what can I upgrade to from a Mac OS X 10.5.8

Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" System Requirements

To install Snow Leopard for the first time, you must have a Mac with:

• An Intel processor
• An internal or external DVD drive, or DVD or CD Sharing
• At least 1 GB of memory (RAM) (additional RAM is recommended)
• A built-in display or a display connected to an Apple-supplied video card supported by your computer
• At least 5 GB of disk space available, or 7 GB of disk space if you install the developer tools

To determine which Mac you have, what kind of CPU it uses, and how much memory is installed:  > About this Mac

The specified 1 GB minimum is very little. Snow Leopard will run with 1 GB but you may not like its performance. Get all the RAM that you can afford to buy for your system.

To upgrade from OS X 10.5.8, you must first buy Snow Leopard by calling the phone number in the Apple Online Store: 800-MY-APPLE (in the US). Snow Leopard costs $20, or $30 for a five user license. Do not obtain Snow Leopard from any source other than Apple.

After you install Snow Leopard you can decide if you want to upgrade OS X to the latest version, Mountain Lion. Mountain Lion is available in the Mac App Store, which is available to you after upgrading to Snow Leopard.

Upgrading to Snow Leopard, Lion, or Mountain Lion

You can upgrade to Mountain Lion from Lion or directly from Snow Leopard. Mountain Lion can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $19.99. To access the App Store you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.6 or later installed.

You can purchase Snow Leopard by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service - this includes international calling numbers. The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will receive physical media - DVD - by mail.

Third-party sources for Snow Leopard are:

Snow Leopard from Amazon.com

Snow Leopard from eBay

After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store.

You can purchase Lion by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service - this includes international calling numbers. The cost is $19.99 (as it was before) plus tax. It's a download. You will get an email containing a redemption code that you then use at the Mac App Store to download Lion. Save a copy of that installer to your Downloads folder because the installer deletes itself at the end of the installation.

Be sure your computer meets the minimum requirements:

Apple - OS X Mountain Lion - Read the technical specifications.

Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion

1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)

2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)

3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)

4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)

5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)

6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)

7. Xserve (Early 2009)

Are my applications compatible?

See App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps - App compatibility and feature support for OS X & iOS.

Am I eligible for the free upgrade?

See Apple - Free OS X Mountain Lion upgrade Program.

For a complete How-To introduction from Apple see Apple - Upgrade your Mac to OS X Mountain Lion.

Model Eligibility for Snow Leopard and Lion.

Snow Leopard General requirements

1. Mac computer with an Intel processor

2. 1GB of memory

3. 5GB of available disk space

4. DVD drive for installation

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

apply.

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

Lion System Requirements

1. Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or

Xeon processor

2. 2GB of memory

3. OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)

4. 7GB of available space

5. Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.

Download Flash Player from Adobe: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

You will need to find a version compatible with whatever OS your system can use, and it is likely to be one that is not supported by the Flash content you want.

To determine which Mac you have, what kind of CPU it uses, and how much memory is installed:  > About this Mac

Adobe Flash Player is a very inefficient, resource-hungry thing with which to burden any computer. Flash content originates from many disparate sources who don't care about the hardware or bandwidth limitations you have, and Flash content is often poorly implemented. Even if you upgrade Mac OS X to the latest version your hardware can use, you may still find it will not run very well.

We need to know which of the dozen plus models of iMac you have Elizabeth:

To determine which Mac you have, what kind of CPU it uses, and how much memory is installed:  > About this Mac

1. Buy Snow Leopard.
2. Update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8
3. Determine what versions of OS X you can install after Snow Leopard.
4. Purchase Lion or Mountain Lion.

See the information I've already posted. It's about as "layperson" as one can get.