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Shivetya

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 16, 2008
1,669
306
I am planning on selling my old iMac (okay, it is only two years old, but thats old) and was curious. Is the copy of Lion I bought bound to it or my account? I would like to sell it with Lion on it... but can revert it to SL
 

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
I am planning on selling my old iMac (okay, it is only two years old, but thats old) and was curious. Is the copy of Lion I bought bound to it or my account? I would like to sell it with Lion on it... but can revert it to SL
The software license entitles you to install it on one computer. If you sell that computer with Lion installed, you can't also install it on another computer. So if you want to keep it, revert the one you're selling to SL.
 

Mal

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2002
6,252
18
Orlando
The software license entitles you to install it on one computer. If you sell that computer with Lion installed, you can't also install it on another computer. So if you want to keep it, revert the one you're selling to SL.

Actually, the software license for Lion entitles you to use it on all of your machines, not just one.

However, OP, that still means you should only sell it with the original OS on it, or whatever you have an original disk you can send with the computer. So if the computer came with Snow Leopard, revert it back to Snow Leopard and ship the original install disks.

jW
 

squeakr

macrumors 68000
Apr 22, 2010
1,603
1
Your technically both correct, as it is supposed to be if purchased through the app store then it is available for all machines you own, but if it was included pre-installed then only for that machine that it came on (not sure if you are allowed the app store access to it, which would then revert to that license).

If you are selling it, technically you can only include Lion if it came pre-installed on the machine.
 

phyrexia

macrumors 6502a
Sep 3, 2010
612
3
Your technically both correct, as it is supposed to be if purchased through the app store then it is available for all machines you own, but if it was included pre-installed then only for that machine that it came on (not sure if you are allowed the app store access to it, which would then revert to that license).

If you are selling it, technically you can only include Lion if it came pre-installed on the machine.

I bought my machine in August, after Lion was released, but it came preinstalled with SL and has the SL keyboard. So I have SL DVDs, but the very first thing I did on this machine was to upgrade to SL. So in my case, Lion is tied to my Apple ID, is it not?
 

squeakr

macrumors 68000
Apr 22, 2010
1,603
1
It probably is, as Apple probably didn't go through the hassle of differentiating between purchased Lion and free Lion (although in the beginning there was a special procedure to go through to get the download as a code was needed instead of paying, so they could flag it for single use at that point). This reason is why some people are boycotting software that isn't purchased through the app store, as it is then limited to a single copy and no downloads of updates guaranteed.
 

zorinlynx

macrumors G3
May 31, 2007
8,169
17,689
Florida, USA
It doesn't really matter. If you sell the machine with Lion, no one is going to come arrest you in the middle of the night for it. However, your buyer might get pissed off if he finds he has to reinstall the machine and can't install Lion without buying it. So POINT THIS OUT to the buyer before the sale; full disclosure is the key.

If everyone knows what's involved in the deal there's less chance of anger and drama later on. :)
 
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