Apple loosens antipiracy protection in iWork '09

Computerworld - One of the oldest methods used to protect software from illegal copying is being dropped by Apple Inc.

Buyers of the latest version of Apple's rising iWork productivity suite -- iWork '09 -- no longer need to type in a serial number when installing from a CD, according to a note on Apple's Web site posted Monday.

That allows owners of the boxed, retail version of iWork '09 to install the software on as many Macs as they want. They can apparently even share the software -- which costs $79 for a single-user version ($49 if bought at same time as a new Mac) -- with family, friends and co-workers, with no repercussions.

Apple introduced iWork '09 at Macworld earlier this month. The software was lightly refreshed, with new cloud features being the highlight.

First released in January 2005, iWork has made steady inroads against Microsoft Corp.'s Office for the Mac.

As of mid-2007, Mac Office still outsold iWork by more than a five-to-one margin among North American consumers, according to NPD Group Inc. By last year, however, Mac Office's lead over iWork had slipped to just a two-to-one margin.

"IWork is doing pretty good," said Stephen Baker, an NPD analyst. "[Sales] volume is growing."

Despite working only with Macs, iWork held 10.5% of the overall North American retail market for productivity software last year, according to Baker.

Microsoft Office held virtually all of the remaining market share, due to its domination of the still far-larger Windows platform.

But both suites face strong, free challengers in the form of OpenOffice 3.0 for the Mac and IBM's new Lotus Symphony for the Mac.

Baker applauded Apple's move as a consumer-friendly one. "I think Apple is less concerned about piracy than ease of use," he said.

Apple already lets its multimedia software suite, iLife, be installed without a serial number. ILife comes for free with each new Mac.

It's unclear whether Apple will continue to sell its $99 five-user pack for iWork. Users who buy iWork '09 by upgrading a trial version of software downloaded from the Internet still need to use a serial number when installing.

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