Mossberg Recommends Illegal Use Of Snow Leopard Install Disc

I was surprised by one line in Walt Mossberg’s otherwise predictable review of Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard:

“But here’s a tip: Apple concedes that the $US29 Snow Leopard upgrade will work properly on these Tiger-equipped Macs, so you can save the extra $US140.”

I know Apple’s PR people are having a heart attack right now reading that. They don’t like it when influential journalists suggest violations of the EULA. In fact, they generally label that stuff as “illegal,” and I am sure many lawyers would agree that it is.

So, is this Mossberg ripping open his shirt, tying a bandanna around his head and saying, “Ahoy mateys, the rules were meant to be keel-hauled!” Or is this a slip-up he’s going to have to apologise for—or at least qualify with an explanation—in the morning? Is it a great tip, or is he telling every Tiger user to steal $US140 out of the mouth of Steve Jobs. We’ll keep an eye out for the answer. [AllThingsD]

Update: Apparently NYT’s David Pogue also supports this breach of EULA (or is perhaps using a funny way to report EULA crashers to Apple?):

Don’t forget to read our Snow Leopard review!