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PPC Macs 'likely' to be unsupported by Firefox 4

by Michael Rose Aug 26th 2010 at 5:45PM

While it may not come as much of a surprise, it's still going to aggravate owners of aging PPC Macs that the upcoming Firefox 4 browser is probably going to drop support for the older architecture. Mozilla program manager Mike Beltzner noted that the next version of the open-source browser, currently in beta, is not working on PowerPC machines now and the update will not be automatically offered to them.

Computerworld points to two separate technologies in FF4 that are standing in the way of a PPC build: the OOPP isolated plugin system, which prevents browser extensions from gumming up the works; and the JIT (just in time) compiler for the new JaegerMonkey JavaScript engine, which sounds like a drunken simian but is actually supposed to speed up JavaScript compilation manyfold. Neither have a functional equivalent on the PowerPC.

It's not clear if the Camino browser, which does work on both Mac processor platforms and is based on the Mozilla Gecko rendering engine, will be able to update to the Gecko 2.0 platform that powers Firefox 4. In the same message thread, Beltzner allowed that developers could certainly work on a PPC version that left out the two problematic components, but that it most likely would not be allowed to carry the Firefox brand (which has happened before with custom optimized builds for specific architectures). He also pointed out that there aren't development resources within Mozilla to extend support for OOPP and the JIT compiler to PPC, and that outside help has not been forthcoming.

[via Download Squad]



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While it may not come as much of a surprise, it's still going to aggravate owners of aging PPC Macs that the upcoming Firefox 4 browser is...
 

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Refurbished Computers

This problem occurs merely in those PPC those are hardwarely disorder. All they need is just a hardware rectification and then it will start supporting Firefox no matter what version are you trying to use.

September 22 2010 at 6:53 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mrick

I don't have a problem with this. Apple has told developers the future is Intel and many of the major publishers have already moved to Intel only. It is expensive to maintain multiple platforms.

August 27 2010 at 7:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Paolo

Firefox 4 is still 32bit.....
And the Mac version is slower than the Win7 version.

August 27 2010 at 1:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
roe77

I have a PowerBook G4 PPC, only browser I use on it is Safari, works much better than Firefox.

The same goes for my Intel MacBook.....Safari only.

August 27 2010 at 11:08 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Alejandro

Update your hardware. Stop complaining.

(you knew it was coming)

August 27 2010 at 2:45 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Alejandro's comment
vandil

You buying?

August 27 2010 at 7:51 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Donut

i have a Firefox 4 beta working just fine on my iBookG4. think its beta 3 that i installed.
really sucks that PPC support is being dropped. i know a lot of people that are still using PPC Macs cause they simply cant afford to upgrade to the latest models.
i think its too soon since Leopard still runs on PPC Macs and is still getting updates. when Leopard loses support THEN itd make more sense to no longer support PPC Macs.

August 26 2010 at 7:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Donut's comment
Raj

Donut,
You can get a used Macbook (intel-based) with Snow Leopard on ebay for < $500... probably even lower on your local craigslist, if you're willing to look around.

If that's too expensive for you, then I guess it's good that OSX's default browser isn't a POS like Internet Explorer, and is, in fact one of the more modern engines.

August 26 2010 at 8:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Richard

Puzzled, since I am running Firefox 4 beta on my PPC G5 Mac now.

August 26 2010 at 7:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kleinias

"...JaegerMonkey JavaScript engine, which sounds like a drunken simian.."

I never know what is going to actually make me laugh out loud, but that reference actually did the trick, pretty funny!

August 26 2010 at 6:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Kleinias's comment
Michael Rose

I don't always drink digestifs made from bonobo urine, but when I do, I prefer JaegerMonkey.

August 26 2010 at 7:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
igotzzoom

I have Camino installed on my iBook G4, but rarely use it. But lately, my computer has been making strange noises, so I may be upgrading to an MBP soon anyway.

August 26 2010 at 6:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to igotzzoom's comment
turtlejp

I just stick to Safari on my iBook. I feel that it is the going to be the last browser standing that stays modern.

August 26 2010 at 6:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Anthony

Sigh, I guess that only leaves Opera and Safari for my PowerBook.

August 26 2010 at 5:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
5 replies to Anthony's comment
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