iMac software upgrade, Back up hard drive

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Oct 22, 2008
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Mac OS X version 10.6.8
Hey everybody,
I've had my iMac since late 2007, the software is version 10.5.8. I went on to Firefox yesterday and it says it no longer supports (outdated) Apple Macs. I thought maybe I could do with a software upgrade!

Can someone suggest a (relatively inexpensive) way to upgrade so my system is not so outdated?

How easy is it to upgrade to a more recent OS ie. Snow Leopard/Lion/Mountain Lion etc? Will my hard drive get wiped in the process?

Speaking of which I need a back-up external hard drive. I read that if the back-up hard drive memory exceeds that of your Mac (500gb I believe) then leave one plugged in via USB and Time Machine updates everything automatically. Is it that straight forward?
Can anyone recommend a decent external hard drive I can pick up from Amazon, for example?

Big thanks to anyone who can offer some advice :)
 

Raz0rEdge

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Mountain Lion is a digital download only, but you are eligible for the upgrade. How much memory do you have on this iMac? You can call Apple and purchase Snow Leopard for $29. Install Snow Leopard first and update it to the latest version. Then using the Mac App Store that will now be available you can purchase Mountain Lion for $19.99 and update to that.

None of your information will be erased during the upgrade process, however you should definitely back up stuff before doing any of this.

You can pretty much grab any USB HD that fits your fancy and ensure that it is 2x your HD size, plug it in and point Time Machine at it and it will do the rest for you, that easy..
 

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