How does the OF licensing work?
 

If I have a computer at work & a computer at home... do I purchase two licenses or one?

There's a blurb about this you can view from store.omnigroup.com; click the 'How our electronic licenses work.' link in the "Other Information" box at the bottom of the right sidebar.

But, the text relevant to your question is:

[quote]
For instance, one person with both a laptop and a desktop computer (or, say, a home machine and an office machine) can legally install and use a single license on both computers, though not at the same time.
[/quote]

An additional clarification had been requested on this before, with no resolution: does "not at the same time" apply to the "can install" portion, or just the "can use" portion?

in other words, can I have it installed on two machines, but only use one of them at a time, or can I not have it installed on two machines period?

[QUOTE=jasong;28626]in other words, can I have it installed on two machines, but only use one of them at a time, or can I not have it installed on two machines period?[/QUOTE]

You need a license for every person using the software or for every computer using the software (whichever is less). So you can install a single license on two (or more) computers as long as you're the only person using those licenses and you're only using it on one computer at a time.

Excellent! Thank you for the clarification.

Considering all the terrible licensing and DRM implementations out there today, thank you for a system that seems to rely on common sense :)

When adding a license, I'm prompted for the license type (computer or personal). The license I purchased did not make this distinction. Is there a functional difference between these two license types?

[QUOTE=braindump;29839]When adding a license, I'm prompted for the license type (computer or personal). The license I purchased did not make this distinction. Is there a functional difference between these two license types?[/QUOTE]

This just determines where the license is installed, which in turn controls which user accounts will see the license.

If you install it as a personal license, it gets stored in your user account, so other user accounts won't see and try to use it.

If you install it as a computer license, it gets stored in a shared location, so all user accounts on the computer can find that license and attempt to use it.

Personal licenses are used in preference to Computer licenses, so that person A with a personal license for OmniFocus will use that one, instead of claiming the shared license and thus potentially preventing use by someone who doesn't have a personal license but who could have otherwise used the shared license. This mostly comes in to play with Network licenses, such as at a company with many client computers - if your network is configured in a specific way, you can put the license in a particular place on the network such that client computers will find that network license, rather than forcing you to control licenses installed on a bunch of separate client computers.

-andrew

OK makes sense, but I don't think the UI for license type is very intuitive. I suggest providing some additional information to clarify this either with the purchased license or in the online help for the license interface.

Thanks for your response!

I could be wrong, so just kindly clarify.

You said that I can only have omnifocus running once on two computers
Lets say I want to sync my work computer with the omnifocus on my personal computer, via network.
I always get the error msg that the other omnifocus needs to be open before I can sync it but if you said that I can only have omnifocus running once on two computers... then that is impossible right?

The actual license from a current OmniFocus disk image reads:
[indent]
The license permits either (a) multiple users to install and use the Software on a single machine; or (b) a single user to install and use the Software on multiple machines. However, a single license does not allow multiple users to ever use Software on multiple machines, regardless of whether such use is concurrent, except in the case of Family Pack licensing.
[/indent]
So, you can run it on multiple machines so that you can sync between them, but no one else is allowed to use it, if you have a single license.

[QUOTE=dwayneneckles;68424]I could be wrong, so just kindly clarify.

You said that I can only have omnifocus running once on two computers
Lets say I want to sync my work computer with the omnifocus on my personal computer, via network.
I always get the error msg that the other omnifocus needs to be open before I can sync it but if you said that I can only have omnifocus running once on two computers... then that is impossible right?[/QUOTE]

In order to cover situations like this, a 1-seat license for OmniFocus will actually allow 2 copies to run at the same time. If 3 or more Macs on your network are using the same license code, they will start complaining at that point. (If this causes problems, call or email and we can help.)

I have a follow-up question on this old thread. I purchased OmniFocus from the Apple app store, a PC license and an iPad license. I want to install it on a second computer, which I understand is legit as long as it's for me, it asks for a license.

1. When I look at the receipt from the itunes store it doesn't list a license.

2. When I submit my info to Omnifocus to retrieve a license it says there is no record of one (since I purchased through the app store evidently).

3. When I go to Omnifocus on the app store on the second computer there is no option to install, it wants to make me purchase again.

4. When I look at OmnoFocus on the laptop it's license on, I can't even find a place in the program to see the license key (which to my knowledge I've never received).

Quite a quandary. Advice?

[QUOTE=David_Haddad;129566]3. When I go to Omnifocus on the app store on the second computer there is no option to install, it wants to make me purchase again.[/QUOTE]

Try going to the Purchases tab in the Mac App Store, and make sure you've signed into the same Apple ID as you used to purchase the app. From the Purchases tab, you should be able to install the app.

Apple has a support article that covers this process in more detail:
[INDENT][URL="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4483"]Mac App Store: Finding your purchased apps[/URL][/INDENT]
Hope this helps!

Perfect, thank you. Most apps just allow me to reinstall right from the app store (I think), so I had not tried that.