Long time users of Macs running on Snow Leopard, or OS X 10.6, is in a bit of a pickle right now since Apple has all but announced its intentions to no longer support the operating system with future updates. Such a move would leave users wide open to malware and other attacks.
Recently, Apple released security updates for Maverick, OS X 10.9, along with updates for Mountain Lion, 10.8 and Lion, 10.7. However, the company failed to release any form of updates for the OS X 10.6, which could be a sign that its end is nigh. Apple did not explain why it did not release any security update for Snow Leopard.
The last time Snow Leopard was given an update was back in September of 2013. This has led many to believe that Apple might be on the verge of slowly ending support for the 4 year old operating system. It is possible Apple might be attempting to avoid supporting old operating systems for a decade or more, which is a problem Microsoft is facing with Windows XP.
As of now, most Mac users are running the most recent versions of Mac OS X. However, a new report has claimed that 1 in 5 Mac users are still using Snow Leopard, and all of them could be at risk of facing malware problems if Apple ends support.
A report claims that 19 percent of all Mac users are running Snow Leopard on their machine, which is more than the number that are using Lion. Furthermore, 42 percent of all Mac users are running Maverick, which is quite an achievement for Apple, and something Microsoft probably is wishing it could have achieved with Windows 8.1.
One of the main reasons why 19 percent of all Mac users still have an attachment to Snow Leopard, is because some are not too keen of the user interface changes Apple has made with its newest offerings. In addition, Snow Leopard works just fine for many, and it still supports PowerPC applications.
It is clear that Apple is going to have a difficult time getting this 19 percent to upgrade. The company may just have to make the difficult choice of abandoning Snow Leopard if it doesn't want to end up as Microsoft.
