Got an Older Mac? Use a Modern Web Browser with Momiji (Supports 10.7-10.14)
If you have an older Mac that’s still perfectly usable, as most older Macs still are, then you might be interested in running a modern web browser on that Mac, and that’s what Momiji is for. Momiji is based on Firefox, so it includes up to date security patches, and support for modern web browsing features and capabilities.
The Momiji web browser brings a modern browser with support for OS X Lion 10.7, 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.9 Mavericks, 10.10 Yosemite, OS X 10.11 El Capitan, MacOS 10.12 Sierra, MacOS 10.13 High Sierra, and MacOS 10.14 Big Sur, which covers a lot of Macs built all the way back in 2007.
If you’re not familiar with downloading apps from Github, go to “releases” and then download the most recent DMG or PKG installer file. While Momiji is open source, you most likely do not want to download the source code.
Having a modern up to date web browser on an older Mac can be the difference in continuing to have it be a usable computer or not sometimes, particularly if a critical site is not compatible with the older browser. And that’s really what makes apps like Momiji so useful, allowing you to continue to get usage from an older Mac, even if Apple has long ago stopped supporting it, and every other major browser also long ago gave up releasing supported versions for those older MacOS and OS X versions.
If you try out Momiji, or have a preferred alternative modern browser for older Macs and MacOS versions, share it with us in the comments!
Momiji keeping its Firefox security fixes current is the reason this works, but it only covers the browser. The system underneath stopped getting fixes years ago: Mojave’s final security update was Security Update 2021-005 in July 2021, and the older versions ended before that. So an old Mac running Momiji is fine for reading, research and the odd web app, but I’d keep it away from banking, password managers and work email.
If one of these Macs is still doing a job in a small office, check its model on Apple’s vintage and obsolete list before paying for a repair. Most Macs that can’t go past 10.14 are on the obsolete side, where Apple has stopped all hardware service and repair shops can’t order Apple parts, so a dead drive or logic board usually decides between a third-party fix and retirement on the spot.
10.14 isn’t Big Sur, it is Mojave.
Might be also interested in Snowium, which is a modern Chromium browser for Snow Leopard
https://github.com/luciascarlet/snowium
10.14 is Mojave
Great to see Momiji keeping modern web browsing alive for older Macs – 10.7 to 10.14 users really do deserve it. I keep an old MacBook around for light work, and it still handles tools without any trouble. Nice write-up!