A few trivial points…
Originally, DAZ software was downloadable as an EXE or MAC files, and the purchaser was sent a unique serial to their account. When DAZ started offering their software for free, and shortly before the site revamp, DAZ created ZIP files which included the installer and a common password in 1 file.
After the revamp, the zip files disappeared, and only the original EXE or MAC files were available for download, and finding a serial for it became a major issue here on the forums. DAZ finally published the serial numbers, and about a week or so ago I saw that hexagon is once again available as a ZIP file, which I’m assuming once again has the installer and the serial number included.
In other news, the ZIP format was developed on the PC. Way back in the BBS days, an outfit called SEA wrote a proprietary file archiver called ARC. Then some guy named phil katz wrote a free version he named PKARC. SEA infamously sued katz for using their copyrighted suffix “.arc”, which raised a TREMENDOUS amount of resentment in the online community. Katz then developed PKZIP which ran circles around the old ARC format and left SEA holding nothing but their bad name. Almost ironically, katz’ free ZIP format turned proprietary when someone else came out with a GUI version of the utility called WINZIP. Later enhancements to these formats were the DOS RAR and the GUI WINRAR format which has become pretty much de rigueur on the internet, and the newer yet 7-ZIP format.
