AFAIK it wasn't released as freeware but 'free to play' as freeware means free to play and distribute and free BaK license explitely forbade distribution without concent from the copyright holder.

GOG needs to make money in order to keep releasing great games. We can choose not to buy a game for various reasons, but they can not choose to release a new game if they don't have funding for it. If they spend the time and money making it compatible with todays OS, it is well worth the price they charge. I do appreciate the free games, but anything I do buy makes me feel like I get more than a game, but a chance at other future releases. We need to support GOG and keep them in business.

Well, another release I already own. Can't blame GOG, but it is frustrating. I'm still waiting for so many great old games that I do not own--Outcast (so close I can taste it), Realms of the Haunting, Planescape.

Nope! :) Releasing great games is not enough. They have to offer a good deal. Great game + nifty extras + DRM-free + low price = Great deal = People will buy!
Teen Agent is free. Beneath a Steel Sky is free. With the usual GOG-Installer and specific DOSBOX-Settings. And as with BaSK, with a lot of extras too.
No. We have to encourage GOG to make great deals. Offering everything for free is not a good deal for GOG, charging even for official freeware (which BaSK is) is not a good deal for us. Offering the Betrayal at Krondor-CD-Version with extras for a low price ... THAT is a good deal and therefore i spend my money better here than elsewhere :)

Agreed, but $5.99 for their time in making it compatible with todays OS is worth it to me, but maybe not to everyone. I could do this myself with Dosbox, but my time is worth more than $5.99. So I appreciate what GOG is doing and support them with my dollars. I am the first to complain though if I think the price is too high. I guess you just need to ask yourself if at $5.99 are you paying for the game (freeware) or the time it took them to get it working for you on VIsta/7? If it was $9.99, I would not buy, because it is my threshold. I would take the time at that point to do it myself and spend my $9.99 elsewhere.

I don't know if I'll be buying this. I like many others have a list a mile long of to play games. However I did want to say that I applaud GOG for realeasing this. It was one of the best RPGs made in my opinion. I think I say that mainly because I spent some long nights trying to open some of those riddle chests. I remember not getting some of them and just spinning through all possibilities until it opened ;)
As for the free download release. There was a patch that fixed things, but I don't remember if it was an official patch or not. I am assuming that this version is fully patched (if it was official?) Also I am very tempted to buy this simply for the extras (I owned the original when it was first released and remember the manual to be a good read.)
Anyways long story short good release GOG, this is why I love your service.

yet another great game I already own because it was included in a gaming magazine. come to think of it, the Czech magazine scene and its games cover quite a lot of classics...
but nevermind, everyone should have the possibility to try this one, so thank you, GOGers!

Never heard of this. Is it really that legendary?

I've wanted to play this since my childhood, when I first played Betrayal in Antara. Though I thoroughly enjoyed BiA, I noticed that all the reviews decried it as a pale imitation of BaK. I got a copy of BaK immediately after beating BiA, but it was already too old to work on my computer.
Fast forward 13 years. I stumble upon this site, and my first question is whether they have BaK. They don't, so I content myself with Return to Krondor in the meantime (which I just bought a few days ago). It's fun so far, but the weird camera angles, the lack of puzzle chests, etc. all make me yearn for BaK, which is supposed to be superior in those respects.
So I practically passed out when I saw today's announcement. Thank you, GOG! I'm normally pretty thrifty but this is an insta-buy.

I firmly believe that Betrayal at Krondor is the best RPG ever made.
Thank you VERY much for providing it once again!

For any RPG fans here who haven't played Betrayal at Krondor, trust me when I say that this is pretty much the definition of an instabuy. Fun and surprisingly accessible turn-based combat, interesting exploration of a huge game world, great storyline and memorable characters; Betrayal at Krondor has all that and more. Also, despite blocky 3D graphics the game has aged quite well due to its really intuitive interface.
For 6 bucks, this is a GOG must-have if there ever was one...

Fanboy freakout time!
Yes, yes yes! Greatest game ever! Don't wishlist it. Buy it NAO!!!
Anyway, I'm surprised how well the game has aged. The script is still fantastic, the soundtrack is awesome, the combat is still fun, I still suck at the puzzle boxes, the out of combat graphics still suck but the world is so massive and full of fun stuff to do I can forgive that, despair thy eyes is still the most useful spell in any game.
I honestly think any RPG fan can enjoy this game. Probably not good for a grahics whore though.

Since the first day I learned of GOG.com, which was not many days after it opened, Betrayal at Krondor has been the game I most wanted to see here. You have made me a very happy man! Thank you, thank you, thank you, GOG!

You forgot the 'Tamney's song is still great' one :P
Unless that's covered in soundtrack part, but still it deserves separate mentioning ;)

Not questioning that one bit, I just remember back around 98 or 99 while I was sitting around the house during the summer, seeing Sierra release the game on the website for free, and much fun was had for years to come.
Like I said before, I'm probably going to buy it, just like most of the games I've purchased through here I still have the disks of. If it is the CD version, even better, the disk based version had kinda lackluster sounds :/