How to run Magento 1.3.X on PHP 5.3?

You know that Magento version (>= 1.4.X) works well under PHP 5.3. But what if you want to run the Magento 1.3.X under the same AMP(Apache/Mysql/PHP) package? You may need this in order to test the extension/theme compatibilities.

In order to run Magento 1.3.x on PHP 5.3, you need to replace the following function from the corresponding files:

1> index.php

error_reporting(E_ALL | E_STRICT);

to

error_reporting(E_ALL & E_STRICT & ~E_DEPRECATED);

2> lib/Varien/Object.php

__toString

to

__invoke

3> lib/Varien/Pear.php

error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE);

to

error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE & ~E_DEPRECATED);

4> downloader/Maged/Pear.php

error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE);

to

error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE & ~E_DEPRECATED);

5> app\code\core\Mage\Catalog\Model\Layer\Filter\Price.php

__toString

to

__invoke

6> app\code\core\Mage\Core\Controller\Request\Http.php

split

to

explode

7> app\code\core\Mage\Catalog\Model\Category\Attribute\Backend\Sortby.php

split

to

explode

8> app\code\core\Mage\Admin\Model\User.php

split

to

explode

Let me know if i missed some points.

Note that such core hack will be only suitable for testing purpose in development server only, So please bear that in mind.

EDIT:
For terminal user who just want to apply patch, i would recommend to use the following article:
http://goivvy.com/blog/magento1.3fix/

Hope this helps you.

Happy E-Commerce!!