A (Possibly) Stoopid OS 10.3 Upgrade Query

[Mayo]

I am seriously considering upgrading from 9.2 to 10.3 on my iBook and CRT iMac.

Yeah, I can hardly believe it myself!

I am going to wait and see how others fare with Panther, particularly people running older G3 Macs.  And I am going to have to find replacement security apps for my beloved DiskLock, which is incompatible with OS X to the point where the drive needs to be reformatted before I can install 10.3.

My question:  will I need to purchase TWO 10.3 disks if I want to upgrade two Macs?  If so, I may skip upgrading one Mac.  My original plan was to purchase a Rev. B 12" Powerbook to replace the iBook, but I am waiting to see how the new hardware is doing and if any issues surface as people begin using the new PBs.

It is getting to the point where new apps I would like to use are OS X-only, so I see the Writing On The Wall regarding OS 9...

[bobw]

It's illegal to install the same copy of any of Apple's Systems on two different machines, but no police will come to your door if you do, no problems with registrations, etc. Most do this with their own machines anyway.

If you're going to buy a new Powerbook, don't buy Panther. It will come with the new machine.

[pendragon]

Apple hasn't (yet) required any type of copy protection or authentication similar to that done by M$ and others. So the short answer to your question is that while you could technically load panther on two (or more) machines, you would be violating the End User License Agreement.

That all said, maybe a Family Pack (USD $200.00) is of interst to you. The Family Pack Software License Agreement allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple Software on up to a maximum of five (5) Apple-labeled computers at a time as long as those computers are located in the same household and used by persons who occupy that same household. By "household" we mean a person or persons sharing the same housing unit such as a home, apartment, mobile home or condominium.  This license does not extend to students who reside at a separate on-campus location or to business or commercial users.

Probably not the answer you were hoping for, but that's how I understand the situation. Sorry.

OTOH, to OSX!

Harv

[Mayo]

That Family Pack may be the ticket.  I don't mind paying a reasonable fee for licensing, and $200 for up to five Macs vs. $129 for a single license seems fair to me.

Still thinkin' of selling my iBook 600 for the 12" PB Rev. B.  The issues that bothered me about the first 12" PB appear to have been addressed (see this excellent review comparing the Rev. A and B 12" PBs: http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?s=&...ight=comparison )

Can the original Airport card be used in the new PBs?  And is there somewhere I can go online to ascertain the value of my near-mint iBook with 640MB RAM?

[pendragon]

Mayo, I am about 99.99% certain the original Airports are fully compatible with Panther. But if you can hang on about a week, I'll provide a definitive answer.

I have been peeking in on some of the developer sites and have not noted airport problems in any of the beta builds or the GM. And as I have been using an original airport on my DP 800/OS X for nearly 3 years without a single fault or failure, I believe the likelihood of problems is slight. Ergo, my conclusion: not to worry, fugeddaboudit.

Re the best places to buy & sell "previously owned" Mac stuff, alas, I know not.

Harv

[bobw]

The new machines use the Airport Extreme cards, not the older Airport Cards.

[pendragon]

Bob is correct (of course). I was thinking of the graphite base station, not the cards. Oh the shame. Sorry.

Harv