Older version of Safari not loading pages

Connie840 wrote:

I reformatted and installed Mac OS X to old iMac. Is updated to version 10.4.11 and won't update any higher. The version of Safari it is running is not loading pages, and I'm getting an error message can't establish a secure connection. I've done all the troubleshooting Apple suggests. Full internet connection. I can get on a Google homepage, I can do a Google search and when I click on the link it can't establish a connection. Trying to install google chrome, page won't load. Before I reformatted it was running OS X 10.6.8 Wondering why it won't update operating system higher?

If I remember correctly, the way that you upgraded from Tiger (10.4.*) to Leopard (10.5.*) to Snow Leopard (10.6.*) was to purchase a retail box containing the operating system on DVD. Sometimes the box might also have other packages like iTunes and iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) in it.

Apple's site for obtaining old copies of macOS does not provide a way to get Snow Leopard, or anything that came before. (It also does not provide a way to get Mavericks – a curious omission.)

How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

It used to be possible to order Snow Leopard DVDs from the Apple Store, but Apple discontinued those a few years ago. Now you're lucky if you can find them on online "flea markets".

You could try downloading Firefox 45.9.0 ESR. This is a really old version of Firefox (the current one is 119.0) that hasn't gotten security patches, much less new features, in a very long time. According to the archived article, the final update to this Extended Support Release version was on April 19, 2017.

So it's not going to be a panacea for all of your Web browsing / Web browsing security problems, but it might not be a bad thing to have on your Mac. You could switch back and forth between Safari and Firefox depending upon which – if either – had the fewest problems with a particular site.

The article describing this Firefox release has a "https:" URL.

https://support.mozilla.org/si/questions/1200697

In case your version of Safari can't access the article, here is a screen shot of the "Chosen solution".

Here are the non-secure "http:" links from that reply. I'm guessing that even Snow Leopard's Safari will handle them.

http://archive.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/45.9.0esr/mac/

http://archive.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/45.9.0esr/mac/en-US/

Ronasara wrote:

Safari is installed as part of the Mac's operating system and cannot normally be individually updated. I suggest using another browser such as Firefox which should work.

It's worked the way that you describe for a very long time – but back in the day, you could download standalone updates for Safari and for the Raw compatibility libraries. Here's one example:

Safari 5.1.10 for Snow Leopard

I totally get it. Our house looks like an Old Macs' museum. We have Macs as old as a 8100 set up and still working.

iMac 5,1 translates to "Late 2007." It can run up to 10.7 "Lion." That is still available free from this page:

How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

It won't get you any newer browsers, but you've found life for the od veteran. Well played!

Is updated to version 10.4.11

What iMac model to you have??? That is critical to what you can do with browsers. Old Macs cannot run the newer browsers and OS versions, and even ones running macOS 10.14 Mojave are seeing browser limitations.

To effectively help you, we need to know more about your iMac. You may not have an upgrade path. Do "About this Mac..." from your Apple menu. In OS 10.4 the return will have this format:

Click the "More Info..." button (blue arrow) to launch System Profiler. In the first page of Profiler:

find the code for your computer where I've indicated with the red arrow and tell us that code. it's not perfect but should help us define what upgrade options you have—if any.

⚠️ Do NOT post your serial number in an image or otherwise. The moderators will redact it and we'll have to start over.

you’re not going to be able to get a modern browser for a machine running a version of OS X that old.

It’s just not going to happen.

That machine is effectively no longer usable as an Internet connected device.

Connie840 wrote:

Tried to but pages keep getting an error message can't establish a secure connection. I know I need to get an updated browser to stop getting error on every page. Weird I can get google search page and it takes me to links for browser downloads but thats it...every link I click on won't open.

I think you're facing a classic "chicken and egg" or "Catch-22" problem.

I believe that Web security standards since the Tiger (10.4.11) and Snow Leopard (10.6.8) days. Modern sites use forms of https:// security that the versions of Safari in those older operating systems do not understand. It's been so long since sites moved to newer forms of security that nobody thinks about how that locks out older browsers, even when the sites in question are ones offering updates for old computers.

iMac5,1 makes it a 17” or 20” Late 2006 iMac that can’t run anything higher than Lion. If you do upgrade to Lion, you will lose the ability to run PowerPC-only programs in translation. (Lion devoured the original Rosetta.). I don’t know if the upgrade is free, or if, after all of these years, you would still have to buy a $20 code from the Apple Store to make it work.

Safari is installed as part of the Mac's operating system and cannot normally be individually updated. I suggest using another browser such as Firefox which should work.

What version of Firefox? The latest version is 119. If FF fails, try Brave browser. If both of them fail, you have other problems that need addressing.