Q: Old Computer

It’s impossible to say based on the information in this thread. Choose About this Mac from the Apple menu, click on More Info, and find the model identifier; it needs to be at least iMac7,1, and the computer needs to have at least 2GB of RAM, for it to be able to run Mountain Lion and newer.

(144728)

What is the model?

Upgrade Paths to Snow Leopard, Lion, and/or Mountain Lion

 

You can upgrade to Mountain Lion from Lion or directly from Snow Leopard. Mountain Lion can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $19.99. To access the App Store you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.6 or later installed.

 

Upgrading to Snow Leopard

 

You can purchase Snow Leopard through the Apple Store: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.). The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will be sent physical media by mail after placing your order.

 

After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store. Access to the App Store enables you to download Mountain Lion if your computer meets the requirements.

 

     Snow Leopard General Requirements

 

       1. Mac computer with an Intel processor

       2. 1GB of memory

       3. 5GB of available disk space

       4. DVD drive for installation

       5. Some features require a compatible Internet service provider;

           fees may apply.

       6. Some features require Apple’s iCloud services; fees and

           terms apply.

 

Upgrading to Lion or Later

 

You can purchase Lion by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service - this includes international calling numbers. 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.

 

Upgrading to Later

 

To upgrade you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Purchase a redemption code at the Online Apple Store. Mountain Lion is $19.99 plus tax. Use the code to redeem a download of Mountain Lion from the App Store. (Upgrades after Mountain Lion are free.) 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.

 

       Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion and Later

 

         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.

Back up your data, click here, and read the entire page. Mac OS X 10.7 and newer don't support PowerPC software such as Microsoft Office 2004; some other installed software may also be incompatible. The process for installing 10.7 or 10.8 is the same, except that you buy a download code from the online Apple Store instead of downloading El Capitan.

You should install more RAM before upgrading the computer past 10.6.8.

(144729)

Yes; in your case, you should buy a 4GB module, which would bring the total to 6GB.

(144730)

Yes. If you find that it’s sluggish, you can add another module later.

(144731)

Choose Computer from the Finder’s Go menu, control-click the internal drive, and choose Get Info. Alternatively, open any folder on it, choose Show Status Bar from the View menu if needed, and look at the bottom of the window.

(144732)

You can add more RAM up to:

You can also upgrade OS X to El Capitan but you must start with Snow Leopard 10.6.8.

Upgrading to Snow Leopard

 

You can purchase Snow Leopard through the Apple Store: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.). The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will be sent physical media by mail after placing your order.

 

After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store. Access to the App Store enables you to download El Capitan.

 

Upgrading to El Capitan

 

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

 

To upgrade to El Capitan you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Download El Capitan from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. El Capitan 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.

 

     Are my applications compatible?

 

         See App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps

This should get you up to date. I do suggest installing as much RAM as you can, but 2GBs is the barest minimum to run El Capitan. You can purchase new RAM from OWC, DataMem, or Crucial.