How to get Messages.app running on 10.6.8 Snow Leopard or Alternatives?

[MacintoshMan]

Hello,

I'm still running 10.6.8 because of it's stability, speed, expose', rosetta, legacy SMB support, and Disk Utility NFS mounts option.

I am looking for a way to run Messages.app only available with the new Mac OS on my Snow Leopard machine.

I tried copying Messages.app from my brothers 10.8 machine to a flash drive and then copying to my 10.6.8 machine and opening it. This gave me an icon that looks like this Image 1 and an error that reads Image 2.

Short of running parallels on my MBP with 10.8, I can't think of a way to get this to work. If there are is an alternative to messages so I can use iMessage on my computer, or maybe a way to control my iPhone with my laptop i'd be fine with that too.

Suggestions?

For search engines
Image 1 = Circle with a slash through it
Image 2 = You can't use this version of the application Messages with this version of Mac OS X. You have Mac OS X 10.6.8. the application requires Mac OS 10.7.3 or later.

 

[chrfr]

It's just not going to work. There's more than just the Messages application behind iMessage support and 10.6.8 doesn't have it.

 

[MacintoshMan]

It's just not going to work. There's more than just the Messages application behind iMessage support and 10.6.8 doesn't have it.

It would be really nice to know what "it" is. Anyone know how to see what messages is trying to reference to?

 

[pdjudd]

Well "it" could be any one of the many APi's and program interfaces that only exist on Lion and above. It could be any of them and unless you can get the source code of messages.app, I doubt you will ever know. The error message is simple and to the point - it's compiled to run on 10.7 and it will not run on an earlier build.

You want my guess? It probably has to do with iCloud which won't work on 10.6 either.

 

[James_C]

Minor annoyance of mine, I use Messages a fair amount, but I can't get to run on my Mac Pro 1,1, as it won't support Mountain Lion. While I understand Apple want to motivate users to upgrade their OS, it is rather frustrating that Apple had a working beta for OS 10.7, put pulled the plug after Mountain Lion was released.

 

[maflynn]

It would be really nice to know what "it" is. Anyone know how to see what messages is trying to reference to?

The frameworks, and APIs. Its not just a matter for "fooling" the app so it can run. There are internal structures built into the OS that an app may or may not use. We may not know exactly what the "it" is because we're not privy to the source code but the point remains - iMessage is built for Mountain Lion and so it will not work on legacy operating systems.

 

[NMF]

Just get Mountain Lion already. If you need Rosetta support... stop, lol. Upgrade the legacy apps or move on to something new.

 

[MichaelLAX]

Hello,

I'm still running 10.6.8 because of it's ... rosetta...

Rosetta available to Mountain Lion users in Snow Leopard Server installed into Parallels 8:

[click on image to enlarge]

 

[mikebatho]

I'm having this problem too. Currently running 10.6.8

How do I get up to a version I can use messages with? Upgrade to Lion then Mountain Lion? Can I do it in one jump?

Also, are there any other type based messengers available for mac that I could use instead? Thanks.

 

[SkyKraft09]

Easy Fix

Now this is a solution that dosen't work every time. Follow this path:
/System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist and when you access it you should find this: <key>ProductVersion</key>
<string>10.6.8</string>
Change the 10.6.8 to the required version and it should work.
WARNING!: Change it back to the version you currently have or your computer will get messed up!

This can work if you want to jump ahead in a upgrade, but make sure you know what your doing, I tried to upgrade to Lion on my Mid 2007 Mac Mini, and I had to reinstall the program on my computer.

 

[DJTEMPO7]

Just get Mountain Lion already. If you need Rosetta support... stop, lol. Upgrade the legacy apps or move on to something new.

Some of us don't have the $$$ to do that sort of stuff. My G4 1.25 GHz MDD, 2007 iMac 5.1 2.16 GHz, 2007 MBP 1.1 2.16 GHz... all running 10.6.8... are all serving me well. I do get annoyed at not being able to run certain "modern" apps, but there always seem to be work-arounds.

 

[sseccajd]

Does this really work? What version of OS should I change it to in order for iMessage to download function properly????

Please respond Thank you @SkyKraft09

Easy Fix

Now this is a solution that dosen't work every time. Follow this path:
/System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist and when you access it you should find this: <key>ProductVersion</key>
<string>10.6.8</string>
Change the 10.6.8 to the required version and it should work.
WARNING!: Change it back to the version you currently have or your computer will get messed up!

This can work if you want to jump ahead in a upgrade, but make sure you know what your doing, I tried to upgrade to Lion on my Mid 2007 Mac Mini, and I had to reinstall the program on my computer.

 

[GGJstudios]

Does this really work? What version of OS should I change it to in order for iMessage to download function properly????

Please respond Thank you @SkyKraft09

Don't hold your breath, waiting for a response. This thread is about 4 years old and the poster you quoted hasn't been on this site for almost 2 years.

 

[slashlos]

Just get Mountain Lion already. If you need Rosetta support... stop, lol. Upgrade the legacy apps or move on to something new.

I keep a mini with 10.6.8 for ChapterMark among a few ripping apps I use. Sometimes it's easier to freeze a host for the sometime usage.

 

[Mac03ForLife]

Hey... A nice alternative is Pidgin or Adium if you like those. Sadly, though I think that the only way to do what youre saying is to trick the MBP or move on. Im on 10.6.8 as wel, and love it for all the reasons you outlined