hello quercus_petraea, enter "about:config" into the location-bar of the browser, confirm the info dialog, then search for the preference named "plugins.hide_infobar_for_outdated_plugin" & double-click it in order to toggle it to "true".

you might also want to use an addon like flashblock to only enable the flash plugin when you need it (like when you're watching a video on youtube) in order to mitigate the risk while surfing the web,

firefox also won't support the ppc architecture any longer, however if you want to use an up-to-date browser based on firefox you can switch to "tenfourfox" - the downside is, it doesn't support plugins at all: Firefox no longer works with Mac OS X 10.4 or PowerPC processors

Also, for program update reminders, you could try:

Firefox > Preferences > Advanced > Update - set to "never check"

If that doesn't work, I believe there is a little update history file you can delete, but I'd have to search for more info on that.

Hello Madperson,

Thanks for your help. The plugins dot hide trick is an easy one, but as an ordinary user you first have to find it (not obvious at first sight) and then you must have the courage to net be frightened off. I did not yet try the flashblock-thing, but will do so later on. By the way: it seems that youtube and other sites have advanced so far that Flash does not work at all anymore, so that problem may solve itself partially. As for tenfourfox: worth the try. After all: what's the difference between a system not working because of outdated software and a system not working because of no software at all? But first another full bup, before experimenting starts.

Thanks for your efforts.

Q_P

yes, some sites already offer html5-videos that play without plugins (firefox supports the open webm standard) - it works for many videos on youtube already but videos with ads won't play at the moment: http://www.youtube.com/html5

Hello Jscher,

Thanks for your help. The link [https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/928032 How can I permanently turn off out-of-date warnings is more or less an example of what I encountered after switching to the Mac. In the late 1980's I got a short and very basic training in UNIX system administration, just to help me understand what these gurus at my office talked about. But the latest system I endeavoured to really manage myself was MS-DOS 5.2, and ever since things became a wee bit more complicated. So I am not much impressed by jargon, but all the more careful that I do not "manage" my system untill it does not start up anymore. Without people like you and madperson I would not live as comfortable as I do now. Thanks again, Q_P

Hello madperson,

Are you ever sleeping? What timezone do you live in? ;-) For now remains only to trim Gmail in order to stop it telling me that "some features may not work properly". That may implie to stop using gmail. I find these repeating messages a bug, not a feature. So opinions differ.

The html5-bit will be tested later. If a video will not run, that means there's an ad in it? Good, as I prefer videos without ads. The betray themselves that way.

Thanks again, Q_P

HTML5 videos that are played via the video tag (<video>) will also not play if the aren't encoded in a supported format (WebM or OGG).

• https://developer.mozilla.org/En/Media_formats_supported_by_the_audio_and_video_elements

Thanks Cor-el. Once I realised that it is not only a part of my system that's outdated, but new technology, deep in the maze of Firefox, I sleep better (at night, not at my desk of course). All the more reason to set out to search for a new system, i.e. a completely new (for me!) combination of software on my exisiting hardware. Just like in the attached picture: motortug "Holland", built 1951, but when you put her in dock in time, paint her, overhaul her properly, she will last forever. Thanks for your help.