whitebread Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Source OS X Leopard users are about to have yet another reason to spring for an upgrade?especially if they're hooked on Google's Chrome browser. The Chrome team wrote on Monday that Chrome will soon drop support for OS X 10.5 and that future versions will only be available for Snow Leopard (10.6) or higher on the Mac. The version of Chrome that will do this will be Chrome 2,291 22 (more specifically, version 22.0.1201.0), which has just been seeded into the dev channel for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome Frame users. As pointed out by CNET, this version should eventually reach final release for public consumption within several months. The announcement came as Apple released its first Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) golden master to its own developers. Apple says the OS update will become available to end users later this month, though a formal date has not yet been announced. Some users who are still hanging onto Leopard may be doing so due to old hardware, but Mountain Lion's release will put Leopard users three major updates behind. Perhaps it's time for those people to start perusing Apple's refurb section if they want to keep getting their Chrome fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorbing Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Who cares? Does Google actually think Apple gives a hoot if they want to give Leopard users Chrome or not? I don't think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted July 12, 2012 Member Share Posted July 12, 2012 Boo Google. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightwind Hawk Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Does Chrome ever get new features or anything? I feel like my chrome updates everyday but I don't notice it at all, nor anything new. Old people and can stay old... :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerowen Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 So what is it about Leopard that makes Chrome not work for it in these newer versions? I haven't heard of any limitations in the Windows or Linux versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryoken Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 I don't see the problem.. Apple doesn't like keeping legacy copies of the OS around in the first place.. It's one of the big differences between MacOS and Windows, MacOS has very limited legacy support.. They drop a lot of the API's and such as they develop new ones, rather than keeping old ones for supporting old programs.. This means a lot of programs need to be updated every few releases to be able to keep running.. In all likely hood, Mountain Lion is dropping some support that exists in Leopard, as such to make a Leopard version, it would need to be compiled differently, and Google just doesn't care to be bothered doing that.. And who can blame them, the number of MacOS users using a deprecated OS is so small as to not be worth their time.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharpGreen Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 So what is it about Leopard that makes Chrome not work for it in these newer versions? I haven't heard of any limitations in the Windows or Linux versions. What about the requirement for at least XP SP2? I know that is at least one limitation of the Windows version, and linux folk don't even get official builds unless they use certain distros. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theyarecomingforyou Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Does Chrome ever get new features or anything? I feel like my chrome updates everyday but I don't notice it at all, nor anything new. Old people and can stay old... :p Extension support, Metro support, new technologies (WebGL), etc. But what new features do you want? Performance, security and standards support are constantly being improved, with the Chrome UI remains constant. Microsoft and Firefox have made big UI changes but that's only because the previous versions were outdated. If you want new features then find an add-on that does what you want. Chrome does exactly what I want from a web browser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir Angel Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 So what is it about Leopard that makes Chrome not work for it in these newer versions? I haven't heard of any limitations in the Windows or Linux versions. Presumably it's to do with graphics API's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierce28 Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 So what is it about Leopard that makes Chrome not work for it in these newer versions? I haven't heard of any limitations in the Windows or Linux versions. It doesn't always have to do with incompatibilities. Writing regression tests can be costly (man hours and adding more time until the code can be released) and there becomes a point where every company must make the decision regarding if it is worth the money to keep writing/running these tests on older platforms. If a negligible percentage of the user base is running the OS, why spend the money on it? It is simply a business decision. Plus, if there are technical limitations due to compatibility, then it can be even more costly due to having to either write a more complicated solution to be cross compatible or to produce multiple versions of the same tech. Once again, this comes down to a business decision on whether it is worth the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mohitster Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Who cares? Does Google actually think Apple gives a hoot if they want to give Leopard users Chrome or not? I don't think so. Why the hate dude? It says nowhere that Apple cares or not. It does not even matter. It's absolutely Google's own decision based on their own judgement. Brandon H 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir Angel Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Because OSX upgrades are so cheap, it's very rare for Apple computers to be running dated versions of OSX. Unlike Windows, so it makes more sense for Google to drop support than to work around problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazzy88ss Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 all 15 Leopard users don't care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Neo Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Because OSX upgrades are so cheap, it's very rare for Apple computers to be running dated versions of OSX. Unlike Windows, so it makes more sense for Google to drop support than to work around problems. I actually know quite a few people who are still on OS X Leopard or Snow Leopard for whatever reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperAFK Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Does Chrome ever get new features or anything? I feel like my chrome updates everyday but I don't notice it at all, nor anything new. Old people and can stay old... :p chrome often gets new features and improvements, they just don't change the UI a whole lot so its not always superficially noticeable. Chrome's got a lot more features than it used to have, and is finally becoming a very viable firefox replacement for me (I still highly dislike the total lack of toolbar customization, but I digress) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xilo Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 If you want new features then find an add-on that does what you want. But Chrome doesn't have good add-ons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadishTM Veteran Posted July 12, 2012 Veteran Share Posted July 12, 2012 Chrome's got a lot more features than it used to have, and is finally becoming a very viable firefox replacement for me (I still highly dislike the total lack of toolbar customization, but I digress) I'd move over to it completely from Firefox if it had decent font smoothing other than ClearType. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted July 13, 2012 Member Share Posted July 13, 2012 But Chrome doesn't have good add-ons. Which ones do you need that Chrome doesn't have? deactivated_ 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ObiWanToby Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 I'd move over to it completely from Firefox if it had decent font smoothing other than ClearType. I agree here. Font smoothing is what does it for me. IE9 and Firefox look incredibly better with DirectWrite. The more we try to replace paper with digital consumption, the more people should be paying attention to readability and fonts. I think Apple actually is on their way to winning it. The Retina displays are so crisp, the fonts are beautiful (despite their somewhat odd rendering). We need higher DPI displays and good technology to back them. Here is a really good analysis on font rendering. Article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorbing Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Why the hate dude? It says nowhere that Apple cares or not. It does not even matter. It's absolutely Google's own decision based on their own judgement. No hate intended. Steve Jobs and company declared war on Google and that is why I say that Apple could care less if Google makes Chrome for any of their devices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nyolc8 Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Does Chrome ever get new features or anything? I feel like my chrome updates everyday but I don't notice it at all, nor anything new. Old people and can stay old... :p For example, I noticed that the new tab button got wider... :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nohone Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 Because OSX upgrades are so cheap, it's very rare for Apple computers to be running dated versions of OSX. Unlike Windows, so it makes more sense for Google to drop support than to work around problems. OSX upgrades are far from cheap. My Mac Mini will not be supported by Mountain Lion. So for me to upgrade, I Ned to buy an entirely new computer. A minimum of $600 is not cheap to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViperAFK Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I agree here. Font smoothing is what does it for me. IE9 and Firefox look incredibly better with DirectWrite. The more we try to replace paper with digital consumption, the more people should be paying attention to readability and fonts. I think Apple actually is on their way to winning it. The Retina displays are so crisp, the fonts are beautiful (despite their somewhat odd rendering). We need higher DPI displays and good technology to back them. Here is a really good analysis on font rendering. Article. IMO ie9's directwrite rendering looks pretty bad... firefox's directwrite rendering looks nice though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noir Angel Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I don't really like directwrite font rendering, the older ways of text rendering just look more natural in my opinion. I'm glad it hasn't been implemented in Chrome yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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