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For all but a very few, this is a non-story.

MacTechAspen, on 12 July 2012 - 04:46 AM, said:

And for those "very few" it's a very important story. Last numbers I've seen, from a couple of months ago, estimate that about 1 in 7 Mac users is still using Leopard. (With another several percent using something even older, but they're not affected by this announcement since Chrome already didn't run on Tiger.) I couldn't quickly find an estimate of what percentage of Mac users are Chrome users, but from roughly the same time it seemed that overall Chrome was used by about 1/6 of web users. If you'll indulge the assumption of roughly even distribution, that suggests this affects roughly 2% of Mac users. Apple says the number of Mac users is pushing 70 million. So that'd be about 1.4 million people.

If I could get those "very few" Chrome on Leopard users to mail me $1 each I could retire.

Is there a version for 10.5 on PPC?

collegechurch, on 12 July 2012 - 05:39 AM, said:

I don't think so. I couldn't use Chrome on my G5 PowerMac and I upgraded to a new iMac about a year ago. Now I use Chrome most of the time but I've notice a distinct speed boost in Firefox lately.

This post has been edited by JackMac: 12 July 2012 - 05:52 AM

bastion, on 12 July 2012 - 05:12 AM, said:

I have issue with your numbers. While 1/6 of web users may be using Chrome, that in no way translates to 1/6 of Leopard users. The use of a non default browser requires savy and effort. The lack of upgrading tends to emphasize the opposite of computer savy. Therefore, with no numbers at all to back it up, it is easy to hypothesize that a smaller ratio of Leopard users are using Chrome than the general computing population.

Then there is your math. The article says 11% Leopard users, and based on your 70M total base number, that means about 8M Leopard users total. 2% using Chrome would be 160,000 vs. your 1.4M which would be the total of all Mac users with Chrome. Given my argument that many of those that failed to upgrade are less likely to be Chrome users, and your $1 each is less retirement, and more a really good vacation.

I understand that tech changes on almost an hourly basis and that is a good thing. that said, there are those of us that can not afford to change our machine just because a company changes their hardware or software. I have been left out in the cold before and so it goes..

MacTechAspen, on 12 July 2012 - 06:06 AM, said:

Right. Which I acknowledged: "If you'll indulge the assumption of roughly even distribution, ..." I then leaned conservative with the actual math to somewhat offset the likely overestimate.

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Different analysts come up with different numbers depending on which sites they're tracking. The estimates I was using didn't come from Net Applications but from Chitika. Fine. We'll take NA's 11.5%, and we'll say Leopard users are half as likely to use Chrome as the general population. That's still well over half a million people. Maybe no longer retirement money, at least in this part of the country, but not "very few" either.

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You really shouldn't be complaining about my math. I was explicitly talking about roughly 2% of Mac users, not 2% of Leopard users.

MacTechAspen, on 12 July 2012 - 06:06 AM, said:

I do IT work for two non-profits. I'm still using my G5 from 2004, and I maintain three G4's and a G3 iMac. IT proficiency does not guarantee wealth. It also doesn't obligate one to throw away perfectly functional computers; in fact, it makes it easier for me to keep the old machines running!

alterbentzion, on 12 July 2012 - 06:57 AM, said:

Feel free to translate "savy" pejoratively to mean "those who must have the latest and greatest." I fall into both classes, I would love to have the latest and greatest, I just can't afford it. I also have 10.5 running on a G5. No longer a general use system, but old Macs die slowly. I can't say I will miss an upgrade to Chrome for it, will you?

bastion, on 12 July 2012 - 05:12 AM, said:

Well, that figure (roughly 14.28%) seems to be a little bit on the high side, according to NetMarketShare.com; they suggest that Leopard's share for June was about 11.61%. ( reference )

bastion, on 12 July 2012 - 05:12 AM, said:

Maybe this figure would be useful, then -- again, according to the same NetMarketShare.com page: 7.83% of Chrome/Mac users are using Leopard. Based upon 70 million Mac users, that would theoretically peg the number of Chrome/Leopard users at 5.5 million, which means that your final estimate of 1.2 million users might actually be a little on the low side -- unless of course I missed a decimal or something.

Edit: I knew something was wrong with that number, and I did indeed make an error... I think I used the filtering on that page incorrectly. The correct number would appear to be more like 0.43%, or about three hundred thousand people. (sigh)

Aren't statistics fun?

This post has been edited by zarmanto: 12 July 2012 - 07:31 AM

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Really?

MacTechAspen, on 12 July 2012 - 04:46 AM, said:

The truth is, even for those few who are actually affected, it still shouldn't come as a surprise, per se. I'd suggest that this could easily be interpreted as an extension of Google's policies on browser support for their websites; they only support as far back as two major revisions to any given browser, so that they can move forward with technology. I wouldn't be surprised if a very similar set of rationalizations led them to cut off support for Leopard. It's still three major versions of the OS, instead of two, as with browsers... and based upon that precedent, I would expect Google to also drop support for Windows XP around the same time that Windows 8 hits store shelves.

Unlike Windows, Apple has a short technological tail. Five years and you are out. Any older computer is considered to be too small a number to worry about. Mountain Lion 10.8 makes legacy about 4% of the Mac User base. This doesn't mean that the computer is no longer useful, but that it can't run the latest software. Mountain Lion obsoletes slow graphics boards.

If apple is doing that why not google?