Shareware, Freeware, Public Domain etc

Prior to the introduction of the IBM PC in 1981, user groups and BBSs for other computers (CP/M machines, Radio Shacks, and Apples) passed around user-written software for which the programmers did not expect any payment, mainly because the programs were small, simple programs that could not be considered marketable and for which the authors offered no support. Pre-1980 user groups and BBSs were also notorious passers-around of pirated commercial software.

In 1982, a couple of programmers, Andrew Fluegleman and Jim Knopf (dba: Jim Button), had written a couple of major applications (a communication program and a database program, respectively) on their new IBM PCs. Not wanting to invest the time and money in trying to get these applications into stores, they decided to take advantage of the pirate distribution networks by allowing their programs to be copied, but putting a request in the program's on-disk documentation for the user to send money to the author to finance the ongoing development and support of the programs. Fluegleman called this Freeware and trademarked that name. Freeware wasn't quite appropriate anyway since the software wasn't really intended to be free.

In 1984 Freeware became Shareware and the term Freeware meant software which can be "freely" used without payment to the author, but for which the author retains the copyright to the software.

A copyright automatically accrues to any software which is distributed, for a program to be public domain, the programmer has to specifically label it as such.

THE FIRST ELECTRONIC SPREADSHEET

1978 Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston create the first electronic spreadsheet. Bricklin and his partner Bob Frankston created VisiCalc for the Apple II in 1979. VisiCalc was the first electronic spreadsheet and was responsible for much of the early success of Apple Computer Corporation.

http://www.cis.usouthal.edu/faculty/daigle/project1/78danb.htm

http://webopedia.internet.com/Software/Spreadsheets/VisiCalc.html

Bricklin needed a computer tool to complete repetitive calculations associated with case studies at the Harvard Business School. After gaining popularity as an Apple application, the product was sold to Lotus Development Corporation, and led to the development of the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet for the PC in 1983.

http://www.bricklin.com/visicalc.htm

The Graphical User Interface (GUI)

The GUI had its roots in the 1950s but was not developed until the 1970s when a group at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) developed the Alto, a GUI-based computer. The Alto was the size of a large desk, and Xerox believed it unmarketable.

The fact that both Apple and Microsoft had gotten the idea of the GUI from Xerox put a major dent in Apple's lawsuit against Microsoft over the GUI several years later. Although much of The Mac OS is original, it was similar enough to the old Alto GUI to make a "look and feel" suit against Microsoft dubious.

GUI

http://www.apple-history.com/GUI.html