Users will remember what was offered and the companies who were behind the offer.
If the software doesn't work, or causes damage - the company will be remembered for that.
If the software is fantastic, and the users needs and expectations are met, chances are good that users will want to continue this relationship and become registered users to obtain future versions of the program.
Some users seem to expect the best edition of the latest version of the software with all the bells and whistles - but there is no reason why companies cannot offer a "middle" edition or a custom edition that isn't otherwise available. (For example if a company had a Free, Pro and Enterprise - they might want to give away a custom version with features that sits between Pro and Enterprise. But don't claim this custom version is "Enterprise")
But at the end of the day - a giveaway company will reap what is sows. If it doesn't offer anything of value or offers something that breaks - users will say so, and (assuming this is a reflection of the quality of all their products) likely avoid using any of the companies other products.
If a company is generous and offers something of real value to users - the company will win the custom and loyalty of users, glowing testimonials, and word of mouth that money cannot buy.
Ultimately the decision how to play the giveaway game is up to the individual company. But if they aren't willing to go the extra mile to win over users - it is probably best that they don't even run onto the field - because the users can sense when they are being stuffed around with, and you don't want bad press for your company and products when there are tens or hundreds of thousands of eyeballs reading it.
GOTD staff cannot possibly fully test every single feature of every program - nor should they profess to know what software all users want. It is their job to make the software available, write up the promotional material, package the downloads, keep the GOTD site up and running.
If giveaway software has bugs in it - that is the fault of the company - and not the fault of GOTD.
In most cases software doesn't run because something "is wrong" on the users PC - I'm struggling to remember a giveaway that just didn't work for anybody - but I know about a lot of the "individual cases" which are a lot harder to test for because they are specific to a users config or PC.
