Freeware is software , most often proprietary , that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user . There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license , or EULA that defines freeware unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the freeware it offers. For instance, modification , redistribution by third parties, and reverse engineering are permitted by some publishers but prohibited by others. Unlike with free and open-source software , which are also often distributed free of charge, the source code for freeware is typically not made available. Freeware may be intended to benefit its producer by, for example, encouraging sales of a more capable version, as in the freemium and shareware business models .
41-556: WinMX (Windows Music Exchange) is a freeware peer-to-peer file sharing program authored in 2000 by Kevin Hearn (president of Frontcode Technologies) in Windsor, Ontario ( Canada ). According to one study, it was the number one source for online music in 2005 with an estimated 2.1 million users. Frontcode Technologies itself abandoned development of WinMX in September 2005, but developers brought
82-576: A .onion file-sharing that is reachable via the Tor Browser. WinMX began its life as an OpenNap client capable of connecting to several servers simultaneously. Frontcode Technologies later created a proprietary protocol , termed WinMX Peer Network Protocol ( WPNP ), which was used starting with WinMX 2 in May 2001. Frontcode Technologies had operated several peer cache servers to aid WPNP network operation. Downloads can be very fast for popular songs since
123-622: A chat room without having to use the WinMX client. Some third-party chat clients also contained useful shortcuts or menus to make administrating a channel easier. For normal users, chat clients or the WinMX client itself could be used to view rooms independently of the server. Web listings of the chat room were also available. Upload managers (MxMonitor and Leechhammer) can be used to control the upload rate of peers and can block certain kinds of peers from downloading, including those who do not share any files. An initial project called WinPY attempted to make
164-470: A client and network with some similarities to WinMX. Fopnu is a decentralized network with the latest advances in P2P technology, pure UDP and with all communications being encrypted. The ad-free freeware client includes chat rooms, contacts list (with private messages), search windows, browsing of a contact's library and creation of contacts groups (to control access to your library). Sharing massive amounts of files
205-566: A legal safe and internationally law domains respecting way. The typical freeware use case "share" can be further refined with Creative Commons restriction clauses like non-commerciality ( CC BY-NC ) or no- derivatives ( CC BY-ND ), see description of licenses . There are several usage examples , for instance The White Chamber , Mari0 or Assault Cube , all freeware by being CC BY-NC-SA licensed with only non-commercial sharing allowed. Freeware cannot economically rely on commercial promotion. In May 2015 advertising freeware on Google AdWords
246-468: A license, but displays advertising to either cover development costs or as a means of income. Registerware forces the user to subscribe with the publisher before being able to use the product. While commercial products may require registration to ensure licensed use , registerware do not. Shareware permits redistribution, but the license only allows limited use before paying the license fee. Some features may be disabled prior to payment, in which case it
287-482: A live list of chat rooms, it also offered a one click solution for joining chat rooms in WinMX via the web page itself with the WinMX Link Handler. As mentioned above, the protocol level attacks have ceased and the network has been operating normally albeit with a reduction in network users; it's currently too early to assess the percentage of "lost" users but it most certainly exceeds several thousand and may act as
328-455: A major WinMX community site was initially scheduled to be released in November 2012, however there were many published delays due to lack of skilled programming support. The project was finally released to public testers as a beta version on September 22, 2013, and under a new name (OurMx) and further releases will continue to be made prior to a formal client release. Historical information regarding
369-505: A permanent list of friends called a hotlist and the ability to display an unlimited number of files for sharing. WinMX is natively English, but language files can be installed to translate menus into the following languages: Chinese, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Sardinian , Spanish and Swedish. A fair number of the chat rooms are in German, Dutch or Italian. In 2002,
410-587: A person to host chatrooms with its built-in Chat function. There are some rooms reserved for chat, some for trading files, and some which allow both. At its height WinMX typically had around 1,500 to 2,000 chatrooms at any given time in a multitude of languages. WinMX also allows its users to message each other using its Private Message function regardless of whether or not they were in the same chat room or are downloading from/uploading to each other. However, settings allow any user to block messages from users if they choose. It
451-556: A promotion for the premium version. The two often share a code base, using a compiler flag to determine which is produced. For example, BBEdit has a BBEdit Lite edition which has fewer features. XnView is available free of charge for personal use but must be licensed for commercial use. The "free" version may be advertising supported, as was the case with the DivX . Ad-supported software and registerware also bear resemblances to freeware. Ad-supported software does not ask for payment for
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#1733085375072492-421: A replacement open source WinMX client. The WinPY project was the most successful replacement client project as a preview alpha version with limited basic functionality was released; however, it quickly stalled due to lack of interest. There have also been several attempts to start new projects to create replacement clients however most have stalled before releasing anything fully completed. One project announced on
533-458: A result of those attacks the WPNP network searches would return random query results (alongside relevant results) that were unrelated to the specific term searched for, and also users were unable to receive a full chat room list. A web based WinMX Chat Room List was set up for users to retrieve a full room list, and also offered the ability to manually add chat rooms to the web list. In addition to offering
574-405: A single entity to be responsible for updating and enhancing the product, which is then given away without charge. Other freeware projects are simply released as one-off programs with no promise or expectation of further development. These may include source code , as does free software, so that users can make any required or desired changes themselves, but this code remains subject to the license of
615-406: A user is joined to. Browsing a specific user's share list is also supported. The channels also allow for streaming audio and video media. Since July 20, 2017, the developers of Tixati have released regular updates of a new P2P file sharing system (network and client) called Fopnu . It's visually similar to Tixati but Fopnu is not a torrent client . In 2012, TorrentFreak listed Tixati among
656-472: A warning for other P2P networks that have protocol weaknesses that can be exploited. In 2009, Kevin Hearn released Tixati , an ad-free freeware P2P file sharing program based on the BitTorrent protocol, enhanced with a channels function where users can chat, share lists of web and media links, stream audio and video media, with all communications being encrypted . In 2017, Kevin Hearn released Fopnu ,
697-513: Is a proprietary Linux and Windows BitTorrent client written in C++ . It has standalone and portable versions with each new client version. In addition to standard BitTorrent client -sharing functions, Tixati provides integral chatrooms with channel chat as well as encrypted private messaging. Chatrooms can be either public or secret. Users are allowed to optionally share lists of magnet or URL links which are then searchable across all channels
738-400: Is also possible to host chatrooms in languages other than English, such as Japanese, German, French and Italian. WinMX started out as a Peer-to-Peer program that connected to OpenNap servers. It can still connect to many OpenNap servers. These servers enable users to connect to a wider userbase and also receive many more search results. Two advantages of running OpenNap is the ability to have
779-447: Is instead directed to look up one of the new peer caches set up by the WinMX communities. In 2008 a new patch was released to coincide with the third anniversary of the two previous patches' release date. Known as the "WinMX Community Patch", it was created through the joint effort of an independent, third-party programmer and the cooperative input and testing from the two communities. Supported and available for download by both groups, it
820-473: Is intended to replace the previous patches being used, allowing all users to once again connect to a single set of peer caches, unifying all users for the first time since the official closure of WinMX in 2005. Commencing in May 2011, the WinMX network had been under protocol level attack from a disgruntled community developer (program hacker) who disagreed with those operating the network support infrastructure (user support forums & peer cache operators). As
861-512: Is much easier (than creating a lot of Torrent files) and has very little overhead. There is an upper limit to the size of files that can be shared : 2 GB. This design decision was to maintain Windows 98 support. The program runs also on Windows XP , Windows Vista , Windows 7 , Windows 8 and Windows 10 , as long as the relevant Microsoft C++ runtime libraries are present. It runs on Linux under Wine . To get started, users connect to
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#1733085375072902-431: Is sometimes known as crippleware. Both freeware and shareware sometimes have a limited evaluation period, after which the software is automatically disabled or starts displaying a request to pay a registration fee. In the latter case it is colloquially known as nagware. The Creative Commons offer licenses , applicable to all by copyright governed works including software, which allow a developer to define "freeware" in
943-643: Is typically proprietary and distributed without source code. By contrast, the "free" in "free software" refers to freedoms granted users under the software license (for example, to run the program for any purpose, modify and redistribute the program to others), and such software may be sold at a price. According to the Free Software Foundation (FSF), "freeware" is a loosely defined category and it has no clear accepted definition, although FSF asks that free software (libre; unrestricted and with source code available) should not be called freeware. In contrast
984-541: The Recording Industry Association of Japan releases a report finding 84% of Japanese who had used file sharing software reported using WinMX, mainly to share J-pop mp3 's. WinMX continued to be the main file sharing client in Japan until it was overtaken by Winny and LimeWire in 2007. Even as late as 2013, Palo Alto Networks was finding that WinMX was the 6th most popular network in Japan. In addition to
1025-539: The WinMX Peer Network (WPN) either as a primary or secondary user. A majority of the functions on the WPN are available to both users, but primary users need to spend more bandwidth, tend to have better connections, and have the ability to host chat rooms. Secondary users use very little idle bandwidth, but their prolonged connection to the network is not always stable. WinMX users can share nearly every type of file using
1066-411: The 1980s and 1990s, the term freeware was often applied to software released without source code . Freeware software is available for use without charge and typically has limited functionality with a more capable version available commercially or as shareware. It is typically fully functional for an unlimited period of time. In contrast to what the Free Software Foundation calls free software ,
1107-471: The OurMX client progress can be viewed by following the link below. Freeware The term freeware was coined in 1982 by Andrew Fluegelman , who wanted to sell PC-Talk , the communications application he had created, outside of commercial distribution channels. Fluegelman distributed the program via the same process as shareware . As software types can change, freeware can change into shareware. In
1148-476: The Oxford English Dictionary simply characterizes freeware as being "available free of charge (sometimes with the suggestion that users should make a donation to the provider)". Some freeware products are released alongside paid versions that either have more features or less restrictive licensing terms. This approach is known as freemium ("free" + "premium"), since the "free" version is intended as
1189-574: The WinMX homepage and Frontcode Technologies' peer cache servers (central servers essential for the WinMX Peer Network) went offline. By September 23, 2005, users were able to download two unofficial patches for WinMX from two unrelated websites. These patches worked by modifying the DNS lookup WinMX uses to find peer caches. When WinMX tries to find the Frontcode Technologies' peer caches, it
1230-474: The author of freeware usually restricts the rights of the user to use, copy, distribute, modify, make derivative works, or reverse engineer the software. The software license may impose additional usage restrictions; for instance, the license may be "free for private, non-commercial use" only, or usage over a network, on a server, or in combination with certain other software packages may be prohibited. Restrictions may be required by license or enforced by
1271-606: The compiled executable and does not constitute free software. A "free" trial is another related concept in which customers are allowed to use a product, free of charge, for a limited time. When a software monopoly has a strong network effect, it may be more profitable for it to offer a "free" trial. Also, customers acquired via a "free" trial have a much lower customer lifetime value as opposed to regular customers, but they also respond more to marketing communications . Some factors that may encourage or discourage people to use "free" trials include: Tixati Tixati
WinMX - Misplaced Pages Continue
1312-409: The files a user in a chat room has, and more. Other plugins performed automatic functions including displaying music files currently playing on the user's computer and aid in posting colored ASCII pictures in rooms. Third-party chat servers were used primarily to host chat rooms on the network. This is because of the improved administration systems in third-party servers as well as the ability to host
1353-418: The network. The most common file types such as audio , video , images , and archive files are available by default, and all others could be configured in the program's settings. WinMX has a file-size restriction limiting shared files to 2GB in size. A user can also only share 5,000 visible files for a Primary connection (unknown if other files would be shared but not listed), and 3,000 files (maximum sent to
1394-407: The option of selecting bandwidth for the other to make sure both transfers end more or less at the same time. On September 13, 2005, Frontcode Technologies received a cease and desist letter from the Recording Industry Association of America demanding that they either implement filters to make it impossible for users to download copyrighted material from WinMX, or shut down. On September 21, 2005,
1435-460: The primary) for a Secondary connection. These limitations do not apply on OpenNap servers. Users can search for almost any file in WinMX. When a user sends out a search, the search is spread throughout the network. If a file is found, the hash of the file along with IP address and Primary node details of the user with the file is sent to the user who made the search. Searches can also be made with hashes instead of words and numbers. WinMX allows
1476-428: The program and patches, developers and WinMX users created third-party programs to either enhance the chat room function or to control uploading by other peers. Most of the software was made by third-party developers for use in the WinMX chat rooms. They include bots, servers to host rooms, and plugins. Bots were used in the chat rooms to either make it more lively, introduce games, or to moderate users, maintain lists of
1517-460: The service back online within a few days by releasing patches. WinMX continues to be used by a community of enthusiasts. Kevin Hearn released Tixati in 2009 and Fopnu in 2017. Fopnu is a client and a network with some similarities to WinMX. In 2021, he released DarkMX, a serverless file sharing client with built-in privacy preserving features and a built-in Tor client, as well as the ability to host
1558-458: The software itself; e.g., the package may fail to function over a network. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) defines "open source software" (i.e., free software or free and open-source software), as distinct from "freeware" or "shareware"; it is software where "the Government does not have access to the original source code". The "free" in "freeware" refers to the price of the software, which
1599-469: The top 10 μTorrent alternatives. The same year, it received a positive review from Ghacks . In May 2015, Tixati was the fifth most popular torrent client by the audience of Lifehacker . On January 6, 2017, the developer announced the release of version 2.52 for user alpha testing, which added an encrypted forum function to the channels. Posts to the forum may be visible to all users in the channel or may be private, between only 2 users. In March 2017, it
1640-418: The user can run a "multi-point download" that simultaneously downloads the same file in small pieces from several users. The WinMX program houses a few built-in features such as bandwidth monitoring, short messaging, and hosting chatrooms and functions as an OpenNap client. Users could negotiate an exchange of their files with the help of the short messaging system or chat. After the transfers start, each has
1681-509: Was restricted to "authoritative source"[s]. Thus web sites and blogs are the primary resource for information on which freeware is available, useful, and is not malware . However, there are also many computer magazines or newspapers that provide ratings for freeware and include compact discs or other storage media containing freeware. Freeware is also often bundled with other products such as digital cameras or scanners . Freeware has been criticized as "unsustainable" because it requires