Mavericks upload.15"MacBook Pro 10.6.8(2008) 38GB space, 3GB mem, core 2 Duo.

Check that your hardware really can handle it:

Upgrading to Mavericks

You can upgrade to Mavericks from Lion or directly from Snow Leopard. Mavericks can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for FREE.

Upgrading to Mavericks

To upgrade to Mavericks you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Download Mavericks from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. Mavericks is free. The file is quite large, over 5 GBs, so allow some time to download. It would be preferable to use Ethernet because it is nearly four times faster than wireless.

OS X Mavericks- System Requirements

Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mavericks

1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 7,1 or later

2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 5,1 or later

3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later

4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 2,1 or later

5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later

6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later

7. Xserve (Early 2009) - Model Identifier 3,1 or later

To find the model identifier open System Profiler in the Utilities folder. It's displayed in the panel on the right.

Are my applications compatible?

See App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps.

Not to Mountain Lion. Your only option is to Lion or to stay with Snow Leopard. Personally, I recommend staying with Snow Leopard 10.6.8. But should you prefer to upgrade to Lion:

Upgrading to Lion

If your computer does not meet the requirements to install Mavericks, it may still meet the requirements to install Lion.

You can purchase Lion at the Online Apple Store. 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.

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.

And you can get limited iCloud functionality (Mail, Contacts, Calendars) on Snow Leopard by installing Soho Organizer. Upgrading to Lion will however be cheaper.

Dropbox and iCloud are not comparable, they do different things, one is a storage system the other is not. It's a sync system.

So what do you want to do?

iCloud requires 10.7.2 or later, so you might as well use something like DropBox. You will find many options out there for utilities offering similar functionality that will work with Snow Leopard.

Dropbox provides 2 GBs of storage space for free. You would use DropBox on all your computers to easily pass stuff from one to the other. It's even available for iDevices. It has substantial documentation to read in order to learn how to utilize it to your greatest advantage.

Backing up with Time Machine is a fine idea. Making multiple backups is even a better idea. The best idea is to make your second or third backup using a different backup utility. Here are some good alternatives:

Suggested Backup Software

1. Carbon Copy Cloner

2. Get Backup

3. Deja Vu

4. SuperDuper!

5. Synk Pro

6. Tri-Backup

Others may be found at VersionTracker or MacUpdate.

Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.

If you are looking to back things up iCloud won't.

But Kappys suggestion of DropBox is OK. Copy.com is better, and you get 15GB for free instead of 2GB.

margielm wrote:

"Dropbox provides 2 GBs of storage space for free. You would use DropBox on all your computers to easily pass stuff from one to the other."

So, its not for storage?

Yes it is, transferring to other devices is a bonus, but Dropbox would not be my choice, too little space and having been caught out misleading the DOJ during an invstigation into security put me off them forever. If you are going to lie it would be good to practice it first.

As for backup, why don't you want to use Time Machine, backup is what it is for.