Dropbox to discontinue support for OS X 10.4 and 10.5 on May 18

DropBoxIconXIf you are a DropBox user, then be aware that on May 18th, the popular cloud-based storage solution will no longer support versions of OS X prior to OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard.” While no personal data will be affected by this change, and will still be available via Web browsers, the Dropbox desktop client will no longer work to sync your files with Dropbox’s servers. This was recently found by a number of OS X 10.4 and 10.5 users who received the following official message from Dropbox on this issue:

Hi,

We noticed that you’re running the Dropbox desktop application (client) on an older operating system (OS X Tiger 10.4 or OS X Leopard 10.5). We’re writing to let you know that as of May 18th, Dropbox will no longer support these older versions of OS X.

Don’t worry — your files and photos aren’t going anywhere! But you’ll need to update your computer to OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 or later to access them through the Dropbox desktop app. Apple’s instructions on how to update your operating system can be found here.

If you don’t want to update your operating system, your files will still be available through the Dropbox website. However, on May 18th you’ll be signed out of your Dropbox account on your computer and the Dropbox desktop application will no longer be accessible.

We apologize for the inconvenience. For more information, please check out our Help Center.

Sincerely,

– The Dropbox Team

The issue here is with the services and security offered in these versions of OS X. As Apple’s development environment evolves, so must developers that wish to be on the forefront of its offerings, and in doing so the support of prior platforms will become progressively more difficult.

With this in mind, even though this type of move by Dropbox is not unexpected, it does signify the efforts of most developers, and the difficulties they face with maintaining support for multiple operating systems (prior to this announcement, Dropbox was supporting six full versions of OS X).

Overall, this development suggest for ease of use and reliability, that you keep the software on your Mac at its latest versions. This not only applies for OS X and Dropbox, but for all other software as well.

3 thoughts on “Dropbox to discontinue support for OS X 10.4 and 10.5 on May 18”

  2. Meta Sienkiewicz

    I received that email. I had been using the Dropbox application on my 2005 PPC Mac Mini, although I only boot that machine a couple times a month. Probably better to limit Internet access for machines running those old unpatched operating systems though they’d likely be less targeted by hackers.

  3. daaaa

    Long term dropbox user here; now cannot access my files using website. App support for my old gear is long dead as we all know, but not having access via the web is dumb. Really dumb.

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