HowTo: Extend the Apple iWork 08 Trial Period
First off, let me say that this should not be used to keep from paying for iWork. If you like the software you should buy it. Today, I needed to create a Keynote presentation. I thought I had purchased iWork back in August but apparently I did not. So when I fired up Keynote I learned that I only had an expired trial. I rushed to apple.com to buy iWork 08 and learned that for some reason you cannot get digital delivery of iWork. Without being able to get a license key digitally I am not able to create this presentation that is due today and should have been created a week ago. So for all you people who are well-intentioned procrastinators in a bind (like myself), here is how you can extend the iWork trial period.
UPDATE:
The new version (iWork ’09) allows you to purchase a license key over the internet and install it. This post existed to help people who were in a pinch. Apple has solved that problem so the instructions on how to get around the limitations of their trial are no longer needed. I encourage you to download the iWork ’09 Trial and check it out.
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Say you JUST went over the trial period deadline, like a week or so. Would throwing your laptops clock back a couple of weeks let it run?
I know I was able to run a photo editing trial after its expiration date from doing a “system restore” on Windows XP. Didn’t know if the same thing would work on my MacbookPro
Hah, if you could figure that out I’d appreciate it a TON
It might, but I don’t know why you would want to go through the trouble of having an out of date system clock. It is really pretty easy to follow the steps above.
just deleting /Library/Preferences/com.apple.iWork08.plist
would be fine
Thank you very much, I am honestly in the exact situation you once were (yes, I did buy iWork online thinking I would receive a serial).
asi, I figured wiping out everything was overkill. I did assume they would have made it more difficult than just plist. Guess not.
upz, I am glad this was helpful.
You can remove the pref/plist or set your clock back, they both work.
omggg! i just did the same thing! i downloaded the online version of iWork, its supposed to email me a serial number, is it not going to? i’m trying your trick now. i really like iWork so i dont mind paying for it, i just need it NOW for the same reasons you did! haha. thank you for your help!!!
Thanks to you, I am finally saved. I had to do a presentation for school, but guess what, I started on the last minute and my trial had ended the day before. I did the presentation, but it was so annoying to not be able to save it, and my teacher kept pushing the presentation day for me to the day after since I was the only one doing it individually. As much as I appreciated her doing that, I was annoyed at the fact that I had to keep Keynote open and my battery would finish faster because of it! I was also panicking that I'd lose it by mistake and have to do everything all over again. I tried searching for help everywhere, but did not find any. We just got off for winter break a day ago, and I finally found your page. I do intend to pay for iWork, but I am having the same problem as you right now! My teacher pushed the day for me until after the break, which a month long, so imagine me having to keep Keynote open for that long and not being able to restart for computer updates. Thank you.
I don't understand, "just me." If you had the presentation done, why didn't you just give it from your own computer? You said "battery," so I assume it's a laptop. That wouldn't have been too hard to take to school would it? LOL. Glad it worked out for you, though!