#Install mac os on pc hardware serial number#

After switching the entire Macintosh line from PowerPC to Intel CPUs in 2006, it’s become possible to install Mac OS X on non-Apple x86 computers. Another Reason for DRM in the OSĪpple is in a touch spot right now.

#Install mac os on pc hardware serial number#

(Mac OS X Server requires a serial number so it knows how many users it’s licensed for, and when you boot into a clean OS X install, it does ask you to register with Apple, although you’re not required to do so.)Įvery copy of the Mac OS allows unlimited installs, although the OS license generally limits you to a single user and/or computer or, in the case of the family pack, up to five computers in the same household. Unlike Microsoft Windows and many applications, the consumer version of the Mac OS has never required the user to type in a serial number or register with Apple. No version of the Mac OS since then has come to market without a price tag, although Apple did eventually make the System 7.5.3 download and the 7.5.5 update free. (Those with ancient Macs can find download links for these on our Classic Mac OS Downloads and Updates page.)

Because of them, System 7.1 could not be distributed for free, and to this date Apple has never made it a free download, unlike System 6.0.x, 7.0.x, and 7.5.x. That changed with Macintosh System 7.1, which included some licensed third-party applications. There was no cost for operating system updates unless you wanted to buy a shrink wrapped package. From System 1.0 through 7.0.1, Apple even allowed stores and users to freely copy their Mac OS system floppies for others. Throughout the history of the Mac – and unlike the highly protected Lisa – the Mac operating system has never been copy protected.