Hello, i currently run 10.5.8 and would like to upgrade to enable me to pair my phone with my mack, how do i do it and what do i need to buy ?

Question

hello i currently run 10.5.8 and would like to upgrade tp pair my i phone and stop e-mail probs,  how do i do it and what do i need to buy ?

Answer 1

You first need to purchase and install OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard
Also, it wouldn't hurt to increase the RAM in your iMac.
Your year and model iMac can take 4 GBs of RAM. Out of that amount of RAM, the 2006 iMac will recognize between 3.1 and 3.4 GBs of that total RAM.
Correct and reliable Mac RAM can be purchased from online Mac RAM sources Crucial memory or OWC (macsales.com).
Once OS X 10.6 is installled , you will need to use OS X Software Update function in OS X's System Prefernces Panel to update to OS X to OS X 10.6.8. This will give your iMac access to the Mac App Store.
If you wish, your iMac year and model can only be updated to OS X 10.7 Lion. Your hardware limits you to OS X 10.7 Lion. Your iMac can't run or install OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion OR OS X 10.9 Mavericks.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/D6106Z/A/os-x-lion
My strong advice is that you keep your iMac model on OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. OS X 10.7 Lion needs a full 4 GBs of RAM, for the OS alone. Your Mac barely meets this requirement and will leave no additonal RAM to efficiently run any additional application without severly slowing down your iMac.
Before embarking on a OS X system upgrade, it would be very prudent to back up all of your important, personal data, beforehand.
You can choose just to backup the most important data by either burning data to CDs/DVDs, or copying data to large capacity USB flash drives.
The two better methods is to purchase a good quality external hard drive and backup the data and OS using OS X's Time Machine app to back your data up to an externally connected hard drive.
The other method is to backup your entire system and data using data cloning apps such as Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper to clone an exact copy of your iMac's internal hard drive to the externally connected hard drive.   Cloning data to an external drive will give that drive the ability to boot from in an emergency. Your Mac will be able to be booted and run off of an external drive.
The type of connection of an external hard drive is yours to choose. The two types of data transfer connections your Mac can use are USB 2.0 or FireWire 400/800.
If you want a hard drive that has a faster, continuous throughput of data and the possibilty of running your iMac from an external hard drive (in the event your Mac's internal hard drive fails or data becomes corrupt and your Mac system won't boot to the Mac's internal drive) opt for a FireWire drive. If none of this is important to you, then get a hard drive that uses a USB 2.0 connection, instead.
Good Luck!