Can I use old Mac Pro with new iMac?

I have a Mac Pro (Pre 2007) running on 10.6.8 that is ok for now, but experiencing some degradation in performance. I have 4 drive bays full and memory maxed out. I am looking for a desktop solution that would allow the option to have the latest OSX (such as the latest iMac) and access this old Mac Pro still. Is this possible?
If so, what are some of the caveats?
SoftwareEx: CS6 is compatible with new OSX, but will files saved on new computer still be accessible on old computer?
Access to files
NetworkCurrently using older version of Airport Extreme for home office setup
Any insights would be helpful! I hate the thought of this old workhorse turning into nothing more than an external hard drive, but it is not upgradable to the new operating system.

It sounds like what you want to do is create a simple peer network so you can use the Mac Pro as a storage unit.
This is easy to do, just connect the two with an ethernet cable and log on using the logon and password for the system you want to access. In the general case, this is a bad idea since you you have unrestricted access but you own both machines so security is a very low priority.
Caveats:
     The OS version will determine what apps a machine can run.
     Data is just data as long as both systems use HSF+ or some other common file system.
     Airport may or may not work... but a hard wire will always get it done and transfers data a lot faster.
You almost never get to have it ALL your way when mixing generations of systems, but if you keep it simple it works well. I've had a peer network with 4-6 systems running in my house since the turn of the century. Most Macs support 1000 baseT (gigabit ether) so data transfers up to 80-90MB/sec are easy.

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