Can my iMac handle OS 10.5 (Leopard?)

Sorry for the amateurish question, but I'm a fairly new Mac user and not familiar with upgrades, etc.

I bought my iMac new in December 2007. I currently have Mac OS X 10.4.11, a 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and 1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory. Is the next step up Leopard? And is Leopard akin to a new Windows version, i.e. I need to buy it somewhere? Most importantly, is my Mac able to upgrade to it simply by purchasing the cd and installing its contents? I'm a bit clueless on this subject.

Thanks!

That can handle it easily.

TTM1127 said:

I bought my iMac new in December 2007. I currently have Mac OS X 10.4.11, a 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and 1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory. Is the next step up Leopard?

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The next is Leopard (10.5); in a month or so, you can skip straight to Snow Leopard (10.6) In fact, you can probably find some "buy Leopard now, get Snow Leopard free in a month" deals if you look.

And is Leopard akin to a new Windows version, i.e. I need to buy it somewhere?

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Yes, Leopard is (and Snow Leopard will be) $129 from Apple, Amazon, CDW, or your favorite computer store.

Most importantly, is my Mac able to upgrade to it simply by purchasing the cd and installing its contents? I'm a bit clueless on this subject.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Pretty much. Your Mac meets the requirements There are several installation options, which you can read about elsewhere, but the simplest is a straight upgrade. You put in the disc, click through the Installer, and you end up with Leopard when you restart.

A suggestion, though: I would recommend that you upgrade your memory to at least 2GB. You can get a 2GB module for about $30, which will give you 2.5GB total (you'll probably have to take out one existing module for the new one to fit.) You don't have to do this before upgrading to Leopard, but it could make things run a bit faster.