“The JoshMeister on Security” site has posted an in-depth article detailing how Apple has stopped issuing security updates for Leopard, and so has finally terminated support for PowerPC-based hardware, some of which Apple was still selling as recently as four years and 11 months ago.
“Until [Sept. 10] Apple had been releasing security updates for Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard, the final version of the Mac operating system that is compatible with G4 and G5 processors,” writes the JoshMeister (Joshua Long). Prior to Apple’s transition to the Intel architecture in 2006, all Macs had been based on the IBM/Motorola PowerPC G4 and G5 processors.”
Apple began converting its entire line of Macs to Intel processors in January 2006 with the MacBook Pro (which replaced the PowerBook G4) and the iMac, followed by the Mac mini in February, the MacBook (which replaced the iBook) in May, the Mac Pro (which replaced the Power Macintosh G5) in August, and finally the Xserve in November 2006.
“Those who purchased a pre-Intel Xserve in October 2006 have only owned them for 4 years and 11 months, and those who purchased a Power Macintosh G5 in July 2006 have only owned them for a little over 5 years,” writes the Joshmeister. “Most of these machines are still running perfectly fine, but Apple has completely cut them off from being able to receive critical security updates ever again.”
You can read the complete article at http://macte.ch/pQyBd .