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Do You still use and older OS now in 2018?


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loby

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 1, 2010
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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.

Snow Leopard was / is faster than Lion and newer versions of MacOS on the same hardware.

Yes, Snow Leopard is the fastest, smoothest OS that I have used. The response just feels quick and overall a good experience.

I tested even the USB 2 copying on the Macbook Pro 2010 and compared it to other newer OS on other updated hardware systems with USB 3 and SL is faster on the older macbook pro 2010...surprising..

I went back to Snow Leopard on the Macbook Pro 2010 and dual boot to EL Capitan to use for newer programs. Lion worked ok and was able to switch back and forth with 32-bit and 64-bit on some programs, but for overall experience, Snow Leopard is smoother and faster. Snow Leopard looks dated now...but...justs works...
 
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maverick28

macrumors 6502a
Mar 14, 2014
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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?

I still use Lion and Mavericks alongside High Sierra Mojave - my signature tells it. Was on Lion (default OS) for 4 full years, had installed Mavericks twice, the 2nd time came after those same 4 years when I finally upgraded my Mac with better internals to make for faster performance. During my stay with Lion, I had a chance to examine its pluses and minuses fully, and actually got stuck in it as the majority of my workflows had become centered around things I got used to too much to wish to upgrade and break them. Every macOS has its downsides and advantages. Actually, I felt a bit contained regarding improvements in new OSes comparing those with older ones: everything is not so cut and dried. When you actually work and have deeper knowledge you start noticing a plethora of small things that make your assessment more sharpened and focused.

There were things I liked in Mavericks and High Sierra - speed, some bug fixes that annoyed me in Lion. Other things seem disappointingly unfriendly, over-secured, over-thought. The most important aspect - UI - is better in older macOS by an infinite order of magnitude, especially on non-Retina screens. Graphical performance feels sluggish with High Sierra: the same animations are silky smooth in Mavericks and Lion, and High Sierra feels utter trash at times, although on a general scale it seems to run a bit faster but not to make a striking contrast. ScriptEditor is broken in Mavericks to the point of being unusable: hangs after a long time of the document in open state, and only force-quitting helps. Preview annotations were given a lenient attitude on the pathway from Mavericks to High Sierra and further on. Etc etc.
Currently 70% of the time I spend in Lion, another 25 in Mavericks. Can't stand High Sierra, although my machine supports even Catalina but given a lot of removed features and incompatibility with some apps I can't live without, the OS is unwelcome overkill for me.

P.S. Indeed, Lion runs a lot better with SSD and maxed out RAM. - day and night. It was actually the 1st Mac OS X that was greedy about RAM and a disk speed; apparently, it was a transformative milestone on the route of growing complexity of the Mac OS X that was to become macOS eventually.

P.P.S. I eventually installed Mojave which is a better alternative to High Sierra, runs smoother.
 
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LizKat

macrumors 604
Aug 5, 2004
6,764
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Catskill Mountains
I liked El Capitan, stayed with that until I took the mid-2012 MBP to Mojave a little while ago. My spare laptop is a mid-2010 MacBook with updated memory and an SSD installed, but that one's pegged vintage now and will stick at El Cap until it hits the e-cycle when the MBP becomes my spare.
 
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maverick28

macrumors 6502a
Mar 14, 2014
616
310
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.

As for browsing on an old Mac, if you run 10.7 or 10.8 there's actually a splendid job done to port Firefox Quantum to those. The browser runs better than any other browser for the macOS that old and is fast as the newest versions of Safari, Chrome and Firefox are.
The details in another thread of mine https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/firefox-quantum-ported-to-10-7-10-8.2191887/
 
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