So, you’ve decided to download an older version of Mac OS X. There are many reasons that could point you to this radical decision. To begin with, some of your apps may not be working properly (or simply crash) on newer operating systems. Also, you may have noticed your Mac’s performance went down right after the last update. Finally, if you want to run a parallel copy of Mac OS X on a virtual machine, you too will need a working installation file of an older Mac OS X. Further down we’ll explain where to get one and what problems you may face down the road.
A list of all Mac OS X versions
We’ll be repeatedly referring to these Apple OS versions below, so it’s good to know the basic macOS timeline.
Cheetah 10.0 | Puma 10.1 | Jaguar 10.2 |
Panther 10.3 | Tiger 10.4 | Leopard 10.5 |
Snow Leopard 10.6 | Lion 10.7 | Mountain Lion 10.8 |
Mavericks 10.9 | Yosemite 10.10 | El Capitan 10.11 |
Sierra 10.12 | High Sierra 10.13 | Mojave 10.14 |
Catalina 10.15 |
Download OS X Snow Leopard for Mac free. The goals of Snow Leopard was improved performance. OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8 (Soft32.com server). Download Chrome for Mac. For Mac OS X 10.10 or later. This computer will no longer receive Google Chrome updates because Mac OS X 10.6 - 10.9 are no longer supported.
STEP 1. Prepare your Mac for installation
Given your Mac isn’t new and is filled with data, you will probably need enough free space on your Mac. This includes not just space for the OS itself but also space for other applications and your user data. One more argument is that the free space on your disk translates into virtual memory so your apps have “fuel” to operate on. The chart below tells you how much free space is needed.
Note, that it is recommended that you install OS on a clean drive. Next, you will need enough disk space available, for example, to create Recovery Partition. Here are some ideas to free up space on your drive:
- Uninstall large unused apps
- Empty Trash Bin and Downloads
- Locate the biggest files on your computer:
Go to Finder > All My Files > Arrange by size
Then you can move your space hoggers onto an external drive or a cloud storage.
If you aren’t comfortable with cleaning the Mac manually, there are some nice automatic “room cleaners”. Our favorite is CleanMyMac as it’s most simple to use of all. It deletes system junk, old broken apps, and the rest of hidden junk on your drive.
Then you can move your space hoggers onto an external drive or a cloud storage.
If you aren’t comfortable with cleaning the Mac manually, there are some nice automatic “room cleaners”. Our favorite is CleanMyMac as it’s most simple to use of all. It deletes system junk, old broken apps, and the rest of hidden junk on your drive.
Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.4 - 10.8 (free version)
Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.9 (free version)
Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.10 - 10.14 (free version)
STEP 2. Get a copy of Mac OS X download
Normally, it is assumed that updating OS is a one-way road. That’s why going back to a past Apple OS version is problematic. The main challenge is to download the OS installation file itself, because your Mac may already be running a newer version. If you succeed in downloading the OS installation, your next step is to create a bootable USB or DVD and then reinstall the OS on your computer.
How to download older Mac OS X versions via the App Store
If you once had purchased an old version of Mac OS X from the App Store, open it and go to the Purchased tab. There you’ll find all the installers you can download. However, it doesn’t always work that way. The purchased section lists only those operating systems that you had downloaded in the past. But here is the path to check it:
- Click the App Store icon.
- Click Purchases in the top menu.
- Scroll down to find the preferred OS X version.
- Click Download.
This method allows you to download Mavericks and Yosemite by logging with your Apple ID — only if you previously downloaded them from the Mac App Store.
Without App Store: Download Mac OS version as Apple Developer
If you are signed with an Apple Developer account, you can get access to products that are no longer listed on the App Store. If you desperately need a lower OS X version build, consider creating a new Developer account among other options. The membership cost is $99/year and provides a bunch of perks unavailable to ordinary users.
Nevertheless, keep in mind that if you visit developer.apple.com/downloads, you can only find 10.3-10.6 OS X operating systems there. Newer versions are not available because starting Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.7, the App Store has become the only source of updating Apple OS versions.
Purchase an older version of Mac operating system
You can purchase a boxed or email version of past Mac OS X directly from Apple. Both will cost you around $20. For the reason of being rather antiquated, Snow Leopard and earlier Apple versions can only be installed from DVD.
Buy a boxed edition of Snow Leopard 10.6
Get an email copy of Lion 10.7
Get an email copy of Mountain Lion 10.8
Get an email copy of Lion 10.7
Get an email copy of Mountain Lion 10.8
The email edition comes with a special download code you can use for the Mac App Store. Note, that to install the Lion or Mountain Lion, your Mac needs to be running Snow Leopard so you can install the newer OS on top of it.
How to get macOS El Capitan download
If you are wondering if you can run El Capitan on an older Mac, rejoice as it’s possible too. But before your Mac can run El Capitan it has to be updated to OS X 10.6.8. So, here are main steps you should take:
1. Install Snow Leopard from install DVD.
2. Update to 10.6.8 using Software Update.
3. Download El Capitan here.
2. Update to 10.6.8 using Software Update.
3. Download El Capitan here.
“I can’t download an old version of Mac OS X”
If you have a newer Mac, there is no physical option to install Mac OS versions older than your current Mac model. For instance, if your MacBook was released in 2014, don’t expect it to run any OS released prior of that time, because older Apple OS versions simply do not include hardware drivers for your Mac.
But as it often happens, workarounds are possible. There is still a chance to download the installation file if you have an access to a Mac (or virtual machine) running that operating system. For example, to get an installer for Lion, you may ask a friend who has Lion-operated Mac or, once again, set up a virtual machine running Lion. Then you will need to prepare an external drive to download the installation file using OS X Utilities.
After you’ve completed the download, the installer should launch automatically, but you can click Cancel and copy the file you need. Below is the detailed instruction how to do it.
STEP 3. Install older OS X onto an external drive
The following method allows you to download Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks.
- Start your Mac holding down Command + R.
- Prepare a clean external drive (at least 10 GB of storage).
- Within OS X Utilities, choose Reinstall OS X.
- Select external drive as a source.
- Enter your Apple ID.
Now the OS should start downloading automatically onto the external drive. After the download is complete, your Mac will prompt you to do a restart, but at this point, you should completely shut it down. Now that the installation file is “captured” onto your external drive, you can reinstall the OS, this time running the file on your Mac.
- Boot your Mac from your standard drive.
- Connect the external drive.
- Go to external drive > OS X Install Data.
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Locate InstallESD.dmg disk image file — this is the file you need to reinstall Lion OS X. The same steps are valid for Mountain Lion and Mavericks.
How to downgrade a Mac running later macOS versions
If your Mac runs macOS Sierra 10.12 or macOS High Sierra 10.13, it is possible to revert it to the previous system if you are not satisfied with the experience. You can do it either with Time Machine or by creating a bootable USB or external drive.
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Sierra
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Sierra
Instruction to downgrade from macOS High Sierra
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Mojave
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Catalina
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Before you do it, the best advice is to back your Mac up so your most important files stay intact. In addition to that, it makes sense to clean up your Mac from old system junk files and application leftovers. The easiest way to do it is to run CleanMyMac X on your machine (download it for free here).
Visit your local Apple Store to download older OS X version
If none of the options to get older OS X worked, pay a visit to nearest local Apple Store. They should have image installations going back to OS Leopard and earlier. You can also ask their assistance to create a bootable USB drive with the installation file. So here you are. We hope this article has helped you to download an old version of Mac OS X. Below are a few more links you may find interesting.
These might also interest you:
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard marked an endpoint in the evolution of traditional OS X. After this, Apple introduced OS X 10.7 Lion, which moved the Mac in the same direction as iOS – a whole new direction for desktop Macs. Also, for those using software written in the PowerPC era, Snow Leopard gives us the last chance to run those apps.
OS X Version Share on Intel Macs, Late 2009 through May 2015
OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard remains a Top 3 platform among Mac users even 4 versions later!
While OS X 10.6 is now several versions behind, it is hanging in there as one of the most used versions of OS X, as data from our site logs shows in the graph above. We recognize that our audience is more likely to stick with an older OS, whether due to older hardware, software compatibility, or just seeing no need to change.
Whether our numbers are representative of worldwide OS X use or not, the trends here are fascinating. New versions are adopted quickly on release and grow more slowly, reaching their peak as the next version of OS X arrives – although none has achieved the nearly 85% share that Snow Leopard once had, based on our site traffic. They also drop quickly when a new version is released, followed by a slower decline that can go on for years.
Not long after 10.8 Mountain Lion was released, 10.7 Lion dropped below Snow Leopard’s slowly declining level. Likewise, Mountain Lion share dropped precipitously shortly after 10.9 Mavericks arrived, the first free version of OS X, soon falling below Snow Leopard. And with the arrival of 10.10 Yosemite, Mavericks began its inevitable decline – and in coming months it could also fall behind Snow Leopard. It will definitely do so once OS X 10.11 El Capitan becomes a release product.
Snow Leopard has legs. You could well count it as the pinnacle of the classic version of OS X (OS X before it started getting iPhone-like features such as “natural” scrolling), and as such there are a lot of good browser options for it.
I have Snow Leopard on my 2007 Mac mini, upgraded with 3 GB of system memory and a fast 320 GB hard drive. I also have a lot of different browsers installed: Camino, Chrome, Firefox, OmniWeb, Opera, Roccat, Safari, and Stainless among them. Let’s look at them by the date of their latest release.
Camino: Dated but Useful
Of these browsers – and the list is not exhaustive – Camino 2.1.2 has been left to languish since 2012 yet remains a fast browser that I still find myself using for specific projects. You can run Camino very nicely on OS X 10.4 Tiger and a G3 Mac – and anything since.
Camino won’t become your everyday browser, but it’s agile and works very nicely for legacy websites. It has never been updated for HTML5 and scores very poorly on the HTML5 Test.
The biggest drawback to Camino is that it tends to hang with too many open tabs or when you try to quit the app. Camino is based on an old version of Gecko (Gecko 19/Firefox 19 released in February 2013) that was current when Camino 2.1 was released. The code has been tweaked to function as a true Mac app, but over 3 years have elapsed since the last update, so don’t expect it to compete in features with more modern browsers.
OmniWeb: The First Has Become Last
OmniWeb was originally developed for NeXT computers and their NeXTstep environment. When Apple acquired NeXT in 1996, NeXTstep became the foundation for Mac OS X, and OmniWeb was the first browser ported to Apple’s next generation operating system.
The last release version of OmniWeb is 5.11.2, which arrived in July 2012 and added support for some OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion security features. Of the browsers that claim to still be in development for the Mac, it has the oldest “most recent” version.
OmniWeb runs on PowerPC and Intel Macs running OS X 10.4.8 Tiger or later, and the development version is adding OS X 10.10 Yosemite support. Even though Omni Group continues to work on its browser, it looks like a browser from a decade back.
Safari: Left Behind
Safari 5.1.10 is the last version compatible with OS X 10.6. That update was released in 2013, making it only a year newer than Camino. Safari is currently at version 8.0.6, which requires OS X 10.10 Yosemite, so it’s a few versions behind. Apple has a long tradition of leaving users of older versions of OS X with old software, so it’s not just a matter of Safari.
I have given up on Safari for production work, although I continued to use it regularly until earlier this year. It is a perfectly competent browser, but it bogs down with multiple windows open, and this is especially true when using WordPress, the content management system we use for Low End Mac.
Stainless: It Shines!
Surprisingly, over recent months I have made Stainless 0.8 my most used browser. It’s quick to launch, memory efficient, and handles WordPress (Low End Mac’s content management system) very nicely. It has displaced Safari, which is what I used for WordPress until I gave Stainless a try.
Stainless was a project launched by Danny Espinoza in 2008 with some impressive goals. He notes:
“Stainless started out as a technology demo to showcase my own multi-processing architecture in response to Google Chrome (Stainless 0.1 was released three weeks after Google released Chrome for Windows). Sensing an opportunity and inspired by a growing fanbase, I decided to craft Stainless into a full-fledged browser and work on features that I hadn’t seen before in other browsers.
“A prime example is parallel sessions, which allow you to log into a site using different credentials in separate tabs at the same time. This new technology is woven throughout Stainless, from the private cookie storage system, to session-aware bookmarks that remember the session in which they were saved. I still believe this is a true browser innovation (and I’d love to see this implemented in Chrome).”
After five years working on Stainless, Espinoza no longer had the time necessary to invest in moving the project forward and ended development in 2013, so Stainless is eternally stuck at version 0.8. Despite its seeming age, it’s a sprightly browser.
Opera: Fairly Current
I’ve always liked Opera, but never enough to use it regularly. Until now, the most recent version I had on my Mac was 12.16, which is positively ancient. Opera is up to version 30 these days.
Since version 26, Opera has required OS X 10.7 Lion or later. Version 25 (2014) is difficult to find, but this link will get you Opera 25.0.1614.71, the last version compatible with Snow Leopard.
Roccat: A New Contender
Roccat is designed to be fast, and it’s also available on iOS. Built-in ad blockers help it load sites much more quickly than if all the ads were in place. Roccat claims to block 99% of ads.
Roccat has special features optimized for social media, so if you use Facebook, Twitter, etc., that alone makes it worth a look.
Roccat Reader provides you with the kind of distraction-free online reading you have probably seen in more modern versions of Safari. Roccat Cloud lets you back up your bookmarks, tabs, history and more to the cloud and access it from another device running Roccat.
Firefox: Good Enough
Firefox is the descendant of Netscape Navigator, the first well-known browser. For a while it was the second choice browser on Windows and Macs, but Chrome pushed it aside long ago. I honestly can’t remember the last time I used it.
Not to say that it isn’t a perfectly competent browser. I enjoyed using it again after so many years away from it – although I must admit to having used TenFourFox, a PowerPC port of Firefox, heavily on my G4 and G5 Power Macs in recent years.
Firefox has a reader mode, which is marvelous for reading content on a cluttered page or in too small a typeface. Also on the plus side, it can automatically update to the current version (38.0.5 at the moment) and supports full screen mode.
Chrome: Up-to-Date but a RAM Hog
Google’s Chrome browser is current at version 43.0.2357.81, and this version is compatible with all versions of OS X since 10.6 Snow Leopard. It’s fast, but it’s also a memory hog. One the plus side, you can run Chrome on Macs, Windows PCs, Linux, Chromebooks, iDevices, and Android gear.
It’s also the most used browser on the market, although Safari eclipses it on Macs. It always updates itself to the latest version, so no worry about being left behind until Google drops Snow Leopard support.
Browser Overview
In the table below, browser size on disk is rounded up to the next full MB. HTML5 score is on a scale of 0-555. Full Screen indicates whether the browser supports full screen mode, which can be toggled using Cmd-Shift-F.
HTML5 Video notes whether H.264, Ogg Theora, and WebM are supported. “All” means all 3 are.
Browser Version | Size | HTML5 Score | Full Screen | HTML5 Video |
Camino 2.1.3 | 39 MB | 134 | no | no |
OmniWeb 5.11.2 | 76 MB | 205 | no | H.264 |
Safari 5.1.10 | 53 MB | 250 | no | H.264 |
Stainless 0.8 | 2 MB | 250 | no | H.264, WebM |
Opera 25 | 127 MB | 480 | no | Theora, WebM |
Roccat 4.9 | 14 MB | 267 | no | H.264, WebM |
Firefox 38 | 175 MB | 467 | yes | all |
Chrome 43 | 375 MB | 506 | yes | all |
Conclusion
There are a lot of factors you can use for choosing the best browser. In terms of speed, Stainless loads quickly. Camino, Stainless, and Roccat all subjectively feel pretty fast. Firefox and Chrome, not so much, and Chrome itself is over twice as large as Firefox.
Chrome takes top honors for HTML5 support, followed by Opera 25 and then Firefox. Roccat is a bit ahead of Safari and Stainless, but the big question is how well does each browser support the parts of HTML5 that are important to you, such a video codecs.
Honestly, it can’t hurt to download and try several of these browsers. Regardless of which ones others view as best, you may find a new favorite for some specific uses, much as I am hooked on Stainless for WordPress work.
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