Tuaregroy

Q: What Web Browser Can I now use for Mac OS X 10.5.8?  Is support completely gone?

I recently discovered that Foxfire no longer supports my older Mac.  I've switched to Safari, but it only seems to work some of the time.  Internet Explorer no longer supports it also.  So what should I do?  Is this mac no longer safe to use on internet?  Am I forever required to run outdated programs that work poorly?  What are my options?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5)

Posted on Jul 8, 2012 7:54 AM

Close

Q: What Web Browser Can I now use for Mac OS X 10.5.8?  Is support completely gone?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Jul 8, 2012 7:55 AM in response to Tuaregroy
    Level 10 (311,763 points)
    Jul 8, 2012 7:55 AM in response to Tuaregroy

    Try using iCab.

     

    (67680)

  • by Neville Hillyer,

    Neville Hillyer Neville Hillyer Jul 8, 2012 11:39 AM in response to Tuaregroy
    Level 4 (1,877 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 8, 2012 11:39 AM in response to Tuaregroy

    I use Safari 5.0.6, Firefox 3.6.28, iCab 4.8.0 and Internet Explorer 5.2.

     

    I speed up Safari by dumping everything except preferences, bookmarks and a week's history each day. I disable tabs, RSS, fraudulent sites, location services, plug-ins and extensions.

     

    I doubt that anything on the internet will ever hurt you. My modem/router's firewall keeps out most things. What are you afraid of?

  • by Klaus1,Solvedanswer

    Klaus1 Klaus1 Jul 8, 2012 12:17 PM in response to Tuaregroy
    Level 8 (48,821 points)
    Jul 8, 2012 12:17 PM in response to Tuaregroy

    From your question I am assuming that you have a PPC iMac.

     

    Internet Explorer has not been supported for the Mac for a decade.

     

    Safari is the obvious choice. The latest versions of Firefox do not work on a PPC Mac (Intel only) but there is a version that does: TenFourFox:

     

    You can download TenFourFoxG5 from here:

     

    http://www.floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox/

     

    Now for the interesting bit: TenFourFox, like Firefox, does not support most plug-ins. Unless you are prone to headaches (in which case don't) you can read about that here:

     

    http://code.google.com/p/tenfourfox/wiki/PluginsNoLongerSupported

     

    But there is a workaround!

     

    Open TenFourFox and type in the address bar: about:config (no spaces) and click return. This gives you a warning that it might harm the application. Ignore that and click on 'I'll be careful, I promise' and you get the config file that you can edit - with great care.

     

    Look/search (scroll down) for: tenfourfox.plugins.enabled

    Set it to true. (Double click it to toggle it)

     

    Now close TenFourFox, open it again, and Flash will now work, as it now uses the plug-ins that Safari has stored.

     

    I am using Flash 10.1.102.64 in TenFourFox and it works just fine.

  • by Neville Hillyer,

    Neville Hillyer Neville Hillyer Jul 8, 2012 1:04 PM in response to Klaus1
    Level 4 (1,877 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 8, 2012 1:04 PM in response to Klaus1

    Thanks Klaus. I used earlier versions of TenFourFox because they were much faster than Firefox but by the time they disabled plug-ins my tests showed that the older Firefox was faster so I switched back. I will try it again with plug-ins enabled as you described. So my browser list is now:

     

    Safari 5.0.6, TenFourFox 10.0.5, Firefox 3.6.28, iCab 4.8.0 and Internet Explorer 5.2

  • by Tuaregroy,

    Tuaregroy Tuaregroy Jul 9, 2012 7:33 AM in response to Klaus1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 9, 2012 7:33 AM in response to Klaus1

    Thanks Klaus,  I installed TenFourFox and it is essentially the same as foxfire.  It even brought in my bookmarks from my own version.  It seems to be fast and working well.

     

    I have another related question though:  TenFourFox downloaded onto my individual account but not on to my hard drive as it usually requires.  How do I get it loaded onto my hard drive so all users can use.

  • by Neville Hillyer,

    Neville Hillyer Neville Hillyer Jul 9, 2012 7:43 AM in response to Tuaregroy
    Level 4 (1,877 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 9, 2012 7:43 AM in response to Tuaregroy

    Most accounts are on the same hard drive as the OS and applications.

     

    Things download according your download location settings - perhaps in the browser you used for the download.

     

    Put it in Applications.

  • by christopher rigby1,

    christopher rigby1 christopher rigby1 Jul 9, 2012 11:26 AM in response to Neville Hillyer
    Level 4 (2,146 points)
    Jul 9, 2012 11:26 AM in response to Neville Hillyer

    Keep Safari 5.0.6 lean and it is the best browser - it's the latest version of it that can run on a PPC Mac in 10.5.8 and even Lion only uses 5.1 (my G4 can run Safari 5, iTunes 10, and iLife 8 - I think Apple do a good job of allowing older machines to run their own software pretty much up-to-date).

     

    No-one has mentioned Opera. That too is a great "little" browser, though you might need one of the archived version from their site - I use version 9 but you may be able to get away with a later one.

     

    There is also Camino, which like Opera is a free download and which some Mac users swear by.

  • by tolga fromistanbul,

    tolga fromistanbul tolga fromistanbul Feb 11, 2016 12:02 AM in response to Tuaregroy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 11, 2016 12:02 AM in response to Tuaregroy

    Trust me i tried lots of browser for my 2006 imac.the best one is yandex browser and the second one is epic browser from india. These two browsers made my life easy....

    https://browser.yandex.com.tr/desktop/main/?_rdr=safe&utm_referrer=https%253A%25 2F%252Fwww.google.com.tr%252F

    https://www.epicbrowser.com/

  • by l3pap,

    l3pap l3pap Mar 28, 2016 4:32 AM in response to Tuaregroy
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iCloud
    Mar 28, 2016 4:32 AM in response to Tuaregroy

    I have downloaded TenFourFox, but when I go to about:config, the tenfourfox.plugins do not appear.  The only Tenfourfox  item is the .mp3 and that is already enabled

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Apr 8, 2016 3:00 PM in response to l3pap
    Level 6 (14,244 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 8, 2016 3:00 PM in response to l3pap

    The TenFourFox main page at http://floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox/

    has this to say about plugins and add-ons...

     

    "Double-click the .zip file to decompress it, and move the application to your Applications folder.

    Problems? Ask questions and get help at our TenFourFox Tenderapp Support site.

     

    Please note: TenFourFox supports add-ons, but not plugins (read why).

    If you require using Flash or Java, do not use TenFourFox."

     

    (However, plugins are not extensions. Most add-ons and extensions will work.)

     

    Hopefully you are able to use this PPC G3/G4/G5 custom-build browser, with supported add-ons.

    Good luck & happy computing!