What os can I update my MacBook Pro a1260 to

Ask the basic question, is there a compelling reason why you want to install a newer OSX. There is nothing wrong with Snow Leopard but if there are applications that require a newer OSX, then yes do so. If not, try Snow leopard and see if it simply works for you.

Ciao.

El Capitan is free from the app store. If you go that route, the only thing I would add is to upgrade the memory. A good place to get it is macsales.com. Other wise you can buy Lion from apple it is 19.95 and is a download. http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/MacBook/Pro/Core2/ http://www.apple.com/shop/product/D6106Z/A/os-x-lion

10.8 Mountain Lion is also available with a similar torturous purchase process.

10.9 Mavericks and 10.10 Yosemite are no longer available as new, unless you already have them on your "Purchases" page in the Mac App Store.

My understanding is you cannot get Maverick from Apple anymore. This is all I found.http://www.amazon.com/MAC-OS-Mavericks-10-9-5-Kingston/dp/B00OW7AH78 You would still want to upgrade the memory with Maverick.

SO can I download and upgrade lion directly from Mac App Store?

sorry, no. installing 10.7 Lion or 10.8 Mountain Lion is a multi-step process. You must first be running 10.6.8 to have access to the Mac App Store (used in the second part). Either of these upgrades can be installed from 10.6.8, you do not have to use 10.7 to get to 10.8:

First you buy a download code for the version you want for US$20 from the Apple Online Store. It will be delivered to you in an email, and requires human intervention, so it takes a few days and will not happen over a weekend. Included in the email will be instructions about how to apply that code to your Apple-ID account at the Mac App Store.

Once the code is applied, you will get the appropriate version of the software added to your "Purchases" page at the Mac App Store, and will be able to download and re-download the actual software from there.

If you do not have 10.6.8 on an older Mac (typically around 2011 but there are many exceptions), you do not yet have a working version of the Mac App Store. To get 10.6.8 for those Macs, you buy and install the 10.6 Snow Leopard DVD, which contains 10.6.3. There are a few Macs from early 2011 that shipped with 10.6.6, and cannot run the "Full retail" DVD that contains 10.6.3, and those are a special case.

I agree with trying it with Snow leopard - it was/is an excellent OS and it runs happily on 2 GB, whereas all the newer versions require an absolute minimum of 4 GB (more is much better). Plus, the newer versions are optimized to run on new hardware/processor/graphics card so they will not perform quite as well on an older model.

FWIW, installing RAM is quite easy, just look at the install videos here (pick your model):

http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/

If you are referring to Itunes. All the upgrades including El Capitan come with it. As far as memory. I can go as far as to say that, If you upgrade you should at the very least, go to 4 GB.