PC Tonic

Want to lay your hands on some non-free software? Most people will very likely visit a torrent site, grope around for the software and download it along with a “crack”. If you too do this, be warned – not only are you supporting software piracy with this, but also you are exposing your computer to possible virus and other malware attacks, which might be hiding in that crack.

Giveaway of the Day (GAOTD) offers you a new licensed software, entirely for free, everyday! You don’t need to sign up anywhere or complete offers to get these cool software. Just visit their website, check out the giveaway for the particular day and grab it if you want! This has made me an ardent GAOTD fan as this is a strong jolt to software piracy.

GAOTD offers almost all varieties of software, that are essential for daily use but are usually not free. These include audio and video converters, rippers, system optimizers, file recovery and backup software, web tools, special purpose image editors, encryption tools, HIPS monitors and so on. Some notable giveaways in the past are:

• Corel Graphics Suite (very popular and costs over $150)
• StarBurn Professional CD / DVD Burner (has better features than Nero; costs $495)
• Advanced Windows Care Personal (has some more features than the popular Personal edition)
• AimerSoft Video Converter (supports almost all varieties of video formats for inter-conversion)

Security software like antiviruses, antispyware and firewalls have never been on giveaway so far. However this is not a problem as there are many excellent free options available in these categories:

• AVG Free , Avast! Home – antivirus (use only one – read this)
• Spyware Terminator , Windows Defender – antispyware
• Comodo Firewall Pro – firewall

Limitations

1. Every software is given away for a period of 24 hours only. You have to download the installer file AND install it on your computer within these 24 hours. If you don’t install it in the giveaway period, you will get only a limited day trial.
2. You won’t get any technical support from the developers of the software that is given away. This is not much of a problem because hardly does anyone use technical support.
3. You will receive updates for the version that you download. However if a newer version is released, you won’t be able to upgrade to it for free. Most of the time, GAOTD does a rerun of the same software every time a new version is released. [To my knowledge, Advanced Windows Care Professional has been on giveaway at least thrice].
4. You can use the software for personal use only.

How can you help GAOTD?

1. If you own a blog / website, you can put a “ticker” showing the latest GAOTD giveaways. There are three tickers available here. You can develop your own tickers as well.
2. You can participate in the GAOTD Forums (it’s free to join) to discuss any problems with downloading the giveaways. You can also request for a special software to be given away.

Visit GAOTD @ www.giveawayoftheday.com