14 DAY TRIAL // As of late, Apple is no longer offering the freely-downloadable versions of Aperture 3 and iWork 11 for its Macintosh install base. The Cupertino, California-based computer giant has failed to specify the reasons behind its swift actions.
Previously made available to professionals and regular customers alike, Aperture and iWork must be downloaded as full solutions from the Mac App Store by anyone even remotely interested in seeing what the software is all about.
Aperture is Apple’s flagship photography software aimed at professionals. Those looking to try-before-they-buy are out of luck now, with Apple stating on its web site that “The trial version of Aperture is no longer available.”
According to the Mac maker, customers who currently have a copy of the Aperture 3 Trial installed on their Mac will have to delete it from the Applications folder before downloading Aperture 3 from the Mac App Store.
The same goes for iWork, Apple’s productivity suite comprising Pages, Keynote, and Numbers - equivalents to Microsoft’s Word, PowerPoint and Excel applications.
“The trial version of iWork is no longer supported,” Apple states on its web site. “But you can easily purchase Keynote, Pages, and Numbers from the Mac App Store to start creating beautiful presentations, documents, and spreadsheets today.”
It is not clear when exactly Apple decided to pull the limited versions of Aperture and iWork. However, a thread on the Apple Support Communities forum discussing Aperture 3.2.3 indicates that trial downloads of the photography app had become unavailable as of April 1st, or perhaps even earlier.
Considering it’s been well over two weeks since, this can hardly be regarded as an April Fools joke on Apple’s behalf.
There can be several reasons behind the Mac maker’s decision to retract the trial downloads, including piracy.
The trial version of Aperture, for example, requires activation to unlock the full features that are automatically included with the trial version. This is generally the case with most pieces of software (not Mac apps) distributed as trial versions.
While the trial version of Aperture could previously be obtained by anyone using a Mac, it is only those customers who posses an Apple ID (complete with credit card information) that can now download the software.
Apple is also known to refuse distributing trials or demos through its Mac App Store and iOS App Store.
