I was sitting with two friends talking about software, when one of them got really excited and started telling us about a film editing program he had just downloaded.
“It’s like Final Cut Pro,” he told us, “only it’s not as expensive!”
Without skipping a beat, our other friend jumped in.
“Final Cut Demo?” We both started laughing, and our techie friend gave us a dirty look then joined in the laughter before continuing his story.
He was talking about Final Cut Express, a scaled down version of the software targeted to the amateur filmmaker. But that got me thinking about software in general, and how much I disliked spending money on a product I’m not even certain I’m going to use. I’ve tried some of the free stuff that’s out there, but my experience has often been that you get what you pay for when it comes to free software. So maybe downloading the free trial of a professional product was the way to go?
You can try out almost any software for a free trial period, from Adobe products to MMORPGs to tax preparation programs. The trial version mimics the standard version of the software, but usually has some sort of limitation. Sometimes it’s only good for a set amount of logins, or you can only use it for 30 days. If you’ve downloaded a game, you’ll have a set amount to levels to complete and thus ending the trial, or your game-play options are severely limited. Or if you’re using tax preparation software, you can do everything on the easy level except actually file your taxes.
Once you’ve reached the end of the trial you’re faced with a choice: purchase the software, or move on to something else? Making a purchase after your trial period has ended is usually simple. Once you’ve made your payment you’ll be provided with a code to activate the full version of the software.