Q: System upgrade for older MacBook Pro

What system requirements does Adobe say you need?

Current OSX general upgrade information, including system requirements - http://www.apple.com/osx/how-to-upgrade/

Check application compatibility - http://roaringapps.com/apps

Although 10.8 and 10.11 have the same system requirements performance may differ on old and new hardware.  10.11 is free. 10.8 requires the purchase of a download code.  Note 10.8 is already considered old in terms of system versions.

You could more closely identify the MacBook Pro (17-inch) model using info here:

• How to identify MacBook Pro models - Apple Support

The everymac.com site has technical specifications* of most every build model produced.

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/index-macbookpro.html

*There are several 17-inch MacBook Pro models with 2.8GHz processors listed in the above.

One of the last models listed was shown as a Mid-2010, by the numbers in Everymac.com.

Another good reference, once you've specifically identified a particular Mac product, is the

downloadable free technical database application MacTracker from http://mactracker.ca ...

This information source will suggest memory RAM upgrade among other information. Sites

such as OWC macsales show hardware upgrade parts; perhaps batteries as well.

If there is a firmware update available for the model you have, pertaining to later OS X support

then it would probably be listed in the database. An upgrade to El Capitan should be possible

if you check the El Capitan upgrade specifications in Apple OS X site page; to be sure. From

what I find, the computer should be able to run the OS X 10.11.4; your application choices may

require you to look for suitable new replacements to also upgrade to supported software.

The info in this page may help:

http://www.everymac.com/mac-answers/os-x-el-capitan-faq/os-x-el-capitan-compatib le-macs-system-requirements.html

Good luck & happy computing!