Mac OS install on multiple Macs

I mentioned to a relative that I was thinking about getting 10.6. They said they may have the 10.5 install disc(s) I could have. I shared my doubt that I could use their previously installed 10.5 since they had it installed on their Mac until the upgraded (or installed) 10.6. So, if they have the black 10.5 disc(s) and they are now running 10.6, could I used their copy of 10.5 to upgrade (or install) on my Mac?

Along those lines, I imagine if I bought 10.6, installed it on my Mac, I couldn't then share that disc with another person to install it on theirs, could I? So just what are the limitations on OS discs?

There are no limitations on the Mac OS install disks.
Only the disks that come with the Mac (Grey ones) are locked to the specific machine, the ones that you buy in the store have no limitations on them whatsoever.

*However* it is against the EULA that you install Mac OS on more than one machine.
So if you are installing it on more than one machine or using borrowed/shared disks you are doing so against the law.

If they no longer have 10.5 installed on any computer, and transferred ownership of the disks to you, then you can legally install 10.5 on your Mac. If they still have 10.5 installed, then legally you can not use the same disk to install on your Mac.

The same goes for 10.6. You cannot install in on your Mac and then lend the disk to your friends to install on their Mac. That is against the EULA. Apple does has a Family Pack for 10.6 that licenses you to install on 5 Macs. Those Macs however must be in the same house I believe (not 100% sure, but you can look up the Family Pack on Apples' web site).

Apple does not use the Activation scheme that Microsoft uses for it's OS. The license agreement tells what can be done as far as installing the OS, and it is up to the user to abide by the terms. There is no locking the software to a specific computer with the retail OS X discs, only the Grey restore discs or model/computer specific. The retail disc can only be legally installed on one system at any given time.

Just look at it like an honour system.
If you and everyone else abides by this system, hopefully Apple OSs will keep coming out without activation keys, and at a reasonable cost to the consumer

lots of people seem to pass the disks around

I looked on ebay and craigslist for quite awhile looking for a use mini. Almost all used machines say they upgraded to 10.6 but they don't have the install disks. So looks like not many people abide by the honor system.

bjmini said:

I looked on ebay and craigslist for quite awhile looking for a use mini. Almost all used machines say they upgraded to 10.6 but they don't have the install disks. So looks like not many people abide by the honor system.

Click to expand...

Let me put it this way: if such people as that choose to start lying to you about stuff on their VERY FIRST CONTACT with you, what's to stop them lying about everything else?

I don't deal with crooks if I can avoid it.

IF in all caps, their 10.5 Leopard DVD is the Black RETAIL DVD and like others said, is NO LONGER installed on any of their Macs, they can sell the DVD to you and you can install it. But if they keep that DVD installed on their machines, then it would not be legal.

Also if it's an OSX Gray DVD that came with a Mac, it is made to install on that exact model with those specs and will not install on any other Mac computer.

We obey USA Law here at Mac Forums and do not allow any discussion of any illegal software piracy.

Just a note, if they bought the $29 upgrade DVD of 10.6, legally you need to OWN 10.5 or you can not legally upgrade to 10.6 with that $29 DVD.

Thanks for clearing it all up.

What if they did buy the $29 upgrade DVD of 10.6, I would guess they can't legally sell (or give away) their 10.5 copy since technically they are still running the base 10.5? If something happened and they needed to reinstall, they'd need their copy of 10.5 plus their 10.6 upgrade, right?

They can legally sell the 10.5 discs as it is no longer being used on that computer.

SparkyWatson said:

Thanks for clearing it all up.

What if they did buy the $29 upgrade DVD of 10.6, I would guess they can't legally sell (or give away) their 10.5 copy since technically they are still running the base 10.5? If something happened and they needed to reinstall, they'd need their copy of 10.5 plus their 10.6 upgrade, right?

Click to expand...

If they are running 10.6 and needed to reinstall, they would only need to use the Snow Leopard disc to do so. They don't need the 10.5 disc anymore once they upgraded to 10.6. If I were them, I'd sell the 10.5 disc since they are a rare item these days.

If they are running 10.6 and needed to reinstall, they would only need to use the Snow Leopard disc to do so. They don't need the 10.5 disc anymore once they upgraded to 10.6. If I were them, I'd sell the 10.5 disc since they are a rare item these days.

Click to expand...

The problem with that is the Snow Leopard upgrade does not contain iLife or other software that Apple includes with the full boxed version of OS X. Doing a clean install of the Snow Leopard upgrade without having first installed Leopard will leave you short. You really need to hold on to your Leopard DVD set unless you have the full boxed version of Snow Leopard. ($$$)

Regards.

Chef_eam said:

Apple does has a Family Pack for 10.6 that licenses you to install on 5 Macs. Those Macs however must be in the same house I believe (not 100% sure, but you can look up the Family Pack on Apples' web site).

Click to expand...

It's the same household. So a student away at college can use one.

bjmini said:

So looks like not many people abide by the honor system.

Click to expand...

That's a false conclusion. You've only considered one sample set.

chscag said:

The problem with that is the Snow Leopard upgrade does not contain iLife or other software that Apple includes with the full boxed version of OS X. Doing a clean install of the Snow Leopard upgrade without having first installed Leopard will leave you short. You really need to hold on to your Leopard DVD set unless you have the full boxed version of Snow Leopard. ($$$)

Regards.

Click to expand...

Yeah. I was going on the understanding that the OP's relatives had 10.5 installed, then upgraded to SL with the $29 disc.

SparkyWatson said:

I shared my doubt that I could use their previously installed 10.5 since they had it installed on their Mac until the upgraded (or installed) 10.6.

Click to expand...

But like you said, they'll be missing iLife if they have to do a fresh SL install.

LOL
I just got an anonymous bad reputation from this thread with this message:

"Your signature offends me how you are trying to get better rep!"

If I read this correctly, I am not trying hard enough, so I just made it Bold ;P

Regardless, I am so sorry that I offended you (anonymous)!

I got one to in a different thread, so I did this ↓
The person obviously didn't like that I posted a google link.

I thought about changing the link to , just for the bad rep giver.

I guess the OP's question has been answered, so on the tangent...

I don't read the comments left in the reputation system. It's just not a habit, but I also think that's best for me. Although, it might be a hoot sometimes.