Install SL on more than one mac?

Joined
Feb 14, 2010
Messages
118
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook : 2.26ghz,2gb ram and love it
When I have to install Windows of any type, I have to enter serial numbers and can only use it on that one hard drive. When I got my Mac and from what I have sortta heard, you can install Snow leopard on as many Macs as possible.
I google search but dont seem to find my exact answer. I seem to just keep finding some hackintosh threads on the net.

Can you really install Mac OS X on as many Mac's as you want?. Surely I must have heard wrong?.
 
Joined
Apr 26, 2008
Messages
2,963
Reaction score
120
Points
63
Location
Belgium
Your Mac's Specs
iPad Pro 12.9 latest iOS
Technically .... yes
Legally .... NO

Have a look at Apple's EULA, that will explain.
Also have a look at the Community Guidelines on this forum.

Cheers ... McBie
 
OP
neonmac
Joined
Feb 14, 2010
Messages
118
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook : 2.26ghz,2gb ram and love it
Thanks.

Though, I am not going to actually do this. Just heard it somewhere and thought how could it be true. Seems rather strange Apple of all companies would allow this.

I have no intention of doing this.
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2010
Messages
177
Reaction score
1
Points
18
All softwares are single licenses unless otherwise specified... it is like driving in US, turn on red is allowed unless otherwise specified...
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
And I will also add that Apple is very trusting. I think a lot of us fear that if that trust is betrayed and it becomes well known, it's only a matter of time before they start introducing the same kind of product activation schemes that Microsoft and so many other software developers do.
 

bobtomay

,
Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
26,561
Reaction score
677
Points
113
Location
Texas, where else?
Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
Personally, I think Apple is testing their user base with SL and it's $30 price tag. There is a little known kext installed by Snow Leopard that is named 'Don't steal OS X'. If Apple can't get people to pay an unheard of low $30 for the new OS, we may surely see some sort of activation scheme with the next version of OS X.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
7,295
Reaction score
301
Points
83
Location
Wisconsin
Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini (Late 2014) 2.6GHz Intel Core i5 Memory: 8GB 1600MHz DDR3
Well, Apple didn't have to run a test of the honesty of the general public when the temptation was free stuff with no immediate penalty. They coulda just called me. I woulda been happy to tell them what result they would get.
 
OP
neonmac
Joined
Feb 14, 2010
Messages
118
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook : 2.26ghz,2gb ram and love it
Personally, I think Apple is testing their user base with SL and it's $30 price tag. There is a little known kext installed by Snow Leopard that is named 'Don't steal OS X'. If Apple can't get people to pay an unheard of low $30 for the new OS, we may surely see some sort of activation scheme with the next version of OS X.

A kext?. Does it report back to Apple's servers to report the OS is installed on a different hard drive?.
 

pigoo3

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
May 20, 2008
Messages
44,210
Reaction score
1,418
Points
113
Location
U.S.
Your Mac's Specs
2017 15" MBP, 16gig ram, 1TB SSD, OS 10.15
Seems rather strange Apple of all companies would allow this.

What do you mean by this statement...what does Apple do in any other area of it's business that would lead you to say this?

Apple has NEVER required a serial number or any other sort of validation to install OS software.

- Nick
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2010
Messages
481
Reaction score
22
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
Mac Pro, Power Mac G4, iMac G3, iPhone 3GS
They'll never have activation because Mac OS X requires the world's most expensive hardware dongle.

An Apple computer.
 
OP
neonmac
Joined
Feb 14, 2010
Messages
118
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
Macbook : 2.26ghz,2gb ram and love it
What do you mean by this statement...what does Apple do in any other area of it's business that would lead you to say this?

Apple has NEVER required a serial number or any other sort of validation to install OS software.

- Nick

What I meant by that, was that Apple are very very tightly in control of everything they do and I am surprised they would allow people to be able to install it on multiple machines for free via illegal use of the software. I just never thought Apple would leave an OS free to be installed on as many Mac's as somebody may try to get away with.
I did not know Apple have always had no activation, I have been a Mac user for 7 weeks now.

As I continue to learn about Apple, Well I am see'ing that nothing is cheap from them and they are very anal about certain things.
 

dtravis7


Retired Staff
Joined
Jan 4, 2005
Messages
30,133
Reaction score
703
Points
113
Location
Modesto, Ca.
Your Mac's Specs
MacMini M-1 MacOS Monterey, iMac 2010 27"Quad I7 , MBPLate2011, iPad Pro10.5", iPhoneSE
At $30 it should be a crime to NOT purchase SL! Such a low price.

Also I sure do not want Product Activation and have to ask Microsoft permission on the phone when I change too much of my hardware. :D Can I? Can I daddy? Can I change the video card? Will you give me a new Product Activation Key please? Pretty please?

:D
 

bobtomay

,
Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 22, 2006
Messages
26,561
Reaction score
677
Points
113
Location
Texas, where else?
Your Mac's Specs
15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
A kext?. Does it report back to Apple's servers to report the OS is installed on a different hard drive?.

Don't really know what it does if anything. Haven't checked it out that much since I purchase my software or do without anyway.
 
C

chas_m

Guest
And I will also add that Apple is very trusting.

It's not so much that Apple is trusting as it is that they feel (rightly or wrongly) that its best to treat customers like grown-ups -- as opposed to Microsoft's approach, which has been to assume all users are criminals.

In line with their different philosophy, Apple doesn't padlock their OS -- a trick they are borrowing from Windows' early days, and for the same reasons -- but they do offer a REASONABLY PRICED option for those who actually need multiple copies. They do this with a number of their products, and you'd be QUITE surprised at how well that approach has worked.

Likewise, this is why the iTunes store has done so phenomenally well in the face of easy music pirating; Apple (now) sells a DRM-free, high-quality product at a *reasonable* price, and guess what? People buy it!

As Greg Joswiak once explained it to a few of us, "Apple believes most customers want to be honest and ethical. If you give them good value at a great price, they will respond to that."

So far, I'd say their philosophy is working about better than Microsoft's:
chart-of-the-day-revenue-vs-operating-profit-share-of-top-pc-vendors.gif
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2010
Messages
481
Reaction score
22
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
Mac Pro, Power Mac G4, iMac G3, iPhone 3GS
It's an idea that goes back to the founding, really. It seems that Jobs, while he is megalomaniacal and a perfectionist, still believes in the concept. Apple computers just cost more because the company refuses to sell poor quality products. It's part of the value equation.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top