Upgrading 10.5.8 with Snow Leopard disc

Question

Upgrading 10.5.8 with Snow Leopard disc

Here are the details about my computer:

Model Name:	iMac
Model Identifier:
Processor Name:	Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed:	2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors:	1
Total Number Of Cores:	2
L2 Cache:	6 MB
Memory:	4 GB

When I purchased this computer (fall 2009), it came with the Mac OS X Snow Leopard disc. I never installed the disc and have been running 10.5.8.

I am ready to upgrade and need advising. Is there anything special I need to do before installing? I have Microsoft Word for Mac 2011 software installed and would like it kept intact/functioning. Other than that, I have all important documents saved.

After the Snow Leopard software is installed, should I continue to upgrade? And to what version (e.g., Mountain Lion, Mavericks, El Capitan)? This is where I get confused. I have read about problems occurring if you upgrade beyond your computer's ability and it messes other systems up.

Thank you for your help!

Dana

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Dec 7, 2015 8:42 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Allan Eckert

Level 9

79,512 points

Dec 7, 2015 8:53 AM in response to danafrombloomington

You are going to have to upgrade to Snow Leopard 10.6.8 in order to get the App Store in order to upgrade beyond that to the newer versions.

The first step in this process should be a complete backup of everything on your Mac

Your iMac can be upgraded to El Capitan 10.11.1. The major thing you will lose going beyond 10.6.8 is support for PPC code. That it the very old programs that were written for the PowerPC processor that Apple used prior to switching to the Intel processor. As far as the problems go the vast majority of them are caused by bogus third party software that was installed on the Mac.

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