i dont have icloud in system preferences on my mac

If iCloud isn't in System Preferences, then you aren't running OS X 10.7.5 or higher. iCloud requires OS X Lion (10.7.5) or higher. If you’re running OS X 10.6.8 or earlier you will need to upgrade to OS X Lion higher in order to set up iCloud on your Mac. First check to see if your system meets the system requirements to upgrade.

Lion system requirements are:

• Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor
• 2GB of memory
• OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
• 7GB of available space

Mountain Lion and Mavericks requirements are the same, as listed here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5842.

If you can run Mavericks, you can download a free upgrade from the Mac App Store. If your system can only run Lion, you can go here to purchase a redemption code to download it from the Mac App Store. If you prefer Mountain Lion for software compatibility reasons, you can go here to purchase a redemption code to download it from the Mac App Store.

After upgrading, you will find iCloud in System Preferences>iCloud on your Mac, and can set it up as explained here: http://www.apple.com/icloud/setup/mac.html.

Before upgrading, you may want to check the compatibility of your existing applications by checking here: http://roaringapps.com/apps:table. Also be aware that older PPC programs such as AppleWorks and Office 2004 for Mac will not run on OS X Lion or higher.