Last week I purchased the upgrade version of Final Cut Studio 3 for use on a clean installation of OS X 10.6. Before proceeding I was curious to know what limitations would be enforced for the upgrade version.

• Could I perform a clean installation of FCS3?
• What sort of serial numbers would my retail upgrade accept?

The answers alluded me on Google so I plunged ahead. Let’s just say that Apple isn’t stringent on either point.

Clean Install – No Problem

The drive I’m using has the latest version of 10.6 installed – nothing else. I popped in the FCS3 Install DVD, clicked through the prompts and the installation proceeded without issue.

Serial Number Switcheroo

During install I was asked to enter my upgrade serial number and then my original serial number (see image). If this were not a clean install I’m guessing the old serial number would have automatically been found.

I had three serial numbers at my disposal: Retail, Not-for-Resale, and Volume. For the sake of experimentation I used the Volume serial number and the install continued without incident.

It appears Apple doesn’t check the category of serial number to ensure the Original/Upgrade serials are a match. Because the Volume serial worked it makes me wonder if the NFR would as well. This probably violates the EULA but that’s another subject entirely.

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