Backblaze announces an update to Backblaze Online Backup: Version 5.3! This is a smaller release, but does improve stability, security, and how Backblaze handles systems without a lot of RAM. This release also signals the beginning of the end of our support for a few older operating systems: Mac OS X 10.5, Mac OS X 10.6, Mac OS X 10.7, Windows XP, and Windows Vista.
What’s New in Release 5.3:
- Better communication with the data centers when checking for connectivity
- Increased security during communication with the data centers
- Improved handling of temporary Backblaze log files when RAM is running low
- Minor changes and bug fixes
Release Version Number:
Availability:
July 19th, 2018
Upgrade Methods:
- Immediately when performing a “Check for Updates” (click on the Backblaze icon and then select “Check for Updates”).
- Immediately as a download from: https://secure.backblaze.com/update.htm.
- Immediately as the default download from: www.backblaze.com.
- Auto-update will begin in a couple of weeks.
Cost:
This is a free update for all Backblaze Cloud Backup consumer and business customers and active trial users.
Announcing an End of Life Process:
We’ve made the tough decision to end support for some older operating systems:
- Mac OS X 10.5: Apple officially stopped security patching this OS in 2012
- Mac OS X 10.6: Apple officially stopped security patching 10.6 in 2014
- Mac OS X 10.7: Apple is no longer supporting this OS as of 2015
- Windows XP: Microsoft officially ended support for XP in 2014
- Windows Vista: Microsoft announced the end of support for Vista in 2017
It has been a while since we announced the end of life process for Mac OS X 10.4 and sent out DVDs with Mac OS X 10.6 on them to users who were still on Tiger. There aren’t DVDs to send out this time, but we’d still like to make this as smooth a transition as possible for people using the affected operating systems.
What This Means:
- Customers still using Mac OS X 10.5, Mac OS X 10.6, Mac OS X 10.7, Windows XP, and Windows Vista will be able to continue backing up and restoring data from those systems. Support for the back up functionality will end on August 1, 2019.
- The above mentioned operating systems will not be receiving new features and will not auto-update to the latest client versions.
- Once support officially ends on August 1, 2019, the Backblaze client will no longer be able to back up data to Backblaze.
We strongly encourage people on those operating systems to update to the latest and greatest that Microsoft and Apple have to offer (and officially support). If you have any questions, please reach out to Backblaze support at: https://www.backblaze.com/help.html.
