To update my Macbook Pro from OS X 10.6.8, a) what's the cost b) will my computer be wiped clean or will my stuff stay on it?

Your present options are:

Upgrading to Mountain Lion

To upgrade to Mountain Lion you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Purchase a redemption code at the Online Apple Store: OS X Mountain Lion. Mountain Lion is $19.99 plus tax. Use the code to redeem a download of Mountain Lion from the App Store. The file is quite large, over 4 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 Mountain Lion - System Requirements

Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion

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.

Upgrading to Yosemite

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

Upgrading to Yosemite

To upgrade to Yosemite you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Download Yosemite from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. Yosemite 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/Yosemite- System Requirements

Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Yosemite

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.

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.

You don't have to erase your drive, but you should repair the hard drive and permissions before upgrading:

Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions

Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.

If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.

1. Lion and Mountain Lion cost $19.99 US. Mavericks and Yosemite are free and don’t require going through an intermediate version.

2. Your data will remain unchanged unless a problem occurs. Back it up first.

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Although Yosemite is free, free does come with hidden costs.

Before you consider upgrading - check to see if any hardware devices you have are Yosemite compatible, that you have enough memory to run Yosemite, and that all your apps, games, etc are compatible or do you need to upgrade.

If you just don't have problems with Safari - and that is the only reason for upgrading - consider using a different web browser - Firefox or Opera.

Your computer should not be wiped clean. Do a backup, preferable 2 separate ones on 2 drives.