Observed the Forum dialogue abt upgrading from OS10.4.11 to 10.6. Noted 10.6 available still making 10.5 redundant. What is best procedure for actually taking in the 10.6 w/o causing havoc for my 10.4.11 applications=backup reformat the HD or what??pls.

Not a complete answer, but:

You do NOT have to reformat your hard drive.

You DO need full backups of everything.

You DO need to first check with their developers that all your third-party applications will run on Snow Leopard and/or that there are updates available of them. This applies particularly to printer drivers.

Snow Leopard will over-write Tiger.

I am a bit anxious not to confuse my current data storage of pictures, films, music, documents and graphics.

Be certain to have at least 2 backups, one a clone of the drive that you can boot from.

Must I fully reformat my HD...

No.

have major backups done and set aside, before inserting my 10.6 diskette?

Not unless all your stuff is important... meaning a very good idea to Backup first. 😉

must I uninstall certain programs before just backing up?

Mostly not a worry, some 3rd party things will likely need updating after the Install.

My iMac desktop is 6 years old, dec. 2006, Intel duocore.

If it's a core Duo & not a Core2Duo, then it'll only run in 32 bit mode.

Snow Leopard/10.6.x Requirements...

General requirements

* Mac computer with an Intel processor

* 1GB of memory (I say 4GB at least, more if you can afford it)

* 5GB of available disk space (I say 30GB at least)

* DVD drive for installation

* Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may apply.

* Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and terms apply.

Which apps work with Mac OS X 10.6?...

http://snowleopard.wikidot.com/

It's been pulled from the online store & Apple Stores, so you have to call Apple to buy it, last I heard.

Call Apple Sales...in the US: 1-800-MY-APPLE. Or Support... 1-800-275-2273

Other countries...

http://support.apple.com/kb/HE57

Your Intel Mac will run Snow Leopard. If it is an older machine you may want to upgrade RAM ("memory").

Snow Leopard 10.6 Technical Requirements - http://support.apple.com/kb/SP575 - note by K Shaffer - http://discussions.apple.com/thread/2718050?answerId=12921514022#12921514022 : "Some early Intel-based Macs can't use Snow Leopard 10.6 installers; of those, the Core Duo (not 2 duo) were suspect and had issues." - and a qualifier by "a brody" http://discussions.apple.com/thread/2741900?answerId=13028822022#13028822022 : "I think that refers to the ones without at least 1 GB of RAM."

Macs and Software that will run with Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6.x) - https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2455

A Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Application Compatibility List - http://snowleopard.wikidot.com/

One nice thing about Snow Leopard is most of your old applications should work (with an Intel Mac you already won't be running any "Classic" applications).

A complete backup is a good idea before doing any major software changes to your computer, even installing a major applicaiton. While in theory nothing bad should happen, so too in theory you should never have an accident with your car.

You do not have to erase your hard drive. Snow Leopard will install over your old system.

For comparison with the system requirements information above, get more information about your computer. Go to the Apple in the upper left corner of any window, then "About This Mac"and "More Info..." Copy and paste the information here, but omit the serial number and Hardware UUID (if present).

You may find some of these Knowledge Base Articles useful to know about:

http://support.apple.com/kb/index?page=search&src=support_site.kbase.search_sugg ested.search&locale=en_US&q=hp%20printer%20drivers%20lion

HP are not the only printer manufacturer! I previously used Epson (did well for 8 years), now using a Canon Pixma. Have never used a HP printer.

Great news,thanks & continued good luck! 🙂