Excel Software (http://www.excelsoftware.com”) has released
AppProtect 1.0 for protecting Mac and Windows software. It
purportedly applies protection to a compiled application in minutes
without programming.
AppProtect is a new product in Excel Software’s extensive line of
software and document protection and license management tools for Mac
OS X and Windows computers. It can be used standalone or in
conjunction with the Safe Activation or WebActivation web server for
automated license activation.
A software vendor opens the AppProtect window, selects the desired
options and clicks a button to generate a protected application. The
vendor’s application is wrapped with an activation process that
presents a dialog to the customer on first launch. Once activated,
the software will run on that computer without user interaction, but
application files can’t be copied and used on any other computer.
The vendor can choose an activation process that either presents an
Enter Password or Enter Serial Number dialog. The Enter Password
dialog shows a computer specific password number and requires a
unique password from the vendor. The dialog may optionally include a
link to the vendor’s web site presented by the default web browser on
that computer. Alternatively, the Enter Serial Number dialog prompts
the customer to enter a Serial Number provided by the vendor during
the order process. The activation process is then fully automated
through a silent connection with the Safe Activation service or
self-hosted, WebActivation server.
AppProtect can be used to protect a standard Mac OS X application
(.app) or Windows executable (.exe). In addition to providing basic
protection, the vendor can apply a high-resolution icon to the
application and enter parameters to configure the activation process.
If an automated activation server is not used, the vendor can
generate computer specific passwords with AppProtect to activate
users of the protected software.
AppProtect 1.0 is US$295 for a single user license on either Mac OS X
(Intel or PowerPC systems) and Windows (XP, Vista or 7 with 32 or 64
bit processor). The product includes a printed and PDF User Guide.