Evaluation service provider Runaware
Tuesday launched its flagship Web-service designed to provide a live test
environment of software applications over the Internet.
Typically, consumers had two choices to make when researching a software
purchase, either install and test a partial “demo” program, or buy the
software and hope it would deliver as expected.
Runaware allows consumers to evaluate applications before they purchase the
software. The service can be accessed from its Runaware.com Web site. Because
the Runaware program offers previews of software with desk-top like
reality, it ultimately provides users with a one-stop virtual marketplace
of full-featured software applications.
Pelle Axeland, founder of the Stockholm-based service provider, said that
its watershed release would revolutionize the way consumers buy software.
“We are empowering consumers by giving them the opportunity to explore and
evaluate software before making a purchase,” Axeland said. “What we have
done is to expand the Independent Software Vendor’s horizon and give consumers
choice.”
Although several leading ISVs have embraced the ASP business model as an
online means to distribute its products, Runaware is one of the first ASPs
that has aggregated top-selling software content for end user testing.
In order to see a program run at Runaware, subscribers simply
access a pull-down a menu that permits them to highlight the category of
applications they would like review. After selecting a software category,
users are a single click away from a full presentation of top-selling
software.
Taking much of the guesswork out of purchasing software, Runaware lets
consumers log on and run popular programs like Corel Draw for graphics and
TeamSoft’s Team Agenda 3.1 office management applications.
Runaware is compatible with Netscape
Navigator 4 and Microsoft Corp.
Internet Explorer 5 for optimum test results. Subscribers cannot yet
operate Runaware on Macintosh systems due to a well-known bug in Apple Computer Corp.’s Java engine.
Apple’s technical support is working on a remedy, but a
new version of its browser may not be available anytime soon, according to
Apple.
In the near future, Runaware intends to provide users with complete
software services that would allow them to customize purchased software
applications.
Runaware tapped Tarantella, a
division of Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
review services.
