Question about upgrade to OSX 10.6.5

I currently have OS X 10.5.8, and I need to upgrade to a version that's 10.6.4 or higher.
Is this free? I see it at Mac Authority on the shelves for 30 bucks, but I have to buy it? I go to the site and I'm downloading a near 1 gig update right now, called MacOSXUpdCombo10.6.5, and I'm wondering, is that the update I need? I didn't have to pay for it.
Thanks in advance. (new to macs ;p)

MacOSXUpdCombo10.6.5 will only update a version of OS X 10.6 to 10.6.5. To upgrade from 10.5.8 to 10.6.5, you will need to buy the upgrade to 10.6 and then use the download from Apple to get to the most recent revision of 10.6.

Oh. :O I see, thanks a lot. Just what I needed to know.

Yes install it, you're way overdue =) $29 for an upgrade too good not to.

quin said:

Yes install it, you're way overdue =) $29 for an upgrade too good not to.

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Agreed. That is an incredibly reasonable price considering the performance improvements and HDD space you'll recover. That alone makes it worth $29 USD.

Plus, this way you'll be ready to make the jump to Lion next year.

FYI: Any "10.x" update costs money. So you pay to go from 10.5 to 10.6, et al.

Once you are on 10.6, any 10.6.x update is free.