Adobe begins Mac activation for CS 2 [Archive]

Blue Velvet

Apr 4, 2005, 10:09 AM

No worries... it's a nuisance but from recent experience with Xpress, it's relatively painless.

Mind you, that was installing it on new machines. We'll see how painless it becomes if those machines ever need upgrading or servicing, necessitating a whole new activation process.

nagromme

Apr 4, 2005, 10:30 AM

It's pretty painless with Macromedia (and a lot like iTMS), but still an annoying extra step to think about sometimes.

A warm thank you to all the "casual pirates" out there :o

wrldwzrd89

Apr 4, 2005, 11:22 AM

devman

Apr 4, 2005, 11:34 AM

If the activation process truly is implemented the way the article describes it and it lives up to expectations, nobody will think much of it, and it will become a normal part of software installation. That's what I think Adobe's theory is...

Two big IFs there though but yep, well said and I agree.

ps. I really like their two installs license

madmaxmedia

Apr 4, 2005, 02:24 PM

I think product activation is the wave of the future, just like plastics.

I understand why people think it's a pain, but right now it's just too easy for people to download pirated software.

Good thing there's no way to implement this with music CD's, now that would be a pain!!

bousozoku

Apr 4, 2005, 02:26 PM

It sounds okay to me. The only problem I had with Macromedia is that Archive and Install upgrades still didn't allow MX Studio 2004 to work but Macromedia has since provided a kick start application to fix that.

yg17

Apr 6, 2005, 04:57 PM

I dont understand why they waste their time.

Every product that has had activation that I can think of (Windows XP, Norton Anti-Virus, CS1 for Windows, ect) has been cracked. This one will be cracked too, I guarantee it. Seems like a waste of time and money for them IMO

wdlove

Apr 6, 2005, 05:32 PM

Two big IFs there though but yep, well said and I agree.

ps. I really like their two installs license

I'm one of those "honest customers." My wife has CS installed on her PowerBook, so I thought it wouldn't be allowed on my Power Mac. So this is great news. :)

Agathon

Apr 6, 2005, 06:50 PM

What a waste of time. This will do absolutely nothing to stop piracy, and will just inconvenience Adobe's customers.

I sometimes wonder if the people who run these companies live in the real world.

yg17

Apr 6, 2005, 10:55 PM

What a waste of time. This will do absolutely nothing to stop piracy, and will just inconvenience Adobe's customers.

I sometimes wonder if the people who run these companies live in the real world.

Ditto. When Microsoft first tried it with XP, it seemed like it was the answer to piracy...........

.........Until it was cracked months before XP was actually released

7on

Apr 7, 2005, 12:24 AM

Well I think what would be the best anti-piracy method would be bind the Adobe software key with your Macintosh's Serial Number. Perhaps even as going as far as generating an adobe serial number from the hardware serial number so that that serial number for that specific Adobe app would be only useful on that machine.

It's kinda like a hardware key (which I'm totally in favor of, being dyslexic and all «damn serial numbers») except it doesn't take up a USB slot and is harder to steal.

Personally what I'd like to see happen is that software itself is free. The CDs are given out freely and Bit-torrent is embraced commercially. However to use and install the software you'd have to purchase a serial number which would be mailed to you and generated based on your Macintosh's hardware serial number. Of course this wouldn't work on PCs because you can spoof the Windows OS's serial number quite easily and hardware serial numbers don't exist. You can't fake a Macintosh serial number without prying the firmware chip off the logicboard and putting another in.

Lacero

Apr 7, 2005, 12:52 AM

You can't fake a Macintosh serial number without prying the firmware chip off the logicboard and putting another in.Ah, so this is how Apple keeps track of their customers. And I'm pretty sure they know the percentage of their software is pirated or not. It's easier to enforce piracy on a small closed platform such as Macintosh, but for Windows, it may prove a trickier task.

devman

Apr 7, 2005, 03:06 AM

I'm one of those "honest customers." My wife has CS installed on her PowerBook, so I thought it wouldn't be allowed on my Power Mac. So this is great news. :)

Um, I don't think that is permitted. Here's the section from the PhotoShop CS EULA.

2.4 Portable or Home Computer Use. The primary user of the Computer on which the Software is installed may install a second copy of the Software for his or her exclusive use on either a portable Computer or a Computer located at his or her home, provided the Software on the portable or home Computer is not used at the same time as the Software on the primary Computer.

Timelessblur

Apr 7, 2005, 03:24 AM

Ditto. When Microsoft first tried it with XP, it seemed like it was the answer to piracy...........

.........Until it was cracked months before XP was actually released

Umm the activation was never really cracked. It was corparte edition people started using that dont have activation so it was by passed. To crack (more so by pass) the activation on a non corparate copy you have to really know what you are doing and that is when you have a guild on how to do it. I think I read some where that MS is going to have activation in all of it edition for longhorn because Pirate is so rampaned. Plus Pirate copy dont get service packs an only crictical secuirty updates. All the updates to remove bugs and to make the OS better they are not going ot be allowed to get

Activiction is not going to stop the hard core pirates but it will slow down to stop all but the hard core and it makes it a lot more trouble to pirate software.

If thier was no activation pircity would increase. I find the people who complain about it the most are the one that pirate the software. Ones that pay for it just find it slightly inconvent but no really problem with it.

It is the piraters fault that we have it.

Lacero

Apr 7, 2005, 03:28 AM

Umm the activation was never really cracked. It was corparte edition people started using that dont have activation so it was by passed. To crack (more so by pass) the activation on a non corparate copy you have to really know what you are doing and that is when you have a guild on how to do it. I think I read some where that MS is going to have activation in all of it edition for longhorn because Pirate is so rampaned. Plus Pirate copy dont get service packs an only crictical secuirty updates. All the updates to remove bugs and to make the OS better they are not going ot be allowed to get

Activiction is not going to stop the hard core pirates but it will slow down to stop all but the hard core and it makes it a lot more trouble to pirate software.

If thier was no activation pircity would increase. I find the people who complain about it the most are the one that pirate the software. Ones that pay for it just find it slightly inconvent but no really problem with it.

It is the piraters fault that we have it.Please go to Edit menu in Safari, and checkmark on "Check Spelling as You Type"

Nermal

Apr 7, 2005, 04:54 AM

To crack (more so by pass) the activation on a non corparate copy you have to really know what you are doing and that is when you have a guild on how to do it.

It's actually not that difficult. As a moderator I'm supposed to set an example, so I won't go into details, but I've done it myself :)

typecase

Apr 7, 2005, 12:36 PM

Activation is useless and is a royal pain for honest users. I was a PC user until recently so I had to use Adobe's activation on Photoshop. Everytime you rebuild a hard disk or upgrade a hard disk you cannot use the software until you activate. This would be fine until you run into problems with activation and it eats away hours of your life, especially if you have to wait for a live representative. Pirates will crack the activation (and yes, you can crack it, even on XP) so why this is implemented is beyond me other than to make paying customers life a little worse. :mad:

Abstract

Apr 8, 2005, 02:22 AM

Well I think what would be the best anti-piracy method would be bind the Adobe software key with your Macintosh's Serial Number. Perhaps even as going as far as generating an adobe serial number from the hardware serial number so that that serial number for that specific Adobe app would be only useful on that machine.

(snip)

You can't fake a Macintosh serial number without prying the firmware chip off the logicboard and putting another in.

Firstly, attaching the Adobe SN with your hardware serial number is not a good idea if you EVER have a logic board problem, or USB/FW problem, or any problem involving the replacement of the entire board.

Secondly, to say that having users require a SN to use the software is useless is like saying that keys to a car are useless. Surely anyone who wants to get in can do so by breaking the window, so why not leave your car unlocked?
While software can be cracked, not everyone goes and gets the cracked software. There are a lot of people out there who wouldn't mind installing someone elses software on their computer if they could do it easily. However, once they find that they can't because they don't have the SN, or the SN doesn't work for them, they give up. Most people don't know what a crack is, or how to get one.

So yes, SN's work, but it doesn't work on nerds. :p :cool:

Timelessblur

Apr 8, 2005, 02:48 AM

Please go to Edit menu in Safari, and checkmark on "Check Spelling as You Type"

Not happening. I hate Safari and I will never use it end of story. I like firefox a lot more.

Activation is useless and is a royal pain for honest users. I was a PC user until recently so I had to use Adobe's activation on Photoshop. Everytime you rebuild a hard disk or upgrade a hard disk you cannot use the software until you activate. This would be fine until you run into problems with activation and it eats away hours of your life, especially if you have to wait for a live representative. Pirates will crack the activation (and yes, you can crack it, even on XP) so why this is implemented is beyond me other than to make paying customers life a little worse. :mad:

It reduces piratecy by a huge amont because of the increase diffuctily in getting around it. Not completely get ride of it but it does reduces it by a large enough amont to make it worth it.

There is a very valid reason for it and if you want to blame any one blame the one who pirate the stuff because it is a defence against them. If thier was no one pirating the stuff there would be no activation.

JeDiBoYTJ

Apr 8, 2005, 10:59 AM

dotdotdot

Apr 8, 2005, 10:52 PM

It reduces piratecy by a huge amont because of the increase diffuctily in getting around it. Not completely get ride of it but it does reduces it by a large enough amont to make it worth it.

There is a very valid reason for it and if you want to blame any one blame the one who pirate the stuff because it is a defence against them. If thier was no one pirating the stuff there would be no activation.

It increases piracy actually...

If you think about it, not everyone here would, but if you can buy a program for like $10 or $15 bucks and you search for it on google and a serial pops up, you wouldn't use it?

Using activation for some people will result in more piracy... dropping $1000 for the CS2 or cracking it for free...

abc123

Apr 8, 2005, 11:00 PM

the activation will help get rid of all the casual pirates... but the hardcore ones are going to find a way around, guaranteed.

honestly, I dont think I know a single sole who has purchased Adobe Photoshop... everyone I know or talk to has pirated Photoshop in some kind of way. I feel like the only one with a legitamate copy of Photoshop 7... lol
photoshop is just too expensive for casual users, like students who only really need to use it maybe a few times a month. the student edition is $545.95 here, i couldn't afford that unless maybe i was doing a degree that i would need to use photoshop everyday. unfortunantly my degree demands that i buy new clothes everytime i go on a prac because every school has different dress codes so that is where most of my money goes.

Platform

Apr 9, 2005, 08:19 AM

It increases piracy actually...

If you think about it, not everyone here would, but if you can buy a program for like $10 or $15 bucks and you search for it on google and a serial pops up, you wouldn't use it?

Using activation for some people will result in more piracy... dropping $1000 for the CS2 or cracking it for free...

It is so easy now to get the codes on the internet.
And 1000 bucks for a piece of software is a LOT for me, but maby not for people who make a living out of it :rolleyes:

Blue Velvet

Apr 9, 2005, 08:42 AM

It is so easy now to get the codes on the internet.
And 1000 bucks for a piece of software is a LOT for me, but maby not for people who make a living out of it :rolleyes:

But these activation codes will be machine-specific, based on your hardware configuration so it's not like serial numbers...

If you don't make a living from it, then ask yourself 'Do I really need this software?'

Platform

Apr 9, 2005, 09:01 AM

But these activation codes will be machine-specific, based on your hardware configuration so it's not like serial numbers...

If you don't make a living from it, then ask yourself 'Do I really need this software?'

So how will they work.. wil you buy it and then you will have to connect to the internet and Adobe will check your system and the you will enter a code :confused: :confused:

I don't really need the software it is just that it is very nice to have and be able to manipulate images and make web pages etc.

Blue Velvet

Apr 9, 2005, 09:06 AM

So how will they work.. wil you buy it and then you will have to connect to the internet and Adobe will check your system and the you will enter a code :confused: :confused:

If it's anything like Quark's activation, once online you select 'Activate Product' from a menu and it takes about 10-20 seconds to connect and fetch a code from Quark... you never see the code.

However, those Macs not connected to the web need to be telephone activated and this does involve the use of codes, but as I've never had to do this myself I can't shed any more light on it.

Here's the info from the horse's mouth.
http://www.adobe.com/activation/moreinfo.html

Platform

Apr 9, 2005, 09:12 AM

If it's anything like Quark's activation, once online you select 'Activate Product' from a menu and it takes about 10-20 seconds to connect and fetch a code from Quark... you never see the code.

However, those Macs not connected to the web need to be telephone activated and this does involve the use of codes, but as I've never had to do this myself I can't shed any more light on it.

Here's the info from the horse's mouth.
http://www.adobe.com/activation/moreinfo.html

Ok thanks for that. ;)

Well that sort of activation must be hard to break then :rolleyes: that good for Adobe.

jdechko

Apr 14, 2005, 11:25 AM

Adobe's implementation of the activation code sounds a lot like what autodesk does... it generates a new activation code based on the hardware that its installed on (as far as i know).

multimedium

Apr 14, 2005, 01:35 PM

If you use it to make money, buy it. I've bought every version of Office, Photoshop, and Macromedia products they've put out in the last few years. It sucks, and it means nearly 15% of my profits go to software...but I still have less overhead than, say, a gas station. And it's a tax write-off.

If you just think it's cool, you want to learn more about it, etc., I see no problem with casual piracy. In fact, in many cases I've ended up buying software that I've "tried out" for more than the typical 15 or 30 days.

I do wish that they would lower prices when the implement activation techniques, it only seems fair. Perhaps if they had a way that tied it to your specific machine serial number, you could buy it cheaper, as an option?

iGary

Apr 14, 2005, 01:49 PM

Blue Velvet

Apr 14, 2005, 02:06 PM

That's when it REALLY sucks.

I'm hoping that if something goes badly wrong, we can restore our installations from the disk images I have made and backed up... if that fails, then all the software is legit and sorting it will be a pain but the plan is to minimise disruption, not to avoid it entirely.

However, if the G5s soon start leaking coolant all over the desks as rumored, then I guess we'll have more concerns than merely using QuarkXpress.

Timelessblur

Apr 14, 2005, 04:31 PM

I'm hoping that if something goes badly wrong, we can restore our installations from the disk images I have made and backed up... if that fails, then all the software is legit and sorting it will be a pain but the plan is to minimise disruption, not to avoid it entirely.

However, if the G5s soon start leaking coolant all over the desks as rumored, then I guess we'll have more concerns than merely using QuarkXpress.

they could do something how M$ activation works. Which is a 10 point hash system made off you you system specs and serial numbers (number from hard drives, optical eta) that can not be backworks calucalated to what you specs are. Basicly you are fine with M$ as long as you have 7 of the 10 points. If you drop below 7 you have to reactivated it and then you start fresh at 10 points. This is to prevent people crom cloning hard drives and putting them in other computers.

Anarchy99

Apr 15, 2005, 10:54 PM

this is really stupid
it will get cracked and probably soon after its released photoshop is one of the most popular pieces of computer software to date there just making it a nuisance
ive had photoshop 7 since it came out and it was a great purchase and easy to use just install and enter serial

congrats adobe you lost another legit costumer
(unless it is actually easy)

i clean my machines every 3 months for latency issues and back stuff stuff up on a firewire hd with 7 after a clean install i just reentered my serial and i was cooking with gas now i need to go to work to internet connection and do this other b.s