Tiger Installation

I just bought my iMac, and they're releasing Tiger?

Well 6 months actually, but it's not long enough!

Question: I know that this is basic, but will I be able to buy one copy of Tiger on two macs? Do I need to purchase multiple copies?

There will mostly likely be a family pack to purchase. It will probably come with like 5 licences for you to install on five macs.

With Panther, Apple offers a "Family Pack" with 5 licenses, so I would assume that they will offer the same package with Tiger as well.

But if I only have two macs is there much point in me buying the family pack? Or is it going to be another Office 2004 scenario where the Teacher and Student edition searches my network for other versions of Office running =/

It's cheaper then buying 2 full copies. Retail for one copy is $129, two would be $258, but the family pack is $199 and you get 5 licences instead of just 2. I guess they figure that people would just give copies to their family and friends anyways, being as there is no way to check it, and provided an option where people can do it legally and Apple gets a bit of money instead of none at all.

Anyways, the family pack would be the cheapest legal way to do what you want to do.

If there is no way to check, then can you be bad and just install Tiger on 2 computers using 1 CD?

Yes, but you are violating your the trust in which apple is affording you and proving the need for draconian product ID policies.

Kokopelli said:

Yes, but you are violating your the trust in which apple is affording you and proving the need for draconian product ID policies.

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What do you think? Should I buy the family pack? Or the single version? I own two macs....(and more to come, but will be purchased with Tiger).

However, I will consider splitting the cost w/ a friend so that he can use some of the licenses as well. I will probably end up with the family pack.

Kokopelli said:

Yes, but you are violating your the trust in which apple is affording you and proving the need for draconian product ID policies.

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Yeah, it's the reason that MS went the "activation" route-- wholesale pirating of their product. Of course keys still got out and people started pirating the no-activation-required enterprise editions instead of the standard versions. All that they were able to do is slow down some of the casual piracy (eg, giving copies to families and friends).

Frankly it's a PITA but I'd hardly call it "draconian". Even if you are unable to activate after a reinstallation you get 30 days to make a five minute phone call to reactivate the product. And this consists of telling them you have completely unistalled the product from the old machine and then putting in a new key that they give you.

djlee12 said:

What do you think? Should I buy the family pack? Or the single version? I own two macs....(and more to come, but will be purchased with Tiger).

However, I will consider splitting the cost w/ a friend so that he can use some of the licenses as well. I will probably end up with the family pack.

Click to expand...

well as long as the topic is "legal" , you wouldnt be able to do that either... its designed only to be used in one household.

I think you should buy the family pack and use it for your Macs. It is a license for the use of up to 5 Macs in the same household and is less than the cost of two individual licenses. Splitting the cost with your friends (unless they are also your flat mates) is not an option.

Draconian is perhaps a stong word, and perhaps even undeserving. I was not thinking of MS in specific but more or less the situation in general. It is the nature of many in modern society to share anything digital regardless of the creators wishes. This in turn forces creators of digital works to take more and more drastic measures to protect the works and increases the cost. It is a dreadful cycle.

Presently Apple is showing some trust in their customers by not requiring serial numbers and online registration for most products. I think it bad form in general to make illegal copies of works, but particularly bad form when the company show some good faith in the end user.