The Internet world is full of shareware and freeware. Just choose the operating system, the type of software you need ant Pronto!, the freeware is all yours. But beware, the freewares world is full of malware and spyware. The moment you download these into your machine, these trojans and malware spring into action, tampering with the vitals of your PC. Not all freewares can be classified as villains. Many are genuine freewares in that they offer software for personal use totally free of costs with free updates thrown in. For a reasonable license fee, you get commercial version of the same. Sharewares are also available with software limitations.

Again one has to judiciously visit the sites offering freewares. A tool like McAfee Site Advisor would be of great help to warn you about the possible dangers of downloading from the site. Freewares are third party software and as such you have to exercise caution in that these software do not guarantee you the results that they promise. Moreover some of the freewares may irreparably damage your system in that they alter the settings of your PC. For example if you download a free windows registry editor, then unless you are fully aware of what you are doing, the tampering with the registry and permanently removing the entries might result in serious damage to your operating system.

You have to be careful in that unless it is absolutely necessary , you should not go in for downloading freeware software, however attractive and useful they sound. Use your discretion and if any software is indispensable for your computing needs, then download it.