Q: Migrate from Mavericks to El Capitan

It is not quite clear what you want to accomplish:

a clean install means that you reinstall everything apps/tools afterwards and then copy use userdata from a backup:

If you want to use TM, you can use your latest user data and restore.

MigrationAssitant is what you can use when you switch to a new mac and migrate.

If you mean will all the applications you have running in Mavericks be compatible with El Capitan, probably not. At the least you would have to upgrade some apps.

If you migrate to another mac, use MigrationAssistant, this brings over all your stuff.

if you upgrade in the same mac, do not use MigrationAssistant, you can just upgrade without formatting first and then you have everythingon it.

It appears you want to erase your Macintosh HD, install OS X El Capitan and migrate your user accounts, settings and data onto the erased drive.

You can create a USB thumb drive installer (8GB) with OS X El Capitan - 10.11.4. Boot from this thumb drive. Open Disk Utility to erase your MBP internal Macintosh HD; then Reinstall OS X from the OS X Utilities Menu. During Setup after installation, you can use the Setup Assistant to migrate what you want from your Time Machine back up (local or networked). If your back up is networked, you will be prompted to log into it with a valid user account.

It doesn't matter if your reinstall has a different computer name than what was previously used. You can still migrate the data over.

I think you have almost answered the OP's question.  Specifically, will the Migration Assistant working in El Capitan migrate info from a Mavericks Time machine backup?  I haven't done this but I don't know why it would not work.  How else can you update the OS?

In short, yes, you should be able to use Migration Assistant to bring your content from a Time Machine backup of Mavericks into a fresh install of El Capitan.

However, I would strongly advise you to also make a full clone of your Mavericks drive to a second external drive. That not only provides additional security, but in case something goes wrong you can immediately boot from the clone and be right back where you were before the update. Also, it *may* be faster to do the migration from that clone instead of from the Time Machine backup.

I never do a major upgrade without and up to date Time Machine backup and one full clone.

To make a clone you can use the free version of SuperDuper! - it is well worth the price of admission to the full version for continuously backing up ("incremental backups", where the software compares the drive and the backup and only copies what is necessary are way faster than a full backup). The free version only does the full backup, but since is the first one you need a full backup anyway.

Carbon Copy Cloner is another reputed alternative. I mention SuperDuper! first because that is what I have been using for many years.

Tracy Reynolds wrote:

 

Specifically, will the Migration Assistant working in El Capitan migrate info from a Mavericks Time machine backup?  I haven't done this but I don't know why it would not work.  How else can you update the OS?

That, I don't know. I've always used Setup Migration from an OS X install to migrate. I've never used Migration Assistant after the fact. I would think it would work.