If a software product reaches end-of-life and becomes abandonware, users are confronted with several potential problems: missing purchase availability besides used software and missing technical supporte. Software might also be considered abandoned when it can be used only with obsolete technologiessuch as pre-Macintosh Apple computers.Ī difference between abandonware and a discontinued product is that the manufacturer has not officially 'discontinued' the software, but only ended their official efforts at technical support.Ībandonware may be computer software or physical devices which are usually computerised in some fashion, such as personal computer gamesproductivity applicationsutility softwareor mobile phones.
In such cases, copyright and support issues are often ignored. It can refer to a product that is no longer available for legal purchase, over the age where the product creator feels an obligation to continue to support it, or where operating systems or hardware platforms have evolved to such a degree that the creator feels continued support cannot be financially justified.
Within an intellectual rights contextual background, abandonware is a software or hardware sub-case of the general concept of orphan works.ĭefinitions of "abandoned" vary, but in general it is like any item that is abandoned - it is ignored by the owner, and as such product support and possibly copyright enforcement are also "abandoned". Abandonware is a producttypically softwareignored by its owner and manufacturer, and for which no official support is available.
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