FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Association of Shareware Professionals
Eric Robichaud: 401-767-3106
Sales only:     616-788-5131

             Test Drive 1,000 Games, Education, Business Tools
                      and Utilities with ASP Advantage

                    DOS and Windows Shareware on CD-ROM

Muskegon, MI -- February 7, 1994 -- Whether your computing interests range
from business and finance to education and games, or computers and religion,
there's a new CD-ROM containing the latest, high-quality DOS and Windows
Shareware programs that might meet your needs. The programs have passed the
stringent quality and virus protection standards mandated by the Association
of Shareware Professionals (ASP) and you can try them before you buy them.

The ASP Advantage CD-ROM, Second Edition, $24.95 (plus $2 shipping), contains
approximately 1,000 programs that will do everything from balance your
checkbook, compare home refinancing rates, print addresses onto labels, master
elementary school math and spelling, or shoot aliens.

"ASP Shareware programs are every bit as good as programs you can buy in a
retail store. The only difference is the marketing method. With retail
software, you have to buy it and then try it. With Shareware, you try it and
if you like it, you buy it," said Eric Robichaud, chairman of the board of
ASP. Satisfied users send payments directly to the software publisher and
usually receive additional benefits, such as expanded documentation, free
utilities, discounts on upgrades to future editions or complementary products
and technical support. The cost of the disk covers only the manufacturing and
distribution costs, not the purchase prices of the individual programs.  "Your
payment supports the publishers, enabling them to continue writing newer and
better Shareware programs."

Users can find programs by searching through categories, such as Business,
Education, or Games. They can also type in keywords to find all products that
might contain fonts, for example. They can then easily copy the programs to
their hard drive to test the programs and see if the software meets their
needs. If users like the program, they are required to send a registration fee
to the publisher.

The CD-ROM is available from leading software stores or directly from ASP
(616-788-5131) and will be updated quarterly with all new programs. To operate
the disc, your computer should be running DOS 3.0 or greater, a hard drive,
CD-ROM drive and any monitor.

"This is a phenomenally good deal for users because they can try hundreds of
programs for free. They don't even have to download the software from bulletin
boards, or CompuServe, which could cost them a lot of money in the form of
telephone charges and on-line service connect time," said Robichaud. "All
programs are ready to run. Unlike BBS versions of the software, which are
compressed and must be opened with other programs. Many potential users are
confused by that process. We make it very easy for every user to select and
evaluate these programs."

A special version of the disc is available for BBS operators. It contains the
files in compressed format, so their users can download the files faster than
if the programs were not compressed.

ASP Shareware is available for programs in these categories: business,
communications, education, engineering, finance, games (arcade, card, word,
other), graphics, home hobby, mathematics, programming, philosophy and
religion, utilities and writing.

All programs meet the ASP standards, which means that all programs are full,
working versions, not demo or "crippled" versions;  and that the publishers
provide full documentation. All these assurances guarantee users will not
become orphaned users, and will have support when they need it.

Founded in 1987, the ASP is the largest trade group of software publishers,
with more than 1,700 members. The ASP grew at a 70 percent rate in the past 1
1/2 years, from 1,000 members. Sales of Shareware are estimated at
$250,266,000 in 1992.