Quick Question About Preparing To Upgrade MacBook Pro To The New OS

Hello All!
I have a Mid 2007 MacBook Pro Model 3,1 using 10.6.8.
I believe it is time to upgrade the operating system. As I understand it, I have to go to El Capitan.

I am not sure if more RAM or if a SSD is the better use of my limited computer parts budget to get the most out of the new OS.

The programs I use most often are Turbo CAD, Mac Mail, Excel & Word. Sometimes I use Photoshop Elements. I do have CrashPlan running in the background. It uses Java.
Intermittently I use VueScan, Preview, Firefox and iTunes. Kind of a boring list, huh?

The computer has 2 GB RAM as two 1 GB modules. OWC shows I can go as high as 6 GB in this machine, but that's past the budget.


My question is should I add more RAM or replace the hard drive with a SSD before upgrading to El Capitan?
I can't put in a SSD in the optical drive bay because my drive is Ultra ATA & there is no adapter made, so it would replace the existing 120 GB hard drive that I think is spinning at 5400 rpm.

If RAM is the answer, is 4 GB enough for El Capitan?

The lowest price way I can upgrade is 2 modules at 2 GB each for a total of 4 GB at about $36.00 plus postage.
If I add $72.00 more (108.00 + postage) I can have one module at 4 GB & leave one of my 1 GB for a total of 5. Is the extra GB worth the cost?
To go to 6 GB, the cost is $124.00 plus postage. I can't justify spending that much.

If I may sneak in another question- As I understand it support for Rosetta is gone from anything past 10.6.8 & my older programs that rely on Rosetta will be non-functional under El Capitan. Did I get this correct?

(Now if only my wife's 2006 MacBook Pro could go past 10.6.8 we'd be in fairly good shape around here!)

Thanks Very Much for your advice!
Paul

Seems like this project is on a shoe-string budget. I would say go for the ram before the SSD. But adding an SSD (in addition to the ram) will help make things feel snappier.

Realize all your user installed apps will need to be upgraded. Yes you are correct…your 10.6.8 apps (and older needing Rosetta) will not run with El Capitan.

Yes…the 6gig of ram upgrade is kind of expensive (the 4gig stick is expensive). You can probably get by with 4gig of ram with El Capitan (not really much else you can do). Keep in mind one thing. El Capitan with 4gig of ram may still seem slower than 10.6.8 with 2gig of ram.

- Nick

Thanks for the good words, Nick. I appreciate your help.

You mentioned that the 10.6 apps will not run. To make sure I understood correctly- that's only the ones that need Rosetta, right? Any Intel based application should run after its manufacturer's update. Did I get it right?

Thanks Again,
Paul

If the app can be updated to run with El Capitan your good to go.

You need to make a list of what apps you need to run, cross off all those that need Rosetta because that is not happening, and then research those left to see if they are still available and have been updated to run with El Capitan.

Lisa

PGB1 said:

Thanks for the good words, Nick. I appreciate your help.

You mentioned that the 10.6 apps will not run. To make sure I understood correctly- that's only the ones that need Rosetta, right? Any Intel based application should run after its manufacturer's update. Did I get it right?

Thanks Again,
Paul

Click to expand...

That's not a good assumption, Paul. El Capitan (and the other versions between 10.6 and 10.11) introduced different ways the OS gets things done, so even the applications that don't need Rosetta need to be reviewed to see if they need updating. ALL of the Rosetta ones simply won't run at all, but also some of your older versions of Intel software may need updating. You can try checking Roaringapps.com to see if they are still listing your older versions for compatibility with El Cap.

Thank You Nick, Lisa & MacInWin for all for the good information!

From checking roaring apps and the various manufacturers' web sites, several of my applications won't work any longer. Most of them are in the rarely used category. Office 2011 has been updated, so that's really good news. And, I'll be able to get new apps that need an OS beyond 10.6.8 and have security & function updates. This sounds like a fair trade to me.

My CAD program needs Rosetta support and my existing drawings won't open in their new version so I'll have to convert those drawings to DXF or DWG before I upgrade to El Capitan. As I understand it, that company lost a lawsuit & was prohibited from issuing updates that can use the file format they used in my version.
The conversions will be a rainy day project as it will be quite time consuming. Their drawings don't always convert well, but such is life! For the ones that don't convert well, I'll print as pdf before ditching 10.6.8 so at least I have something to copy from later.

Thanks Again You Guys for helping. I sure appreciate the guidance.
Enjoy This Day!
Paul

Actually the time to update was when Mountain lion OS X.8 was released. If one gets too far behind, it is a big job. Also Apple has ditched Snow Leopard two years ago, no more updates including Security Updates and many sites which require security will not allow the SL version of Safari, or Lion, to access.

Yup! You're so right Harryb2448, I wish I had upgraded way back then.
I do hit the proverbial brick wall sometimes because I have Snow Leopard. I never use Safari unless I know for sure the site is safe (such as this one). I use Firefox instead. At least there's some protection.

Unfortunately, my wife's MacBook Pro is 2 months older than mine & she missed the cut-off. She is stuck with 10.6.8 forever.

I think my best 12-Step plan will be to:

1) Make fresh SuperDuper clones of both partitions on my hard drive (Is the correct term 'volumes'?)
2) Upgrade RAM to the budget's limit- Probably to 4 GB
3) Get a SSD to replace my HDD (I think a little larger than what I have now will be in the budget soon. Mine's 120 GB & I have 33 GB left after dumping lots of things.)
4) Make the two partitions that I currently have on my drive on the new SSD
5) Then, I'll do a totally fresh installation of the new OS (Not sure if Step 5 comes before Step 4)
6) Set up my profiles. I currently have two users. One's for my Work Stuff & one is for Real Life.
7) Next, I'll move my documents, photos and music over from my clone(s)
8) Following that, I'll set up my Mac Mail accounts.
9) Then, re-install my applications fresh & update them as needed. (At least the ones I use often. The others can come later.)
10) Buy a new CAD program (My drawings will not be able to open under their new version. I'll convert them to DXF or DWG before I leave 10.6.8)
11) If possible, move my inbox messages from Mac Mail to the new drive
12) If I can find out how, I'd like to adapt the old HDD to the Ultra ATA connection where the optical drive was. (As I understand it, there's no such adapter cable)
Failing that, I'll eventually make the old HDD into another backup drive.

Does this sound like a good Plan of Attack?

One part I can't figure out is how to move my existing Mac Mail messages to the new inboxes, but that's not a crisis.

PGB1 said:

I think my best 12-Step plan will be to:

Does this sound like a good Plan of Attack?

Click to expand...

I have a better 1-Step plan. Get a new/newer computer!

- Nick

I would hate to shock you Paul but I just updated my 2012 iMac to a new 27" Retina. Four years does it for me and the old model still has quite good resale value.

Hey Harry.... congratulations on your new iMac! I'm also looking to get a 27" retina iMac and have decided that it will have an SSD instead of a HHD. I'll probably give my current 2013 27" iMac to my daughter. So how do you like the new machine?

Justbone word - brilliant with the Flash Storage and I also got a Silicon Power Thunderbolt external drive for backups. I need next to buy a seat belt for my office chair.

Last time around Charlie I got the 2012 21.5" thinking the 27" was way way too big.

The 1TB standard drive I will use exclusively half backups and half OS X.12 when it is released in beta testing format.

You all are making me jealous!