Getting Mac software for less

There are a growing number of web sites offering discounts on Mac software. I’ve written before about MacZot, a site that offers a different discount every day. Sometimes I’ve found some good buys at MacZot, including a great deal on the Keynote enhancement products from Jumsoft. I like how they keep a record of your purchases on the site, just in case you lose your registration keys.

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In order to purchase software from MacZot, you do need to fill out a short form to become a member. It doesn’t cost anything to join as a regular member, but for a modest price you can get a “Zotgeist” membership which entitles you to even bigger discounts on selected products, and a free “Zot” on your birthday.

There have also been a number of sites cropping up recently that offer free software as promotional teasers, typically to drive traffic to their sites. Last month, the macappaday site gave some great apps away for free. Whether this will continue remains to be seen, but there is a tease page on their site now that suggests that they will.

At the time of this writing, there were also a few copies of Postino remaining to be given away to those who sign up at MacScoop. Postino is an excellent program for reading RSS news feeds, with support for audio and video podcasts.

One of the most ingenius sites to give away teaser software was MacHeist, which gave away “loot” for successfully completing web-based puzzles. Along with the freebies were discounts for a bundle of ten applications. Although the bundle sale is now over, supposedly there will be one more “heist” in the very near future. Given the length of time people have been waiting for this final piece of the MacHeist puzzle, I suspect it might be a very rewarding mission.

MacHeist inspired a number of “mini-heist” sites, including most notably theAmazon. They gave away copies of PhotoPresenter to those who successfully completed the first mission, and a second mission will supposedly start in the next few days.

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