Oct 09, 2017 If you’re using OS X 10.5.8 Leopard then you can still download Firefox 16 for Macs which works on 10.5.8. However, we strongly recommend you upgrade to at least OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or higher as Firefox 16 is no longer updated by Mozilla and therefore not secure anymore. Firefox support has ended for Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8 Firefox macOS 10.9, 10.10 and 10.11 users move to Extended Support Release Updating processor microcode.
Apple fans still using the five-year-old Mac OS X 10.5 are being notified by Mozilla that Firefox 16 Final will mark the end of development for the Leopard operating system. That includes bugs and security updates.
Over at the Mozilla blog, Alex Keybl reports that “On November 20th, Firefox will end support for users operating Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). After this date, users will stop receiving Firefox updates, including new features and security fixes.”
Keybl notes that Leopard users will require an upgrade to Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) if they wish to continue using the latest versions of Firefox. He also takes a minute to explain why.
“Mozilla bases changes in supported operating systems on population size and trends, vendor support, testing resources, and technical feasibility. Ending support for Leopard will free up resources for new Mac features like Native Full Screen support and new Mac accessibility tools,” writes Keybl.
Leopard users running Firefox will continue to see update prompts over the next month regarding the discontinuation of development on Mac OS X 10.5.
“Barring any major stability or security issues found over the next few weeks, Firefox 16.0 will be our last release to support 10.5,” Keybl confirms.
“After a five year run, it’s time for a big cat nap. Firefox support for Leopard ends on November 20th, 2012,” he concludes.
In related news, Google is also ending Leopard development for its Chrome web browser, the reasons being very similar that those of Mozilla’s:
“While we understand this is an inconvenience, we are making this change to ensure we can continue to deliver a safe, secure, and stable Chrome for the most Mac users possible,” the Chrome development team wrote in a blog post last month.
It seems Opera’s up next.
Mozilla Firefox is a graphical web browser developed by the Mozilla Corporation and a large community of external contributors. Firefox started as a fork of the Navigator browser component of the Mozilla Application Suite. Firefox has replaced the Mozilla Suite as the flagship product of the Mozilla project, under the direction of the Mozilla Foundation.
To display web pages, Firefox uses the Gecko layout engine, which implements most current web standards in addition to several features which are intended to anticipate likely additions to the standards. Latest Firefox features include tabbed browsing, spell checking, incremental find, live bookmarking, a download manager, private browsing, location-aware browsing (also known as 'geolocation') based exclusively on a Google service and an integrated search system that uses Google by default in most localizations. Functions can be added through add-ons, created by third-party developers, of which there is a wide selection, a feature that has attracted many of Firefox's users. Mozilla Firefox is a cross-platform browser, providing support for various versions of Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
Firefox Features
- Improved Tabbed Browsing
- Spell Checking
- Search Suggestions
- Session Restore
- Web Feeds (RSS)
- Live Titles
- Pop-up Blocker