMA audio files, .WMV video files, and .ASF streaming files (audio and/or video), if the codecs are installed on your PC (and they are if Windows Media Player's installed). Winamp wants to send "anonymous" user information back to the mother ship, but you can turn that "feature" off.

Plus there are free MP3 rippers available at NoNags.

The problem, of course, is that new Wintel owners don't know what they're getting into - all they know is that Windows Media Player is already there, so why not use it.

Download Boss! from Rohitab Software at Nonags. It runs in the background; specify your Boss! key and reveal key, be sure to turn off Window minimization animations, and set up as many Windows to hide in its INI file as you want (with only partial titlebar text necessary). When you hit the Boss! key, everything disappears instantly, gone from the taskbar, ready to resume.

The best game? Click-O-Mania (a Samegame clone) is great; so is Kyodai Mah Jongg Solitaire. It's a complete block-puzzle game suite, including Mah Jongg solitaire, Samegame, Columns, among others. If you're not worried about elapsed time, you can play most of these games at your own leisure without needing to pause. Kyodai is the only shareware I've ever registered...

> $40 for an FTP client, $30 for an archiver, ludicrous..

SmartFTP $0
UltimateZip $0

If you don't want to pay for software there are plenty of free alternatives.

see also:
piracy and web design

There is plenty of free software, free graphics, and other free resources. But rather than use Strata 3d base, people would prefer to pirate Maya. Rather than using Gimp, people would prefer to pirate Photoshop. Rather than using Linux, people would prefer to pirate Windows? Why? Because piracy allows people to set their own price to zero and juistify it to themselves. A free market is based on the buyer and seller agreeing on a price. Piracy, by it's refusal to even include the seller in the conversation, is death to a free market economy. This reduces the number of sellers wishing to participate, and therefore the amount of goods available. It could be argued that piracy helps makes Microsoft a monopoly. Few people can afford to create competing products and not get paid for their efforts.

(This is not to argue your point regarding the best approach to forcing AOL to open up -- I agree with most or all of your points. I merely wanted to point out that the AIM client can also be used without sending any revenue on to AOL.)

Perhaps the same will occurr with the MPAA. In seeking such a congressional stranglehold on their product, it can only help the small film, independant, and tiny label businesses. They can begin to release their items under "fair use" provisions that allow people the rights they can not get from the MPAA.

This could be a real boon for them. Music and movies could be delivered free for small producers trying to make a name for themselves by a dotcom similar to NoNags. Another dotcom, similar to Broadband Download Center could give away free snippets (the first minute of a song, like Voltaire does) and sell full versions.

The MPAA in creating these regulations encourages the small creator to avoid the MPAA in order to increase their share of the marketplace. In addition the MPAA has distanced itself from it's clients and encouraged it's clients to find a new source of entertainment. I say we do just that.

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This is just a quick note to say that the DeCSS utility is listed in the NoNags software archive (in the Multimedia section) - automatically mirrored on hundreds of servers around the world. I tripped over it the other day. I don't know if this info helps. (For all I know they were listed as one of the sites in the original nasty-gram.)