Apple Removes OS X Lion and Mountain Lion From Online Store

[sw1tcher]

I don’t know why people are cheering on the death of physical media. You’re just giving away control. I can take a CD of Office 2010 and install it on a machine and not have to worry about subscriptions, cloud updates that break things, AWS being up or down, or some bull around lawsuits or copyrights causing them to take it down or to take away some functionality. I can just use it like the way it should be.

You don't have full control with Office 2010 since you have to activate that installation. If Microsoft ever stops activating the installs, it will operate in reduced functionality mode where you can only view files, not create them.

You need to go back further in time to when software did not require it to be activated online/telephone.

 

[Shirasaki]

I don’t know why people are cheering on the death of physical media. You’re just giving away control. I can take a CD of Office 2010 and install it on a machine and not have to worry about subscriptions, cloud updates that break things, AWS being up or down, or some bull around lawsuits or copyrights causing them to take it down or to take away some functionality. I can just use it like the way it should be.

They cheer because they never cherish the moment of having a disc with software on it, and the joy of sharing it with friends and family members. They are not born in that era, hence impossible to resonate with that feeling.

And as other people have mentioned, even physical media install can require online activation and online download that has none of that crap, such as DRM. I still remember a game that I bought which was supposed to be genuine copy with an activation service that limited the number of machine that can install the game to 1, and I would need to contact customer support to sort out activation issues. I did finish playing the game, but yeah, that activation server is long dead. Talking about genuine copy of the game, only matter when you bought it at the right time.

 

[victorvictoria]

As someone who gave away 50-60 blank CDs and about 30 DVD-RWs to a technophobe pal, and sold or gave away all our LPs, DVDs and CDs, I don't feel the need to have an obsolete OS disc cluttering up my house. I still have a (3rd party) USB-C DVD drive, but haven't used it yet.

 

[Darren.h]

Who would use any macOS older than Yosemite anyway??

My Gosh so old and outdated.

 

[ArrayDecay]

I still have a Snow Leopard disc in my desk.

 

[winxmac]

I hear you. But I recently learned the hard way that this isn't always the case.

I have an old MacBook Air onto which I recently tried to install Adobe CS3, for which I own the CDs. However, it turns out Adobe pulled the plug on its activation servers for CS3 about a year ago, making it impossible to install. The CDs are now worthless.

Sometime 2000s/2010s Adobe provided CS2 keys because they took down the activation servers... I guess that was the last time they did that...

 

[QuickSilverLining]

You don't have full control with Office 2010 since you have to activate that installation. If Microsoft ever stops activating the installs, it will operate in reduced functionality mode where you can only view files, not create them.

You need to go back further in time to when software did not require it to be activated online/telephone.

On that point, I found out that you can still call Microsoft's customer service line to activate Windows XP and Office XP 2004 using the included activation code. I did it during this summer and was amazed. 🤣 Hopefully they never shut that down. Your point still stands however.

 

[jjwwqq]

Ahhh, the end of an era.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

I remember when Microsoft Office came on at least 20 3.5 inch floppies. Good riddance!

 

[Wildkraut]

I will keep these DVDs as a memento of a bygone era to maybe show my future grandchildren and have them shrug at me for being so old.

They will try to eat it, thinking it’s a cookie.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

I remember seeing the early OS X boxes in stores. Always something mysterious, quirky about them compared to Windows. Especially the 'X' that was made with fur!

 

[hondo77]

Let me tell you of a time, children, when we would stand in line at the Apple Store to be among the first people to buy a physical copy of the new release of MacOS...

 

[1madman1]

I had no idea that anything newer than Snow Leopard was sold on DVD? I would've continued to buy on disc if I did!

My Snow Leapord and Snow Leapord Server CDs are sitting next to me.

 

[chucker23n1]

I don’t know why people are cheering on the death of physical media. You’re just giving away control.

But you really aren't. You can download macOS. No subscription. https://mrmacintosh.com/how-to-download-macos-catalina-mojave-or-high-sierra-full-installers/

I can take a CD of Office 2010 and install it on a machine

Actually, that typically requires an activation server on Microsoft's part.

 

[TigerNike23]

You don't have full control with Office 2010 since you have to activate that installation. If Microsoft ever stops activating the installs, it will operate in reduced functionality mode where you can only view files, not create them.

You need to go back further in time to when software did not require it to be activated online/telephone.

You mean create a bootable Windows 95 floppy from one computer and activate it on another? I upgraded 2 PCs from Windows 3.1 to 95 using one floppy disk.

I’m old.

 

[Aggedor]

These were never sold on CDs, or DVDs for that matter. This article is poorly written.
Mountain Lion was download only and Lion was available as a USB installer, but the Apple Store listing was for a download code which is no longer needed.

Yep. The screenshot even shows that - it says delivery [of the code] is by email.

MR needs to do a bit better!

 

[SaberCow]

I hear you. But I recently learned the hard way that this isn't always the case.

I have an old MacBook Air onto which I recently tried to install Adobe CS3, for which I own the CDs. However, it turns out Adobe pulled the plug on its activation servers for CS3 about a year ago, making it impossible to install. The CDs are now worthless.

Yeah I don't understand this illusion that physical media provided more control. Most physical media still has some kind of check on it. It's been a long time since a game was housed entirely on the disk. Movies have protection. Old software needs a license key that often needs confirmation from a remote server. The only unlocked stuff with value are music CDs since you can get full resolution files but even that is getting old with the advent of Atmos versions.

 

[Darth-Kylie]

Ah, Lion. I think that‘s the only OS version that was distributed on a USB stick (bundled with 2010 MacBook Air).

 

[zilchfox]

I can only imagine printing CDs would be more expensive than making USB drives given less demand in 2023. No real need to make them en masse, which would increase the cost per unit substantially. Plus, USB drives can be repurposed and updated.

I have a Windows 10 install USB that I always kept updating it to the very latest version of Windows 10 to minimize on post-install updates, was pretty handy. I also do similar with macOS using Mist.

 

[Will Co]

I remember when Microsoft Office came on at least 20 3.5 inch floppies. Good riddance!

... and then one of those floppies, just one, developed a faulty track or sector, and the whole damned thing could then not be installed.

 

[fathergll]

Check out that adorable big cat! Everybody loves it, right?

Until that adorable big cat eats your dog or child.

 

[icerabbit]

For those with some old macs, restoring and using a full color OS with a touch of skeuomorphism is great fun. Only trouble is that they can’t get on the App store any more - so forget those installs - and that all compatible browsers now seem to be obsolete / can’t handle modern protocols and language. And third party ones have all gone the way of the dodo.

 

[Phoneless]

Let me tell you of a time, children, when we would stand in line at the Apple Store to be among the first people to buy a physical copy of the new release of MacOS...

I still remember purchasing the Mac O 8 disc (I think it was) after a 90 minute trip to the store and back and then discovering when I got home that the CD was actually cracked and unusable. Do you think I put off exchanging it for another day? NO SIREEE! I had to have the latest and greatest so off I went back to the store before it closed for the day.

 

[kenzbud]

This takes me down memory lane. The days of paying for OS updates.

 

[lkrupp]

I’m a bit surprised by this. Regulators are always yammering about not leaving people behind. The transition to digital broadcast TV was delayed for several years because how would people with old analog TVs watch their favorite shows. The solution, if you remember, was to delay the transition until FREE converter boxes could be handed out to anyone who wanted one.

Today there is the now years on delay of the TSA requirement to have Real ID verified driver’s licenses or state ID cards to board a flight (once gain delayed until 2025 with the pandemic being the supposed reason). It’s ALL because people are too goddamned lazy to go and get it done.

Finally the Apple discussion forums are full of ranting about 10 year old software packages and 32 bit apps not running on Sonoma. "Why won’t Office 2011 run on my new M1 Mac? Why do I have to pay again!?"

I’m waiting for some class action to force Apple to provide physical installation discs in perpetuity.