Software Update no longer available in Mac OS X v10.3 and earlier
Summary
Learn about how automatic Software Update no longer works in Mac OS X v10.3 and earlier.
Products Affected
Mac OS 9.0, Mac OS X 10.0, Mac OS X 10.1, Mac OS X 10.2, Mac OS X 10.3
As of July 23, 2012 (23-07-2012), the Software Update service feature of Mac OS 9 through Mac OS X v10.3 is no longer available, but you can manually download updates if you need to.
Note: Automated checks for updates should not display an alert message, but manually checking for updates via Software Update on computers running Mac OS X v10.3 or earlier may display an alert indicating "timeout" or "connection failure" issues. This is expected behavior. Automatic software updates for these OS versions are no longer available.
For Mac OS X v10.0 through 10.3, you can search Apple's Support Downloads website to manually download update installers. Simply search for updates for your OS version, such as "Mac OS X v10.3 update". You can also click the site navigation icons for "Mac OS and Software", then click "Mac OS", and finally click "Earlier Products".
For example, the Mac OS X v10.3.9 Update can be downloaded here; the Mac OS X v10.2.8 Update can be downloaded here.
Mac OS 9 updates
For Mac OS 9, you may be able to find updates with the Apple Support Advanced Search. Be sure to select "Downloads" from the "Restrict by document type" pop-up menu, and select "Include Archive" from the Archived Documents pop-up menu.
Here are direct links to some Mac OS 9 updates:
Additional Information
If you wish to turn off automatic Software Update checks, you can change the Software Update settings in System Preferences or Software Update itself depending on your Mac OS version.
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