I know many of you remember the old Windows 3.11 days, when not only was there no product activation but there was also no ~15-digit license key code required for activation or registration of your shiny new WfW install. Refreshingly, my switch to OS X back in November of 2001 brought back memories of simpler times, since the install media was completely free of any attempts to enforce a per-machine license term. (Of course, Linux users still live in those days.) A friend of mine even borrowed my 10.1 disk since he’d lost his, and there was zero hassle involved since I didn’t have to give him a long license key.
Well, Apple hasnow announceda new license plan for Jaguar that makes it legal for people to do what they were already going to do anyway: install one copy of OS X 10.2 on up to 5 machines, without having to shell out $129 to get a license for each copy. This move is mostly a just PR bonus for Apple, since it allows them to score points against MS withoutreallylosing any money. They know that people are going to buy only one copy for their house and install it on all their machines, and by giving this practice the official o.k. they get to look like good guys at a time when MS’s customers, both corporate and consumer, are getting increasingly incensed by new licensing schemes like WPA and Select 6.0. And right now, the gang in Cupertino really are the good guys when it comes to software licensing, DRM, etc..
