PROGRAM REGISTERING
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        An article by Ed Smith (edmund@zetnet.co.uk)

At one time I was like everyone else who had a working demo of a
program, I said to myself "Why should I send any money to the
person who wrote the program". I can use the program okay and the
bits that don't work I don't need, so it went on until I got a
database program that I was using all the time, but had a limited
amount of records that I could input.  The registration blurb said
that registered owners could input records only limited by the
computer's memory. I thought about it for a bit and finally
admitted that it would be a good idea if I did register it, after
all it was only a measly œ5.

The first thing I did was write the author a letter to confirm
that he was still at the same address (very important to check
before sending any money), the author sent me a letter confirming
his address. Now there was nothing stopping me sending my œ5,
except I still had this fear that I could still be ripped off
(remember this was my first registration).  Still feeling that I
would never see anything for my money, I constructed a
registration form with Protext and with my œ5, posted it. Less
than a week later I received a master disc of the program (which I
immediately installed) plus 2 manuals, which were of almost
professional quality.  The author also sent me a personal helpline
number which I could use whenever I needed help (yes, sometimes
you even get a help line). All in all it had a professional look
to it and the program is excellent, which I use to this day to
store all my addresses.

With that one letter all the lame excuses for not registering
disappeared, so far I have registered quite a number of
adventures.  Even though they are PD, they still have that
commercial quality, imagine how much you would have to pay if you
had to register it on a commercial level. I highly recommend that
people register the programs that they use on a regular basis and
support the authors, if they don't then no one will bother to


produce anymore software. The authors are not there to rip us off,
but we do it to the author if we don't register our software. In
some cases, contacting the author for registration can result in
getting the full version without having to register it. I don't
say this will happen every time, it depends how old the program is
and how many people have registered.

The following are a few tips that you should do before registering
any program:

1. Always check that the person that you are registering with is
still at the same address and hasn't moved. (Very important this).

2. Try and register the newest version that you can, you may not
be able to register older versions.

3. Try and make sure the registration address is in the UK (see
notes below).

4. If it's some other form of registration such as POSTCARDWARE,
then drop the author a postcard (you'll be amazed what can
happen).

5. If you don't register programs, then authors may stop producing
program and cease to support the Atari.

I wrote earlier that you'd be amazed what can happen if you send
an author a postcard or some other form of registration (most
authors like to know where the programs have gone and who is using
them). Well, I sent a postcard to Bob Kell (the author of a well
known disc mag) and now I type articles for his disc mag, which I
never dreamed I'd be doing.

Sending registrations abroad is a bit tricky, because once you
send your money abroad you may never see it again, although that
can happen in the UK as well. In the UK you have more chance of
doing something about it than out of the country, personally I
will only register a program if the author's address is in the UK.

But remember you don't have to register every single program you
have, only those ones that you like and use the most.

Here are 3 well known adventures that I've registered, with the
author's address:

GLASS BUTTOCK OF THARG / GRANDAD AND THE QUEST FOR THE HOLEY VEST
GRANDAD AND THE SEARCH FOR HIS SANDWICHES
Ian Scott, 99 Mill Lane, Bradwell, Gt Yarmouth, England










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