Feb 27

*Sigh* FastStone Capture Turns to Shareware…now $30

Posted in: Apple, Freeware, Microsoft, Newly Released, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on May 14, 2007 by CyberNet.

FastStone Capture

I’m sure many of you are going to be just as disappointed to hear that the FastStone Capture software is now shareware. Previously I have raved about how great this software is for taking screenshots, but a lot of that excitement was because it was available at no cost. Now you’ll have to fork over $29.95 if you want to get your hands on any of the future versions (lifetime upgrades are included).

They still offer the portable version, but even that requires registration after your 30–day trial is over:

Faststone Trial

The switch to shareware comes right after they released version 5.4 today with a few new features, including improved support for Windows Vista. Here is a full list of what’s new:

  • Added Fade Edge effect. Now edge effects can be applied to 4 edges instead of only 2 in previous versions.
  • Supports external editors (“Edit With” list in the FastStone Editor), which allows you to edit the captured screenshot with specified external editors. This feature enables you to add virtually unlimited editing capabilities to the program
  • Added option “Open in External Program” to “Auto Save” section in the Settings, which allows you to open the captured image in a specified program automatically
  • Enhanced the Screen Magnifer
  • Solved some compatibility issues in Windows Vista

There’s nothing revolutionary in this release that would cause me to pay for the upgrade. So if you’re thinking about upgrading I would personally hold off, and even still I think I’m more likely to buy SnagIt given that it has more features for almost the same cost. This is a really disappointing loss for the freeware community. :(

I did manage to jump over to Download.com and grab FastStone Capture 5.3, which was the last free version to be offered. Luckily I caught this before most download sites updated their files. You can download the FREE FastStone Capture 5.3 from my mirror.

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