Apple Retrograde Licensing Policy?

[SiliconAddict]

Does anyone know if you have a license for Tiger if its a retrograde license in that I'm allowed to use Panther instead. The reason is simple. I'm going over to my uncle's tomorrow. He called up this evening and said the computer isn't booting after they installed a USB mouse on their PC. Don't start with me dudes. A mouse isn't going to crash Windows. However the loud pop that his wife heard on boot probably could. (I'm thinking something got grounded when it shouldn't have but that is a diff matter.) My initial diagnosis over the phone is that the computer is pretty much DOA. They asked me about a new computer. They are ripe candidates for a Mac Mini. They aren't looking to spend a lot, they aren't going to be doing a lot with the system, they are about as tech savvy as someone plucked out of the 1700's, and they keep calling me to support their DAMN computer.

So I'm prob going to point them to the Mac store in the Mall of America. The thing is the number of bugs and whatnot with Tiger. I'm thinking they would be happier on a mature OS like Panther. don't get me wrong I'm sure Tiger is great but with the weird crap that I've been reading I want the intro to the Mac platform to be a good one and 10.3.9 prob would be better for them, IMHO. So my thinking is to give them Panther for now and in 6 months upgrade them to Tiger with 10.4.4 or something.
So again does anyone know if one is allowed to use an older version of X is you have a license for the latest and greatest. I know that MS allows this. Just wondering if Apple does. Thanks.

 

[dobbin]

Firstly, I don't know if the Tiger license allows you to use Panther. I doubt it, but who's going to know anyway? Morally, you're not doing anything wrong and Apple aren't going to get angry about that, even if they were to find out, which they won't.

Secondly, in my opinion, if they are basic users (web, email, occasional letter, some photos maybe) then they won't notice any of the Tiger bugs.

I don't have any real problems withTiger, and I use iTunes, iPhoto, iChat, Mail, MS Office, and a small amount of Photoshop (which needed reinstalling after Tiger/iLife 05).

So, I'd say just get them to use 10.4, they'll be fine, and the updates will come soon enough anyway.

 

[homerjward]

this isn't an issue with the mac mini, since it once shipped with panther, but most macs won't boot an os earlier than the one they first shipped with. ie rev b g5's won't boot earlier than 10.3.5 i believe. (something about liquid cooling support )other than that i don't think it should be a problem; in fact you might even be able to request it at the apple store perhaps

 

[Makosuke]

My opinion is basically identical to dobbin's; I'm 95% sure Apple's OSX licences aren't technically retrograde, but I'm 100% sure that they won't bug your Uncle about it, and based on Apple's business model they seriously won't care (nor is there any sort of moral issue) if you install 10.3 on a machine that shipped with 10.4 (after all, if you buy near the introduction, you could EASILY get a machine that shipps with 10.3 but comes with a "free" upgrade to 10.4, which is for all intents and purposes a retrograde licence).

That said, I also agree that while Tiger has a few quirks, most are limited to at least midrange features, and most of the more severe problems I've heard of are on older computers and/or non-clean installs. Personally, on a new-ish G5 tower with a clean install, I've had only minor issues even under fairly heavy use.

I expect that for basic computer use on a new computer, Tiger will probably seem just as stable as 10.3.9. Even if there are some minor issues your potential switchers might notice, they'll be worked out shortly (10.4.1 is right around the corner), and a few initial glitches is probably less jarring for a novice user than having to adjust from Windows to 10.3, then re-adjust to the minor differences in 10.4 Better to just let them get used to 10.4, and have it improve a bit as they use it and bug-fixes become available.

(Worth noting that from a basic-user perspective, the only major issue I've seen with 10.3 is the stupid corrupt icon bug, which tends to be quite disorienting to novice users and appears to be fixed in 10.4.)

 

[Macky-Mac]

the license is for what you bought....you bought Panther, you got a license for Panther; you bought Tiger, you got a license for Tiger.

and where would they be getting this copy of Panther to install on their machine anyway......surely you wouldn't be using your own copy of Panther to install it on a second machine in violation of the EULA now would you? LOL, of course not.......but if you bought Tiger and aren't using that old version of Panther you could transfer ownership of it to them......as long as you aren't still using it anyway

I don't think that the issues with Tiger are such that you need to bother with the Panther route......anyway, if you read back through these forums (and other forums) you'll find lots of threads about OS 10.3.x causing problems too......at any given moment there are people having problems with the OS no matter what it is.

 

[Balin64]

I don't Understand Your Reservations

The Mini will be great out of teh Box. Also, don't assume it will come with Tiger pre-installed. If you get it this week, it most likely have a Panther install and a Tiger upgrade DVD.

Just so you know, I purchased a Mini very recently and it qualified for the upgrade: after upgrading to Tiger over Panther, there has been no issues with it. Not at all. I suggest Tiger.

Also, of your're in the Twin Cities area, consider buying the Mac from firsttech on Hennepin and 27th in Minneapolis. While the Apple store is wonderful, I find that the staff at firsttech is more customer-oriented: I visit that store quite often and I finf that the staff is great with older people who are not very tech-savvy. Give them a try.

 

[Balin64]

About the Retro policy

Dude: who cares?

If the Mini comes with Tiger, and you don't want that for your uncle, PM me, I'll give you a copy of 10.3. You have to come pick it up in Minneapolis, or I can mail it to you, or whatever.