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Which browser to use with MacOS Snow Leopard?

andreisthename

andreisthename

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2018
2
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Hello everyone, in your opinion what’s the best browser to use on OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard? I know its outdated and not many browsers support it, however I’m being “forced” to downgrade because my university uses a proprietary PowerPC based app for brain imaging and because of that I need rosetta. I’m using a 2009 MacBook Pro with 8 GB of RAM and an SSD. I’m currently using El Capitan, but having to switch between the two OSs one for general use (El Cap) and the other (SL) just for that specific app makes no sense and since my SSD is only 128 GB I’ve decided to downgrade completely. Plus my MBP came with Snow Leopard and it runs like a champ. I will however eventually upgrade to Sierra, but as for now I think I’m going to go with SL. Does anyone else still uses SL because of app compatibility?

Thank you :)
 
MagicBoy said:
Why not install Snow Leopard into a virtual machine on something like Parallels Desktop?
Click to expand...

I thought about it, but I need graphics acceleration which a VM does not provide with SL. Plus it would use about 25 + GB os space on my 128 GB SSD
 
Could you get an external USB drive and install SL to it and then reboot to the external drive using Target Disk when you need it? Might even be able to use a thumb drive. It wouldn’t be fast, but it sounds like it’s not something you’ll use all the time.

There are no actively supported browsers for SL anymore, so whatever you chose could pose risks. But if you must:
http://www.oldapps.com/mac/firefox.php
 
My approach would be to get a used PowerBook G4 or other PowerPC Mac just for that specific app if possible. Snow Leopard is a great OS, but has plenty of open vulnerabilities and next to no modern app support. Pale Moon as linked above is really your only up-to-date option for a browser.
 
I still use SL every day, my 2007 macbook is still my main computer not for compatibility more for reliability, but going to try Arctic Fox as beginining to find browser incompatibilities now due to lack of support. I also have a 2010 macmini 2.67 core 2 duo 8 gb of ram, alright still outdated but running High Sierra, but I get the spinning beach ball for 10 minutes everytime I open itunes and half my artwork is missing. So annoying! Snow Leopard on the other hand is solid as a rock everytime! Considering downgrading the mac mini back to SL. I don't care too much for fancy features. I just need a computer that works reliably everytime. Snow Leopard does High Sierra does not!
 
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Arctic Fox still works in 2020 and security updates are also included.

Go Arctic Fox! Many thanks to still update to work with OS X Snow Leopard!
 
hi. sorry in advance for stupid questions. I was good with SL up until 2 weeks ago. The Chrome / Firefox versions I had said it no longer supported SL. Apple Genius Bar said that my MacBook Pro won't allow El Capitan to be downloaded so now I'm stuck with SL. So should I use Arctic Fox? Are there any issues with AF?
 
Occasionally...AF can crash depending on what tracking and cookies the website tries to use, but generally it works well for general browsing. It is the only browser that I am aware of that still gets updates that works with Snow Leopard. Unless anyone knows anything else that still is updated, Arctic Fox is it.
 
arctic fox works ok but i noticed that i have some issues with it. it doesn't remember previous sessions which means i have to log into every account all the time. that's it's not a big issue except when i go to ebay. Even though i'm using the same device, the site doesn't recognize it. So I get locked out of my account and i have call ebay - this is a hassle.

The other issue with arctic fox is that some parts of the website don't show up so it's useless.

is there another browser i can use instead?
 
By default, for security reasons, its prefs are set to not remember history (like private browsing mode). Go in to preferences and enable remember history. (preferences -> privacy -> history)
 
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sorry for the stupid statement, but i don't see where i can switch the privacy settings on arctic fox.
 
Last edited:
prefs.png
 
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