14 DAY TRIAL // Mac users and fans of Apple's proprietary applications will be glad to learn that the Mac maker has eliminated the need of entering a serial number when installing the iWork '09 suite from a retail disc.
This is not the first time Apple approaches its application suites this way. The company has previously lifted “CD-Key” necessities off its iLife suite of applications, as it comes bundled with every purchased Mac. As avid Softpedia readers should know, both iLife '09 and iWork '09 ship bundled with every new Macintosh, hence answering the question “why?” Still, there may be more behind Apple's move... But let's see what the company has to say first.
“iWork '09 retail boxes no longer come with a serial number. Install iWork '09 from the enclosed disc and you're ready to go,” reveals an Apple Support document.
“Though retail versions of iWork '09 no longer come with serial numbers, you will need a serial number if you are using the iWork '09 trial version and decide to purchase the fully-functional version of iWork '09,” says Apple. “To upgrade to a fully-functional version of iWork '09, open any of the trial applications. Click the 'Buy' button and enter the requested information. An email will be sent to you with the serial number you need to upgrade,” the company explains.
An additional note clearly mentions that users of a trial version iWork '09 will, however, need to purchase and enter a serial number in order to gain full access to all of the suite's offerings. For those who buy the boxed software, “Install iWork from the disc that came with your retail box to begin using your fully-functional version of iWork '09,” Apple says.
Macnn reflects on the uncertainty hovering over Apple's move of lifting anti-piracy measures from its iWork '09 suite. As the site suggests, the software is almost surely going to be pirated. Would you go as far as saying that Apple may want iWork and iLife in the hands of as many users as possible, boosting the two suites' popularity and implicitly the Mac's?