Mac Box vs Stand Alone Upgrades

[jdcfsu]

I have two Macs that both run iLife and iWork. Buying the upgrades as stand alone, family packs is $198. Buying the family pack of the Mac Box is $229 and comes with a Leopard family pack. I already have Leopard on all of my Macs. Is that Leopard upgrade sellable, is there a market for that? Basically would I end up saving money in the long run by selling the Leopard disk or should I just buy the sand alone upgrades and be done with it?

[remlemasi]

I'll probably wait for Snow Leopard to be included in the Mac Box Set.

[jdcfsu]

Don't think they'd offer that with a new OS update. But who knows, might make since considering Snow Leopard is virtually featureless so bundling iLife/iWork would give it a nice batch of new features.

Either way I don't really want to wait until Snow Leopard is released at some point this year.

[Fahrenheit]

Is that Leopard upgrade sellable, is there a market for that? Basically would I end up saving money in the long run by selling the Leopard disk or should I just buy the sand alone upgrades and be done with it?

I guess we aren't allowed to say what the differences between the family and single user discs are on here?

[Dave]

I guess we aren't allowed to say what the differences between the family and single user discs are on here?

Wha? Why not? The difference is all in the licensing. The family pack is licensed for five computers at one home, whereas the single user copies are only licensed for one computer.

[kieran]

That's true, but the real difference? Nothing. The disk is the same.

It is possible to install the single user copy on as many computers as you would like.

The family pack is for people who like to support a company by not "stealing" software.

[chucker]

Wha? Why not? The difference is all in the licensing. The family pack is licensed for five computers at one home, whereas the single user copies are only licensed for one computer.

I think that, as kieran said, Farenheit's point was that there is absolutely no difference in software. I wouldn't be surprised if the shipped DVDs are, byte for byte, completely identical (though perhaps they are labelled differently / come with different PDFs). You simply buy more licenses. There is no code to check if you have it installed on multiple machines. No phoning home, no "product activation", and no checking if the same serial number exists elsewhere.

[zsummers]

^In other words, at least in this case, Apple does not treat you like a criminal.

[Frank777]

In my case, I have a MacBook Pro running Tiger and I plan to buy a new desktop (whenever Apple gets around to upgrading them.)

My question is, can I upgrade the MBP's OS and iApps from the new machine's disks?
Or do I have to buy a Mac Box set just for the laptop?

[torifile]

In my case, I have a MacBook Pro running Tiger and I plan to buy a new desktop (whenever Apple gets around to upgrading them.)

My question is, can I upgrade the MBP's OS and iApps from the new machine's disks?
Or do I have to buy a Mac Box set just for the laptop?
You will have a hard time using the new machine's install discs to get the iApps onto any other machine. It's doable through some hackery, but it's really kind of a PITA. And, no, it's not a legal use of the discs, so you might as well bittorrent the apps. Save yourself the trouble if you're going to use the iApps without a valid license (I'm not passing judgment this exercise here, I'm just stating the facts.)

[Frank777]

Thanks. I did buy the Mac Box Set, but I am thoroughly surprised that Apple's discs no longer allow you to load the OS onto another computer. (I would never bittorrent apps, especially with the virus warnings lately.)

I'm sure this is good for the bottom line, but it's weird having Apple's OS be the only software I own which I cannot load onto a laptop and a desktop at the same time.

[Brad]

Thanks. I did buy the Mac Box Set, but I am thoroughly surprised that Apple's discs no longer allow you to load the OS onto another computer. (I would never bittorrent apps, especially with the virus warnings lately.)
The "software restore" discs included with the computer have been restricted to that model of computer for many years, for what it's worth. It's not really a recent development.

[Frank777]

Yeah, I gathered that much as I asked around.
My previous system upgrades have usually been from a retail box, so I never noticed the OEM disc restrictions.

It's funny how we ' System 7 era' Mac users can get puzzled when OS X users say "It's always been that way." :D

[cosus]

The "software restore" discs included with the computer have been restricted to that model of computer for many years, for what it's worth. It's not really a recent development.

However, if you get a computer that includes an upgrade disk, it works on any model.