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How many users are using older OS’s in 2018?

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Do You still use and older OS now in 2018?

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loby

loby

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 1, 2010
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I am just curious how many users are still using older OS’s still in mid 2018?

I do...OS X Lion is the last OS X to be able to run 32-bit apps and drivers for hardware. It you boot up in 32-bit mode (if you have an older Mac) you are able to use 32-bit stuff. I use Waterfox as a browser that still supports older OS’s. I would use OS X Snow Leopard, but what I still use only runs on OS X Lion and greater.

Many hate OS X Lion, but it runs good with more RAM (I have 16 GB) and an SSD, so I don’t have some of the issues that I have heard from others.

What is your guess? Do you still use an older OS? What older OS do you think is still the most popular and still used in 2018?
 
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I have an original 2006 MacBook Pro that I use as like a secondary computer. The latest it can run is Snow Leopard and using an older version of Firefox it works pretty good. I've tried using other OSes like Windows and different distributions of Linux, but this machine has GPU driver issues and heat problems on other OSes.
 
El Cap on a 2015 rMBP. I ported updating fears from iOS and I thought, better working correctly than having to go through all I went on iOS. All my devices are flawlessly running initial versions.
 
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El Capitan on mid-2012 MBP. El Cap also on a modified 2009 MacBook (new motherboard, maxed memory and an SSD in it). I plan to run these into the ground on that OS.

Next machine I buy will have whatever it has on it, probably an Apple-refurb MacBook with the then current OS but I'm in no rush to upgrade, the 2012 machine was an Apple-refurb purchase in 2016 and so has apple care to summer 2019. I'm fond of those ports and the internal optical drive in a laptop, even though I don't have to travel much any more.
 
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LizKat said:
El Capitan on mid-2012 MBP. El Cap also on a modified 2009 MacBook (new motherboard, maxed memory and an SSD in it). I plan to run these into the ground on that OS.

Next machine I buy will have whatever it has on it, probably an Apple-refurb MacBook with the then current OS but I'm in no rush to upgrade, the 2012 machine was an Apple-refurb purchase in 2016 and so has apple care to summer 2019. I'm fond of those ports and the internal optical drive in a laptop, even though I don't have to travel much any more.
Click to expand...

I have a MacBook Pro 2010 running on High Sierra and it seems to be doing well.

Is El Capitan better to run on than High Sierra on my MacBook Pro 2010?
 
loby said:
I have a MacBook Pro 2010 running on High Sierra and it seems to be doing well.

Is El Capitan better to run on than High Sierra on my MacBook Pro 2010?
Click to expand...

I cannot answer that... the situation on my two books has been partly out of laziness and partly "it ain't broke don't fix it". Well since that's only half true now in case of that 2012 machine, which I need to ship out for a bottom case replacement over summer, I'm likely to ship it out carrying just a clean install of High Sierra on it. Waiting for shipment of an extra external drive so I can have 2 clones and a TM of what's on it before I wave goodbye to FedEx picking it up.
 
I have an old late 2007 MacBook that I run dual boot Lion(10.7.5) and Mountainlion(10.8.5). I only use it every once and awhile when I feel like being nostalgic..
 
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I use High Sierra and am so stoked for Mojave! I can't imagine using an older OS.

I met someone who still uses Tiger as their daily driver. No judgement, but I was a little surprised!
 
Apple_Fan_Girl said:
I use High Sierra and am so stoked for Mojave! I can't imagine using an older OS.

I met someone who still uses Tiger as their daily driver. No judgement, but I was a little surprised!
Click to expand...

The reason I think that some (like myself) use older OS's is that we have program(s) that we use or hardware that drivers are no longer supported on newer Os's. It is not easy to say "just buy the new version". Sometimes there is not a better alternative. "Newer" does not always mean "better" unfortunately.

Look at the Mac mini....2012 was the best Mac mini created...(not option).
 
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I guess i'm kind of an older machine hoarder, so i use still 10.4/10.5/10.6/10.7/10.8/10.9 and 10.11 with my favorites and most used being 10.5/10.6/10.7 and 10.9. Updated browsers aren't an issue either. 10.5 has Leopard webkit (safari 11), i built Pale Moon for 10.6 and up, i also built Ice Cat and Basilisk for 10.7 and up, and @rodlie has built FireLion for 10.7 and up.

Downloads for Pale Moon, Ice Cat and Basilisk here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bz_L2Vhq-Zuw7-sBl_HyhdHXy3k5UKOv
(Note Pale Moon 28.x is only for 10.7 and up. Use 27.9.4 for Snow Leopard)

FireLion here:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/firelion/

Cheers
 
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wicknix said:
I guess i'm kind of an older machine hoarder, so i use still 10.4/10.5/10.6/10.7/10.8/10.9 and 10.11 with my favorites and most used being 10.5/10.6/10.7 and 10.9. Updated browsers aren't an issue either. 10.5 has Leopard webkit (safari 11), i built Pale Moon for 10.6 and up, i also built Ice Cat and Basilisk for 10.7 and up, and @rodlie has built FireLion for 10.7 and up.

Downloads for Pale Moon, Ice Cat and Basilisk here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bz_L2Vhq-Zuw7-sBl_HyhdHXy3k5UKOv
(Note Pale Moon 28.x is only for 10.7 and up. Use 27.9.4 for Snow Leopard)

FireLion here:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/firelion/

Cheers
Click to expand...
I am sure there is many more people who are still using older OS’s, being that many older software is still good, but are no longer being updated, so we are stuck on a particular OS.

This once a year new OS causes issues if companys don’t upgrade and make us buy their latest offerings (which might be the plan anyway).

I am stuck always juggling OS ‘s due to hardware that cannot be replaced, including no updated drivers.
 
I run El Cap on my 2011 11” Air, as that machine has 2GB of RAM and struggles with anything past 10.11. Runs fine on it though.

Lion holds its ground on the 2006 iMac in my classroom that is used as a message board for when the kiddos come in. I keep seating charts and other announcements on there. Works great.

Leopard lives happily on my PowerBook G4 for all of my PowerPC gaming needs.
 
I have an ancient Titanium PowerMac, bought sometime around 2000. It was stolen in 2010, but I got it back with Yosemite on it. Some things don't work on it. I can't connect to the Internet, for example. I don't know if that is an OS problem or a hardware one. The battery doesn't charge – that is hardware pretty sure. But it is handy as a backup computer in a pinch.

I also have a 2015 Macbook Air 11". I only recently updated from Yosemite to High Sierra. I liked Yosemite better to be honest, but I wanted the security updates.
 
carizma22 said:
I have an ancient Titanium PowerMac, bought sometime around 2000. It was stolen in 2010, but I got it back with Yosemite on it. Some things don't work on it. I can't connect to the Internet, for example. I don't know if that is an OS problem or a hardware one. The battery doesn't charge – that is hardware pretty sure. But it is handy as a backup computer in a pinch.

I also have a 2015 Macbook Air 11". I only recently updated from Yosemite to High Sierra. I liked Yosemite better to be honest, but I wanted the security updates.
Click to expand...

You do not have a PowerMac running Yosemite. Sorry.
 
I'm a semi-retired graphic designer using an iMac 2009 and Snow Leopard simply because I'm afraid I'll lose my ability to use my Adobe Creative Suites 4 if I upgrade to a newer IOS. I also have a MacBook Pro with latest IOS, but I haven't succumbed to purchasing an Adobe subscription for $50/month because I can't justify the expense yet. Any others in the same boat and what are you doing?
 
Adobe CS4 installs and runs fine on 10.11. I don't have any machines that can go newer than that, so i can't say if CS4 will run on anything newer than el capitan. On that note, there is nothing wrong with snow leopard. It's probably the best release of OSX, and if it works for what you need it for i see no need to upgrade.

Cheers
 
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wicknix said:
Adobe CS4 installs and runs fine on 10.11. I don't have any machines that can go newer than that, so i can't say if CS4 will run on anything newer than el capitan. On that note, there is nothing wrong with snow leopard. It's probably the best release of OSX, and if it works for what you need it for i see no need to upgrade.

Cheers
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. So many other programs don't upgrade with Snow Leopard like Dropbox or even Google so I may have to see if I can upgrade further if CS4 actually works with 10.11. Appreciate your comment!
 
Interesting...I have been testing some of the OS's to see which ones run the fastest on my 2010 MacBook Pro with 16 GB Ram and SSD and to my amazement, Snow Leopard is the fastest. Even when copying files to a USB or External Hard Drive, Snow Leopard is still the fastest (don't know why). wifi...better...general stuff...better...?

Though I have converted my eyes away from the "old" look, interface, icons etc. The older OS "seems" to run better and faster?

Not saying to go back..but...not sure WHY the overall feel on the old SN is good? Of course the rendering is slow and the GPU is pathetic nowadays...but..overall the OS seems to run fasters than some of my newer systems...

Just my thoughts since my testing.
 
loby said:
I am just curious how many users are still using older OS’s still in mid 2018?

I do...OS X Lion is the last OS X to be able to run 32-bit apps and drivers for hardware. It you boot up in 32-bit mode (if you have an older Mac) you are able to use 32-bit stuff. I use Waterfox as a browser that still supports older OS’s. I would use OS X Snow Leopard, but what I still use only runs on OS X Lion and greater.

Many hate OS X Lion, but it runs good with more RAM (I have 16 GB) and an SSD, so I don’t have some of the issues that I have heard from others.

What is your guess? Do you still use an older OS? What older OS do you think is still the most popular and still used in 2018?
Click to expand...
I still use a Late 2006 24" iMac as a secondary Mac. Running OS X 10.8.5 Mountain Lion.

I would update it to Mavericks or El Capitan if I could, but those versions don't support 32-bit kexts like the ones for the iMac's Nvidia Geforce 7600GT, meaning no graphics acceleration.
loby said:
Interesting...I have been testing some of the OS's to see which ones run the fastest on my 2010 MacBook Pro with 16 GB Ram and SSD and to my amazement, Snow Leopard is the fastest. Even when copying files to a USB or External Hard Drive, Snow Leopard is still the fastest (don't know why). wifi...better...general stuff...better...?

Though I have converted my eyes away from the "old" look, interface, icons etc. The older OS "seems" to run better and faster?

Not saying to go back..but...not sure WHY the overall feel on the old SN is good? Of course the rendering is slow and the GPU is pathetic nowadays...but..overall the OS seems to run fasters than some of my newer systems...

Just my thoughts since my testing.
Click to expand...
Snow Leopard was / is faster than Lion and newer versions of MacOS on the same hardware.
 
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