As I noted on MacMerc.com, I have looked into Macromedia’s new activation system, and found many of my fears laid to rest.
Fear number 1
If I upgrade to a newer Mac, I won’t be able to install Studio again
According to the FAQ, you can “transfer your activation” from your machine to install again on a new Mac. Very cool.
Fear number 2
What about my iBook? Will I be able to use my activated software on the road when I have it installed already on my desktop?
Macromedia beat you there too. You get 2 activations per license. One for your desktop, one for the road.
Fear number 3
What about my brother-in-law’s friend’s neighbor?
He gets to buy it himself.
Is it unfair for Macromedia to implement this kind of policy? I don’t think so; in fact I think it provides clarification. Did you know that the End Users License on previous Macromedia products forbade installation on more than one machine?
So, while Macromedia is tightening up on software piracy, it is actually loosening it’s policy at the same time.
With one of the largest educational discounts in the business, Macromedia has been very generous with its users. All I think they are asking for now is that we be fair in how we use their software.
September 15th, 2003 at 5:58 pm
Yes, but they’ll also lose customers this way. People seeking to load Flash on more than 2 computers, or lone it to their friends, will be looking into alternatives, like Swish (of course, that’s PC only, but this affects the PC users too). The same goes for Dreamweaver. There are plenty of alternatives out there. In the end, this will be a bad move on their part. Of course, I bet that it’ll only be a matter of time before we find the single line of code to delete in order to disable the activation system.
September 15th, 2003 at 6:05 pm
Macromedia’s New Activation System
Yes, Macromedia has a new activation system, and MacMerc staff member, Brain, has done an excellent job by listing some of his personal fears, which I share. Of course, Macromedia will also lose customers this way. People seeking to load…
September 15th, 2003 at 9:03 pm
It seems like a fair deal to me. Kind of like iTunes. However, I have not succeded in activating both my desktop and laptop. Guess I’ll have to call tech support.
Learn an entirely different product suite to avoid this? No way! It took me too long to get comfortable with this set of tools.
September 16th, 2003 at 12:36 am
The problem here is that I need to remember all of my ‘activation’ applications before changing my computer to a new one. I then need to deactivate those before running the software on the new machine. I can’t simply copy the applications over, as I’ve always done in the past.
And knowing myself, I’ll forget to transfer activations before wiping my old machine and selling it on ebay.
September 16th, 2003 at 8:33 am
Activation always feels like having to ask your parents for permission to do something. The non-concurrent dual installation is a nice concession though.
October 28th, 2003 at 2:48 pm
I am in Macromedia Activation Hell..
I installed it on my iMac & my Powerbook…week or two later, I installed OS 10.3 (fresh install, didn’t know I had to ‘deactivate it’).
I got the iMac reactivated but the Powerbook wont reactivate…the rep on the phone says wait 10 minutes but its been 20…
After speaking with two reps (one for each computer) I gotta say they sound a bit snotty—I don’t need the telemarketing speal about devactivating…they sound like telemarketers…if you know what I mean.
November 4th, 2003 at 7:20 am
Not fair! I have loaded Studio MX onto my work Windows XP machine. Despite the fact that you are allowed to have a second copy on your home machine, you can’t if it’s a Mac, because they don’t do cross platform!
November 10th, 2003 at 8:10 pm
of the year. This year, we barbie will hire hundreds of manufacturing yosilogy staff during the last few months contact lens of the year.
Every year we shoes have a tough time finding good loan seasonal help, we are hoping mortgage that with more folks looking luggage for work we will find more job