Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun computing : A software product, especially a video game, whose copyright is no longer defended or which is no longer marketed even by the company who made it.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

abandon +‎ -ware

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Examples

  • We found a workable version (version 2 is better than the 98 version) on Home Of The Underdogs - a site devoted to 'abandonware' - software no longer sold or supported by anyone.

    Light Blogging Laban 2005

  • We found a workable version (version 2 is better than the 98 version) on Home Of The Underdogs - a site devoted to 'abandonware' - software no longer sold or supported by anyone.

    Archive 2005-12-25 Laban 2005

  • Assuming the source code is still kept in useful form by a company that is not ashamed of it, there is little to lose and much goodwill to be gained by releasing "abandonware" -- but those are two large assumptions, aren't they?

    Slashdot: Apple 2010

  • SO, as I see this product now, it is 'abandonware' --- once you purchase it, you are abandoned.

    Digital Point Forums drounstic 2010

  • To be perfectly clear, there is no such thing as "abandonware" -- not legally.

    PCWorld 2010

  • I suspect they are the equivalent of "abandonware" (software that is technically still owned by the company, but it no longer produced or supported by them and is only available by "pirated" download or purchase at a thrift store), or books that have gone out of print and can't be found anywhere but are still under copyright (so they can't be republished and distributed by, say, a fan society).

    Archive 2008-04-01 Becca 2008

  • I suspect they are the equivalent of "abandonware" (software that is technically still owned by the company, but it no longer produced or supported by them and is only available by "pirated" download or purchase at a thrift store), or books that have gone out of print and can't be found anywhere but are still under copyright (so they can't be republished and distributed by, say, a fan society).

    Science Songs for Kids Becca 2008

  • Both Automatix and EasyUbuntu are now unsupported orphan software or "abandonware" at this time.

    Ubuntu "Hardy Heron" -- Observations After Upgrading Steve Caldwell 2008

  • Both Automatix and EasyUbuntu are now unsupported orphan software or "abandonware" at this time.

    Archive 2008-06-01 Steve Caldwell 2008

  • What will the "abandonware" situation for dead MMO worlds look like?

    Top 10 MMOG Trends? 2005

Comments

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  • Kindly use this in a sentence.

    February 20, 2009

  • I kiss frogs with gay abandon. Werewolves I simply hug.

    February 20, 2009

  • a phenomenal band on to ware its at??!

    February 20, 2009