can anybody help, i am out of my depth on a job, i am currently upgrading a publishing companies computers and suspect that some of the software is not legitimate how can i identify to the client which ones have been bought and which ones are copies, they are quark express, adobe design premium and file maker on 4 macs, i was enlisted to upgrade all of the software and assumed software was all legit, can this be identified if i run upgrade software or will it just upgrade without any hassle. i think that the software was originally bought and then illegal upgrades to newer versions were installed over time any help would be very appreciated
I guess it is hard to separate the legit copies from the fake ones. In the end the thing which matters the most is the key to operate the software. Most illegal copies are the real thing only the person hasn't bought the key but found a key crack or key generator on the internet. Knowing this i believe it is hard to separate the illegal from the legal as technically they are all legal. Maybe if you screened the keys of each computers copy of the software you may find some abnormalities. Sorry for such little help. Mac is just hard to install illegal software on in the first place so finding it is even harder!
I can point you to a way to identify illegal software, but I don't believe it's appropriate to post such information in this open forum, PM Me. Also technific, it's actually easier to install illegal software on a Mac than it is a PC in my experience.
When I worked in IT "illegal" software was defined as: 1)Not meeting the "approved" list of packages authorized for use on a company PC (PC or MAC). User was asked to remove the software. PCs were regularly audited, and by comparing the number of licenses purchased with the number of copies installed, departments were billed if they could not document the purchase of a package or license. I'm sure the tools for auditing PCs has advanced and better automated.
