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71-518: Windows Messenger is a discontinued instant messaging client included in Windows XP . Designed for use by both corporate and home users, it was originally created, in 2001, as a streamlined and integrated version of MSN Messenger . It was upgraded several times when it was made available for Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 . Since then, its development stopped. It was superseded by Windows Live Messenger and Microsoft Lync . Windows Messenger

142-441: A compiler or an assembler . The resulting executable is machine code ready for the computer. Alternatively, source code can be executed without conversion via an interpreter . An interpreter loads the source code into memory. It simultaneously translates and executes each statement . A method that combines compilation and interpretation is to first produce bytecode . Bytecode is an intermediate representation of source code that

213-409: A corporate copyright holder going out of business without explicitly transferring ownership, leaving no one aware of the right to defend the copyright. Even if the copyright is not defended, copying of such software is still unlawful in most jurisdictions when a copyright is still in effect. Abandonware changes hands on the assumption that the resources required to enforce copyrights outweigh benefits

284-462: A source-code editor that can alert the programmer to common errors. Modification often includes code refactoring (improving the structure without changing functionality) and restructuring (improving structure and functionality at the same time). Nearly every change to code will introduce new bugs or unexpected ripple effects , which require another round of fixes. Code reviews by other developers are often used to scrutinize new code added to

355-430: A trade secret . Proprietary, secret source code and algorithms are widely used for sensitive government applications such as criminal justice , which results in black box behavior with a lack of transparency into the algorithm's methodology. The result is avoidance of public scrutiny of issues such as bias. Access to the source code (not just the object code) is essential to modifying it. Understanding existing code

426-529: A bottleneck. This led to the introduction of high-level programming languages such as Fortran in the mid-1950s. These languages abstracted away the details of the hardware, instead being designed to express algorithms that could be understood more easily by humans. As instructions distinct from the underlying computer hardware , software is therefore relatively recent, dating to these early high-level programming languages such as Fortran , Lisp , and Cobol . The invention of high-level programming languages

497-571: A challenge for continued software usage. Once a software product becomes abandonware, there is a high risk that the source code becomes lost or irrecoverable even for its original developers, as multiple cases have shown. One of many examples is the closure of Atari in Sunnyvale, California in 1996, when the original source codes of several milestones of video game history (such as Asteroids and Centipede ) were thrown out as trash, some of which were later recovered. Unavailability of software and

568-429: A condition of access. ...The register has concluded that to the extent that libraries and archives wish to make preservation copies of published software and videogames that were distributed in formats that are (either because the physical medium on which they were distributed is no longer in use or because the use of an obsolete operating system is required), such activity is a noninfringing use covered by section 108(c) of

639-475: A copyright holder might realize from selling software licenses. Additionally, abandonware proponents argue that distributing software for which there is no one to defend the copyright is morally acceptable, even where unsupported by current law. Companies that have gone out of business without transferring their copyrights are an example of this; many hardware and software companies that developed older systems are long since out of business and precise documentation of

710-563: A group of European museums and organizations started the European Federation of Game Archives, Museums and Preservation Projects (EFGAMP) to join forces to "Preserve Gaming Legacy" . Also in Japan video game software archival happens since several years. In 2012 the MOMA started with archiving video games and explicitly tries to get the source code of them. There are also some cases in which

781-543: A period of three years. The exemption was renewed in 2006, and as of 27 October 2009 , has been indefinitely extended pending further rulemakings. The Archive does not offer this software for download, as the exemption is solely "for the purpose of preservation or archival reproduction of published digital works by a library or archive." Nevertheless, in 2013 the Internet Archive began to provide antique games as browser -playable emulation via MESS , for instance

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852-458: A piece of software, it will no longer exist in any form. However, since the largest risk in dealing with abandonware is that of distribution, this may be mitigated somewhat by private users (or organizations such as the Internet Archive) making private copies of such software, which would then be legally redistributable at the time of copyright expiry. There are alternatives for companies with

923-539: A pointless enterprise. By default, this may allow the product to de facto lapse into the public domain to such an extent that enforcement becomes impractical. Rarely has any abandonware case gone to court, but it is still unlawful to distribute copies of old copyrighted software and games, with or without compensation, in any Berne Convention signatory country. Old copyrights are usually left undefended. This can be due to intentional non-enforcement by owners due to software age or obsolescence, but sometimes results from

994-444: A project. The purpose of this phase is often to verify that the code meets style and maintainability standards and that it is a correct implementation of the software design . According to some estimates, code review dramatically reduce the number of bugs persisting after software testing is complete. Along with software testing that works by executing the code, static program analysis uses automated tools to detect problems with

1065-775: A software product which faces the end-of-life instead of abandoning the software in an unsupported state. Some user-communities convince companies to voluntarily relinquish copyright on software, putting it into the public domain, or re-license it as freeware . Unlike so-called abandonware , it is perfectly legal to transfer public domain or freely licensed software. Amstrad is an example which supports emulation and free distribution of CPC and ZX Spectrum hardware ROMs and software. Borland released "antique software" as freeware. Smith Engineering permits not-for-profit reproduction and distribution of Vectrex games and documentation. Groups that lobby companies to release their software as freeware have met with mixed results. One example

1136-406: A specific platform, source code can be ported to a different machine and recompiled there. For the same source code, object code can vary significantly—not only based on the machine for which it is compiled, but also based on performance optimization from the compiler. Most programs do not contain all the resources needed to run them and rely on external libraries . Part of the compiler's function

1207-419: Is GOG.com (formerly called Good Old Games ) who started in 2008 to search for copyright holders of classic games to release them legally and DRM -free again. For instance, on December 9, 2013 the real-time strategy video game Conquest: Frontier Wars was, after ten years of non-availability, re-released by gog.com, also including the source code. Proponents of abandonware preservation argue that it

1278-458: Is World of Spectrum who acquired the permission from many developers and successfully retracted a DMCA case. Several websites archive abandonware for download, including old versions of applications that are difficult to find by any other means. Much of this software fits the definition of "software that is no longer current, but is still of interest", but the line separating the use and distribution of abandonware from copyright infringement

1349-442: Is an overarching term that can refer to a code's correct and efficient behavior, its reusability and portability , or the ease of modification. It is usually more cost-effective to build quality into the product from the beginning rather than try to add it later in the development process. Higher quality code will reduce lifetime cost to both suppliers and customers as it is more reliable and easier to maintain . Maintainability

1420-423: Is available and cannot be bought. Within an intellectual rights contextual background, abandonware is a software (or hardware) sub-case of the general concept of orphan works . Museums and various organizations dedicated to preserving this software continue to provide legal access. The term "abandonware" is broad and encompasses many types of old software. Definitions of "abandoned" vary, but in general it

1491-495: Is blurry, and the term abandonware could be used to distribute software without proper notification of the owner. The Internet Archive has created an archive of what it describes as "vintage software", as a way to preserve them. The project advocated for an exemption from the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act to permit them to bypass copy protection, which was approved in 2003 for

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1562-419: Is bound to physical media with a limited life-expectancy ( floppy disks , optical media etc.) and backups are impossible because of copy protection or copyright law. If a software is distributed only in a digital , DRM -locked form or as SaaS , the shutdown of the servers will lead to a public loss of the software. If the software product is without alternatives, the missing replacement availability becomes

1633-523: Is devoid of the clutter seen in Windows Live Messenger . Winks, nudges, and custom emoticons are unavailable, and the main user interface more closely resembles the standard Windows XP Luna style. Windows Messenger integrates with Microsoft Exchange Server , Microsoft Outlook , Outlook Express , Remote Assistance and Windows Media Center in Windows XP. Windows Messenger can communicate with

1704-452: Is frequently cited as a contributing factor to the maturation of their programming skills. Some people consider source code an expressive artistic medium . Source code often contains comments —blocks of text marked for the compiler to ignore. This content is not part of the program logic, but is instead intended to help readers understand the program. Companies often keep the source code confidential in order to hide algorithms considered

1775-415: Is like any item that is abandoned – it is ignored by the owner, and as such, product support and possibly copyright enforcement are also "abandoned". Occasionally the author of said software will detach from their creation (due to their death in some cases); in the case of trialware , access to the full license could become unavailable after all commercial (rented) links expire, rendering

1846-471: Is more ethical to make copies of such software than new software that still sells. Some have incorrectly taken this to mean that abandonware is legal to distribute, although no software written since 1964 is old enough for copyright to have expired in the US. Even in cases where the original company no longer exists, the rights usually belong to someone else, though no one may be able to trace actual ownership, including

1917-496: Is necessary to understand how it works and before modifying it. The rate of understanding depends both on the code base as well as the skill of the programmer. Experienced programmers have an easier time understanding what the code does at a high level. Software visualization is sometimes used to speed up this process. Many software programmers use an integrated development environment (IDE) to improve their productivity. IDEs typically have several features built in, including

1988-466: Is not in the public domain , as it has never had its original copyright officially revoked and some company or individual may still own rights. While sharing of such software is usually considered copyright infringement, in practice copyright holders rarely enforce their abandonware copyrights for a number of reasons – chiefly among which the software is technologically obsolete and therefore has no commercial value, therefore rendering copyright enforcement

2059-656: Is not uncommon, as rights to the No One Lives Forever series illustrates. The problem of missing technical support for a software can be most effectively solved when the source code becomes available. Therefore, several companies decided to release the source code specifically to allow the user communities to provide further technical software support (bug fixes, compatibility adaptions etc.) themselves, e.g. by community patches or source ports to new computing platforms . For instance, in December 2015 Microsoft released

2130-470: Is quickly interpreted. The first programmable computers, which appeared at the end of the 1940s, were programmed in machine language (simple instructions that could be directly executed by the processor). Machine language was difficult to debug and was not portable between different computer systems. Initially, hardware resources were scarce and expensive, while human resources were cheaper. As programs grew more complex, programmer productivity became

2201-476: Is recognized (see Orphan works in the United States ). There is a long-held concept of abandonment in trademark law as a direct result of the infinite term of trademark protection. Currently, a copyright can be released into the public domain if the owner clearly does so in writing; however this formal process is not considered abandoning, but rather releasing. Those who do not own a copyright cannot merely claim

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2272-561: Is that many software engineering courses do not emphasize it. Development engineers who know that they will not be responsible for maintaining the software do not have an incentive to build in maintainability. The situation varies worldwide, but in the United States before 1974, software and its source code was not copyrightable and therefore always public domain software . In 1974, the US Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) decided that "computer programs, to

2343-443: Is the library of educational titles released by MECC . MECC was sold to Brøderbund, which was sold to The Learning Company . When TLC was contacted about releasing classic MECC titles as freeware, the documentation proving that TLC held the rights to these titles could not be located, and therefore the rights for these titles are "in limbo " and may never be legally released. Lost or unclear copyrights to vintage out-of-print software

2414-463: Is the office suite StarOffice which was released by Sun Microsystems in October 2000 as OpenOffice.org and is in continued development as Collabora Online , LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice , a broad range of enterprise level support options are available. There are also many examples in the video game domain: Revolution Software released their game Beneath a Steel Sky as freeware and gave

2485-477: Is the quality of software enabling it to be easily modified without breaking existing functionality. Following coding conventions such as using clear function and variable names that correspond to their purpose makes maintenance easier. Use of conditional loop statements only if the code could execute more than once, and eliminating code that will never execute can also increase understandability. Many software development organizations neglect maintainability during

2556-418: Is to link these files in such a way that the program can be executed by the hardware. Software developers often use configuration management to track changes to source code files ( version control ). The configuration management system also keeps track of which object code file corresponds to which version of the source code file. The number of lines of source code is often used as a metric when evaluating

2627-603: The APL programming language followed. Adobe Systems, Inc. donated the Photoshop 1.0.1 source code to the collection in February 2013. The source code is made available to the public under an own non-commercial license. On March 25, 2014, Microsoft followed with the donation of MS-DOS variants as well as Word for Windows 1.1a under their own license. On October 21, 2014, Xerox Alto 's source code and other resources followed. In 2012

2698-651: The Atari 2600 game E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial . Since 23 December 2014 the Internet Archive presents via a browser based DOSBox emulation thousands of archived DOS / PC games for "scholarship and research purposes only" . Starting around 2006, The Library of Congress began the long-time preservation of video games with the Game canon list. In September 2012 the collection had nearly 3,000 games from many platforms and also around 1,500 strategy guides. For instance,

2769-521: The Windows Live Writer source code to allow the community to continue the support. Id Software and 3D Realms are early proponents in this practice, releasing the source code for the game engines of some older titles under a free software license (but not the actual game content, such as levels or textures). Also Falcon 4.0 's lead designer Kevin Klemmick argued in 2011 that availability of

2840-650: The source code of the unreleased PlayStation Portable game Duke Nukem: Critical Mass was discovered in August 2014 to be preserved at the Library of Congress. Since around 2009 the International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG) has taken a five-pronged approach to video game preservation: original software and hardware, marketing materials and publications, production records, play capture, and finally

2911-552: The Association's efforts are devoted to new games, due to those titles possessing the greatest value. In the EU in 2012, an "Orphan Works Directive" ( Directive 2012/28/EU ) was constituted and is transferred into the members' laws. While the terminology has ambiguities regarding software and especially video games, some scholars argue that abandonware software video games fall under the definition of audiovisual works mentioned there. Once

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2982-587: The Colecovision. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) can be a problem for the preservation of old software as it prohibits required techniques. In October 2003, the US Congress passed 4 clauses to the DMCA which allow for reverse engineering software in case of preservation. "3. Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and which require the original media or hardware as

3053-467: The Copyright Act." In November 2006 the Library of Congress approved an exemption to the DMCA that permits the cracking of copy protection on software no longer being sold or supported by its copyright holder so that they can be archived and preserved without fear of retribution. Currently, US copyright law does not recognize the term or concept of "abandonware" while the general concept "orphan works"

3124-660: The Exchange Server 2000's Instant Messaging Service and Microsoft Messenger Service . Interoperability with third-party software is exposed through a COM API called the Real Time Communications (RTC) Client API . Development of Windows Messenger was halted after version 5.1 in favor of Windows Live Messenger and Microsoft Lync . Discontinued software Abandonware is a product , typically software , ignored by its owner and manufacturer, which can no longer be found for sale, and for which no official support

3195-483: The United States, copyright durations are determined based on authorship. For most published works, the duration is 70 years after the author's death. However, for anonymous works, works published under a pseudonym or works made for hire, the duration is 120 years after creation, or 95 years after publication, whichever comes first. In France, copyright durations are 70 years after the relevant date (date of author's death or publication) for either class. However, because of

3266-587: The associated source code can also be a hindrance for software archaeology and research. As response to the missing availability of abandonware, people have distributed old software since shortly after the beginning of personal computing , but the activity remained low-key until the advent of the Internet . While trading old games has taken many names and forms, the term "abandonware" was coined by Peter Ringering in late 1996. Ringering found classic game websites similar to his own, contacted their webmasters, and formed

3337-482: The binary executables . Often the results are distributed as unofficial patches . Notable examples are Fallout 2 , Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines or even Windows 98 . Windows XP would also get a community support via unofficial service pack, with POSReady registry hack , as well as Windows 2000 receiving a fanmade extended kernel For instance, in 2012, when the multiplayer game Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance became unsupported abandonware as

3408-544: The code was co-developed by Microsoft. Nevertheless, several notable examples of successfully opened commercial software exist, for instance, the web browser Netscape Communicator , which was released by Netscape Communications on March 31, 1998. The development was continued under the umbrella of the Mozilla Foundation and Netscape Communicator became the basis of several browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox . Another important example for open sourced general software

3479-493: The copyright abandoned and start using protected works without permission of the copyright holder, who could then seek legal remedy . Hosting and distributing copyrighted software without permission is illegal. Copyright holders, sometimes through the Entertainment Software Association , send cease and desist letters , and some sites have shut down or removed infringing software as a result. However, most of

3550-551: The copyright on a piece of software has expired, it automatically falls into public domain . Such software can be legally distributed without restrictions. However, due to the length of copyright terms in most countries, this has yet to happen for most software. All countries that observe the Berne Convention enforce copyright ownership for at least 50 years after publication or the author's death. However, individual countries may choose to enforce copyrights for longer periods. In

3621-489: The copyrights may not be readily available. Often the availability of abandonware on the Internet is related to the willingness of copyright holders to defend their copyrights. For example, unencumbered games for Colecovision are markedly easier to find on the Internet than unencumbered games for Mattel Intellivision in large part because there is still a company that sells Intellivision games while no such company exists for

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3692-426: The creative teams behind all those games have long since left the companies that published them, so there's no way the people who deserve to are still making royalties off them. So go ahead—steal this game! Spread the love! If I owned the copyright on Total Annihilation , I would probably allow it to be shared for free by now (four years after it was originally released) In most cases, software classed as abandonware

3763-426: The development phase, even though it will increase long-term costs. Technical debt is incurred when programmers, often out of laziness or urgency to meet a deadline, choose quick and dirty solutions rather than build maintainability into their code. A common cause is underestimates in software development effort estimation , leading to insufficient resources allocated to development. A challenge with maintainability

3834-493: The engine's source code to the authors of ScummVM to add support for the game. Other examples are Myth II , Call to Power II and Microsoft's Allegiance which were released to allow the community to continue the support. Source code Since a computer, at base, only understands machine code , source code must be translated before a computer can execute it. The translation process can be implemented three ways. Source code can be converted into machine code by

3905-406: The extent that they embody an author's original creation, are proper subject matter of copyright". Proprietary software is rarely distributed as source code. Although the term open-source software literally refers to public access to the source code , open-source software has additional requirements: free redistribution, permission to modify the source code and release derivative works under

3976-475: The instructions can be carried out. After being compiled, the program can be saved as an object file and the loader (part of the operating system) can take this saved file and execute it as a process on the computer hardware. Some programming languages use an interpreter instead of a compiler. An interpreter converts the program into machine code at run time , which makes them 10 to 100 times slower than compiled programming languages. Software quality

4047-399: The length of copyright enforcement in most countries, it is likely that by the time a piece of software defaults to public domain, it will have long become obsolete, irrelevant, or incompatible with any existing hardware. Additionally, due to the relatively short commercial, as well as physical, lifespans of most digital media, it is entirely possible that by the time the copyright expires for

4118-434: The need of abandonware because re-release of software by copyright holders will most likely target modern systems or incompatible media instead, preventing legal purchase of compatible software. Some game developers showed sympathy for abandonware websites as they preserve their classical game titles. [...] personally, I think that sites that support these old games are a good thing for both consumers and copyright owners. If

4189-432: The official multiplayer server and support was shut down, the game community itself took over with a self-developed multiplayer server and client . With the new possibility of digital distribution arising in mid-2000, the commercial distribution for many old titles became feasible again as deployment and storage costs dropped significantly. A digital distributor specialized in bringing old games out of abandonware

4260-440: The options are (a) having a game be lost forever and (b) having it available on one of these sites, I'd want it to be available. That being said, I believe a game is 'abandoned' only long after it is out of print. And just because a book is out of print does not give me rights to print some for my friends. Is it piracy? Yeah, sure. But so what? Most of the game makers aren't living off the revenue from those old games anymore. Most of

4331-574: The original Abandonware Ring in February 1997. This original webring was little more than a collection of sites linking to adventureclassicgaming.com. Another was a site indexing them all to provide a rudimentary search facility. In October 1997, the Interactive Digital Software Association sent cease and desist letters to all sites within the Abandonware Ring, which led to most shutting down. An unintended consequence

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4402-413: The owners themselves. Abandonware advocates also frequently cite historical preservation as a reason for trading abandoned software. Older computer media are fragile and prone to rapid deterioration, necessitating transfer of these materials to more modern, stable media and generation of many copies to ensure the software will not simply disappear. Users of still-functional older computer systems argue for

4473-465: The productivity of computer programmers, the economic value of a code base, effort estimation for projects in development, and the ongoing cost of software maintenance after release. Source code is also used to communicate algorithms between people – e.g., code snippets online or in books. Computer programmers may find it helpful to review existing source code to learn about programming techniques. The sharing of source code between developers

4544-428: The program impossible to access after the trial ends. This is the case of programs such as ClickRepair . If a software product reaches end-of-life and becomes abandonware, users are confronted with several potential problems: missing purchase availability (besides used software) and missing technical support , e.g. compatibility fixes for newer hardware and operating systems. These problems are exacerbated if software

4615-640: The source code of games was given to a fan community for long-time preservation, e.g. several titles of the Wing Commander video game series or Ultima 9 of the Ultima series . In response to the missing software support, sometimes the software's user community begins to provide support ( bug fixes , compatibility adaptions etc.) even without available source code, internal software documentation and original developer tools. Methods are debugging , reverse engineering of file and data formats, and hacking

4686-401: The source code of his software for the community was a good thing: I honestly think this [source code release] should be standard procedure for companies that decide not to continue to support a code base. The chilling effect of drawing a possible lawsuit can discourage release of source code. Efforts to persuade IBM to release OS/2 as open source software were ignored since some of

4757-514: The source code. In December 2013 the ICHEG received a donation of several SSI video games, for instance Computer Bismarck , including the source code for preservation. In 2014 a collection of Brøderbund games and a "virtually complete" Atari arcade machine source code and asset collection was added. In 2010 Computer History Museum began with the preservation of source code of important software, beginning with Apple 's MacPaint 1.3. In 2012

4828-414: The source code. Many IDEs support code analysis tools, which might provide metrics on the clarity and maintainability of the code. Debuggers are tools that often enable programmers to step through execution while keeping track of which source code corresponds to each change of state. Source code files in a high-level programming language must go through a stage of preprocessing into machine code before

4899-410: Was introduced in Windows XP on October 22, 2001. It is enabled by default. Its features include instant messaging , presence awareness, support for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), file transfer, application sharing and whiteboarding . Later versions added "ink" support and integration with Microsoft Lync Server (formerly Microsoft Office Communications Server). Windows Messenger's user interface

4970-480: Was simultaneous with the compilers needed to translate the source code automatically into machine code that can be directly executed on the computer hardware . Source code is the form of code that is modified directly by humans, typically in a high-level programming language. Object code can be directly executed by the machine and is generated automatically from the source code, often via an intermediate step, assembly language . While object code will only work on

5041-605: Was that it spurred others to create new abandonware sites and organizations that came to outnumber the original Ring members. Sites formed after the demise of the original Abandonware Ring include Abandonia , Bunny Abandonware and Home of the Underdogs . In later years abandonware websites actively acquired and received permissions from developers and copyright holders (e.g. Jeff Minter , Magnetic Fields or Gremlin Interactive ) for legal redistribution of abandoned works; an example

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