Mozilla set to abandon Firefox 115 ESR in 2026: Here's what older Mac, MacBook and iMac owners can do to keep browsing the Web safely
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(Update: Article updated to reflect latest developments) Computers running macOS 10.14 and older, as well as Windows 8.1, 8 and 7 operating systems are set to lose critical software updates following Mozilla's decision. Thankfully, there are multiple ways to stay online.Sergey Tarasov 👁 Published 🇮🇹 🇳🇱 ...
April 20, 2026 09:54 AM GMT update:
Article fully rewritten and can be considered accurate and up-to-date.
Edited article continues as follows:
In late April, 2026, Firefox 115 ESR - currently at version 115.34.1 - is a secure enough Web browser for those still on macOS 10.12, macOS 10.13, macOS 10.14, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 (as well as the Embedded and Server editions of Windows based on Windows 7/8/8.1). However, plenty of websites are no longer rendered correctly with version 115 - meaning now might be the right time to explore other options.
Option 1: Use Open Core Legacy Patcher to install a newer macOS release
If your Mac has 3 GB of RAM or more, consider installing a version of macOS that's newer than what the machine is officially compatible with, like 10.15 instead of 10.13; you can use Dosdude1's tools to get it done, as well as OCLP. There are multiple guides for using Open Core Legacy Patcher on YouTube. The list of issues resulting from this isn't very different from what Hackintosh fans have to deal with.
Option 2: Turn to alternative macOS Web browsers
Chromium Legacy is now abandonware, stuck at version 127 for good. This is better than Chrome 116 or Edge 116, just not by much.
Firefox Dynasty was a promising project for a while but ended up getting removed from GitHub over what appears to be a weird joke; WowFunHappy, a person with a seemingly clean track record, has a copy of version 146 available for anyone to download, which should be safe enough to use for at least a year.
Another software developer claims to have picked up where Dynasty devs left off by offering Firefox Momiji, a fork getting the same updates as Firefox 140 ESR; it's not clear yet if this is to be trusted.
Option 3: Rebooting into Windows
If you do not mind turning to BootCamp, there are further options waiting for you there. First of all, you have OneCore API, a neat hack which lets you run many modern apps on older Windows OSs, Web browsers included.
Then, there is Supermium, the highly customizable Chromium-based browser getting updates every 3 to 9 weeks which works on systems as old as Windows XP just as advertized (a brief test confirms the claim).
Source(s)
Mozilla Support and more, all linked above
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