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Re: Pulling support for Mac OS 10.4 & 10.5

End of support for OS X 10.4 and 10.5

Matthew S.
New member | Level 1

Why pull support and remove functionality? Why not just drop support -- just stop updating the app but still allow basic functionality? There are still a lot of legacy machines that are still in use and CANNOT upgrade to 10.6, as they are PowerPC based. Yes, old systems still work. Why stop the app from working totally instead of just deprecating support for those systems?

281 Replies 281

Cameron M.5
Helpful | Level 6

I'm torn. I wasn't going to say anything but that doesn't help anyone, so here goes...

On one hand, I completely understand the dilemma of diminishing returns in continuing to support the old OS versions. Support from Apple in the developer tools has long since dried up. Dropbox likely doesn't want new hires getting bogged down in old dead-end code. I get that. I thank Dropbox for having supported OS X 10.4 Tiger and 10.5 Leopard for as long as they have.

I haven't seen anything about support being dropped for Windows XP in the near term. That stings of "double-standard" a little bit, especially considering the whole uproar last year of Microsoft officially ending support for XP. "On-the-surface" statistics may paint the picture: I saw one set of January 2015 numbers that showed Windows XP usage at 18+%. Mac OS X 10.10 was something like 3.5% and OS X 10.9 was a little under 2%. All older OS X versions were lumped together under a 6% portion of the pie called "Other" which I presume included Linux. Those stats vary widely depending on who's collecting them but the gist is: there are likely a WHOLE lot more XP Dropbox users out there than those on OS X 10.4 Tiger and/or OS X 10.5 Leopard. I have to ask though: How many of those are paying users?

On the other side of the coin, I have to consider my own use case:
One of the reasons I decided to go with Dropbox was explicitly because it supported earlier systems. As others have said, that's a SELLING POINT. It made Dropbox a much more useful and versatile tool.

My main personal Mac is on OS X 10.10 Yosemite but I also have a still-running-great iMac G5 that can't upgrade past OS X 10.5 Leopard. Dropbox is an ideal, elegant tool for sharing/syncing files with this machine. As others have attested, Dropbox has served as a wonderful "bridge" for when we need to keep an old system around due to proprietary BUSINESS hardware and software that just won't work on the new systems.

Yes, I could share the files with another "supported" Mac, but my 10.10 Mac is a laptop - what about when I have it on the road with me and a family member wants to work with/sync the shared files on the iMac? Put it the shared files on a NAS, some would say. Meh... too complicated. I bought into Dropbox for the SIMPLICITY. Jumping through all these extra hoops would negate that.

Other concerns...
1.) As others have suggested: how long before support for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is also dropped?
2.) More importantly, how long before we're locked out of even the Dropbox website on OS 10.5 X and earlier because the web browsers are "too old" and "unsupported?"

Others have described more compelling "mission-critical" uses of Dropbox on PowerPC Macs, but my own dilemma boils down to:
- My Dropbox Pro account offers more space than I ever really needed
- BUT, having the ability to sync with the older systems made the extra expense "worth it" to me (I was happy to pay to support a smaller, focussed company). I didn't really consider the competition.
- Now that the PowerPC support is going away, I should do more "due diligence" in really looking into other Cloud/sync/storage providers. Since I'm mostly on OS X 10.10 and an iPhone, most other services do just fine for my needs and at a lower price point. (Some of the savings might go into a "do-it-myself" sync solution for the older iMac.)
- I am a Canadian customer, and with our dollar having dropped from $0.95 US to $0.80 US, I have to admit I'm more price conscious than I was last year.

I fully understand aspects of the dilemmas:
- Canada/US Dollar exchange rate
- Next-to-nil developer support for OS X 10.5 and prior from Apple
...are beyond Dropbox's control (and beyond my own control).

It appears Dropbox has already made their "business decision" about the fate of OS X 10.4 and 10.5 support. (Hi Dropbox Team... you can still change your mind 😉 )
I haven't made up my own mind yet about which way I'll go when my Dropbox Pro account is up for renewal in June. It will be sad to go.... It'll be a battle between my head and my heart.

Janneke S.
New member | Level 1

My server runs on MacOs 10.4 and I don't want to replace it.
If money is the problem; why not ask "old-system users" a small contribution ?
It's cheaper than replacing a whole system.

mike m.16
New member | Level 1

Janneke. S. has the answer - ask those who wish to continue with 10.4/10.5 subscribe. The service has value, the lower the offer the more of the users will take it up $19 per annum?

tommaso a.
Explorer | Level 3

Give SpiderOak 4.8.4 a try guys, I am testing it and it seems to work pretty fine on my Powerbook 12".

Richard Schletty
Collaborator | Level 8

Tommaso, I installed SpiderOak 4.8.4 on my Mac PPC G5 (Lion 10.5.8) and it gives this error: "Server error: 400. A newer version of this software is required. The application will exit now." That happens when I try to log in with my SpiderOak account which I had first set up on my Mac Pro running Mavericks using the latest SpiderOak client. Perhaps the 4.8.4 Client knows that it cannot sync with advanced features like the SpiderOak Hive (sync folder). I was so hopeful that SpiderOak would work. Now I must once again beg Dropbox not to drop Desktop Sync functionality for Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5. I am a paying Dropbox user and am willing to pay 50% more for continuing Mac PPC support. Please drop us another note, Dropbox.

tommaso a.
Explorer | Level 3

Richard, I remember I had to struggle a little too, uninstalling and reinstalling SpiderOak. But after a while it worked fine on my G4. Your G5 machine should not make any difference. And I never got that error message. Try setting up an account on your G5 first. Then install it on intel machines.

super m.
New member | Level 1

A lot of people around the world still using ppc mac's. Personally, I'm a macbook pro user, BUT my father and my sister are ppc users. If dropbox will stop support them, the same day I'll change to another cloud storage program. I believe that many mac users will do the same...

Ramsey F.
New member | Level 1

@super m : The problem with moving to another supplier is that there is no other supplier that supports PPC Macs. Dropbox was the only one and now they will be "drop-boxing" PPC Macs. They say one of the problems is that they need to go to 64-bit addressing to handle all of the files they now serve. And PPC Macs are only 32-bit. But I gotta believe that there is some workaround for PPC Macs to allow them to just take advantage of syncing and maybe linking of files. No other frills. Maybe one last update for PPC Macs that allows them to store the 64-bit address as two 32-bit identifiers in a database. It would be a hack, but it would keep PPC Macs in the game for a few more years.

Joaquin M.2
New member | Level 1

Add one more Dropbox Pro user with several PPC Macs being synced with Intel Macs and PCs that will be affected with the removal of functionality for 10.5. Please Dropbox, can you reconsider your decision? If not, I will have to reconsider to stop paying for the service...

Rafael G.5
New member | Level 1

Muito Boa noite equipa do Dropbox

  Agradeço desde já por  informarem-me que a Dropbox não será mais compatível como os sistemas operacionais OS X 10.4 &10.5, lamentavelmente os equipamentos que detenho da marca Apple, são modelos antigos os quais são dotados de um Processador PowerPC, que não é compatível com as versões mais recentes do OS X, uma vez que estes para funcionarem requer um processador Intel.

  É lamentável que não permitam o acesso a estes Mac's PowerPC aos servidores, uma vez que o acesso ao servidor, não é restringido pelo tipo de arquivo (doc.exe.jpg.ttif.dmg...), mas sim é bloqueado o acesso pelo tipo de sistema operacional.

  Se efectivamente verificar-se que a 18 de Maio de 2015 os Mac's PowerPC com o OS X 10.4 & 10.5 não tem permissão para aceder ao servidores da Dropbox, eliminarei toda a conta da Dropbox. Uma vez que posso aceder a outras plataformas como iCloud, via safari (browser) com a possibilidade de arquivar 5GB de dados, também pelo safari tenho acesso  MeoCloud que me permite arquivar 16 GB de dados, muito superior ao da Dropbox.

  Tenho Dropbox porque é a único que permite-me instalar em Mac's PowerPC, sem ter de abrir o (browser) para fazer um upload de um arquivo. Perdida essa vantagem perante a concorrência, eu simplesmente elimino a conta Dropbox.

Continuações de um óptimo trabalho e com os melhores cumprimentos, e obrigado pela vossa atenção.

Rafael Gomes

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