I have one personal machine still on Mojave. Like most browsers based on Chromium, Edge has been warning me that Catalina soon would be the minimum compatible OS for future releases. For example:
To get future Microsoft Edge updates, you’ll need macOS 10.15 or later. This computer is using macOS 10.14.
This turned out to be not quite true, since Microsoft Edge autoupdated on my Mojave machine from version 116.x to the incompatible 117.x version. In other words, I got the update (unknowingly), but it won’t run. This presents a problem, since I use Edge primarily to visit TidBITS-Talk!
While I was annoyed that Edge autoupdated to a version that was incompatible with my OS, I was even more annoyed at how hard it was to find the official download page for older versions of Edge. Various Google searches had the official link buried in the results beneath third party file download sites of highly variable quality and reputation.
Anyway, in case it saves you some trouble, here is the link to download older versions of Edge; scroll down to select the Mac versions, and choose 116 for Mojave:
For what it is worth, I usually save downloaded dmg files to an external drive as a backup when installing these types of apps. Plus I keep a record of registration keys/passwords. I happen to have Edge for Mojave saved there.
I just posted a comment about MS Teams frustrations noting that MS seem to want to control my computer from its web pages. My cynical mind suspects this is the main reason MS is dropping Mojave support for Edge in the future rather than security concerns.
Anyway, thank you for the links.
The other day Edge 116 worked on my iMac (Mojave). Today it refused to work with a warning that I needed to upgrade macOS. This was alarming as I was trying to join a Teams meeting.
Using your advice above I have now installed Edge 115 which seems to work.
BTW - Fortunately I could join the meeting with my laptop, that is running Ventura. Teams allowed me to enter the meeting ID and password - unlike running Teams under Mojave.
The update settings are apparently switchable via policies, ever so much a slight irony in searching for the right method with EDGE. (Old joke: Internet Explorer, the best browser to download a better browser)
Yes, this is an issue. I noticed that Edge again auto-updated yesterday from v116.x to v117.x. I haven’t investigated yet if there is an easy way to disable auto-updating v116 on unmanaged devices. I have the feeling the answer will be more complicated than it should be.
Has anyone managed to successfully block the update? I uninstalled Edge 117, reinstalled Edge 116, and confirmed it was working under Mojave. 10 minutes later it had updated to 117 again.
That must have been my issue - I didn’t think of checking if it had automatically “upgraded” to 117 before I reverted to 115. Maybe 116 will still work for me with Mojave but I would have to disable the autoupdate before trying.
I am running version 116.0.1938.81 on Mojave without trouble, aside from its desire to auto-update.
I did use Microsoft Edge’s “Feedback” tool to suggest that Microsoft implement an easier method for disabling automatic updates. I’m not optimistic, but maybe it will be helpful if others do the same:
They also need to recognize when an update is incompatible with your system and refuse to install it. Firefox was able to do that, so there’s no reason Microsoft can’t figure out how.
Forced updating when a system can’t run the new version is a classic shot in the knee (depending on country, this metapher works with different body parts, foot, head, etc., but all equally unpleasant).
Apart from causing pain for the users, it makes the user base, obviously for MS ever so important, smaller. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.
I understand the frustration of forcing an upgrade when the OS you’re running isn’t supported by the new version.
But consider why those old versions are gone. Upgrades are happening for the remediation of security issues (in many cases, 0-days that are being actively exploited in the field) that put your system at risk. Microsoft (and Google, since Edge is based on Chromium) appear not to be very comfortable to continue to distribute software for operating systems they (and the OS vendor) are no longer supporting as well as distributing browser software that contains known security vulnerabilities.
I have configured some special systems to NOT allow Google or other apps to auto-update using Little Snitch or Lulu.
With Chrome, you currently need to enable the Chrome Helper process and Chrome itself (which usually tries to connect to 239.255.255.250 if using a default starter tab). You then BLOCK GoogleSoftwareUpdateAgent or anything else that pops up once you launch Chrome and it should fail update checks.
I used to do a trick with Chrome when restoring sessions where you disable the network connection (easy with wifi): 1) launch Chrome, 2) restore tabs from last session, and 3) wait until all the tab spinners stop before re-enabling network access. This prevents Chrome from loading ALL tabs completely and saves a bit of memory early on.
I know it sounds silly, but it helps in some circumstances.
