Should I update from OS X 10.6.8?

[GASGASGAS]

If so, how much of an update will the machine stand?

It's a 27' desktop, iMac 11,3 with 3.2 GHz i3, 4GB 13333MHz DDR3

 

[Weaselboy]

If you are using that iMac on the Internet, yes you should update because Snow Leopard is no longer receiving security updates.

That iMac can easily run the free Mavericks OS X update.

 

[rambo47]

If so, how much of an update will the machine stand?

It's a 27' desktop, iMac 11,3 with 3.2 GHz i3, 4GB 13333MHz DDR3

Mavericks runs superbly on my 2010 iMac (12 GB RAM, 2.93 MHz processor) and was a nice upgrade from Mountain Lion. Mavericks seems smoother and more efficient.

 

[Dreadnought]

If you still use apps that need Rosetta, then don't update! Or make a different partition for a newer os X.

 

[thesimplelogic]

I would recommend upgrading to Mavericks, as long as (like the previous poster stated) you don't need PPC applications. Your iMac will run fine - my C2D MacBook runs Mavericks quite well - perhaps if you find it a little bit slow you could ramp up the RAM to 8 GBs.

 

[fleshkopter]

I was hesitant to upgrade too, but curiosity got the best of me. I upgraded directly from Snow Lep with no trouble at all. I still have a snow leopard partition for the rare instance when i want to use a ppc app. On the whole, I'm very happy with Mavericks, it runs snappier than Snow Leopard, too! It only took a short time to adjust to the differences, many of which I was able to set to my liking anyway like the ugly dashboard background (set that to transparent). My only gripe is a small one and thats that when you sleep, screen goes dark immediately but the computer doesn't actually sleep for about 20 seconds. Lasty, be prepared to replace a few apps that no longer work under Mavericks - iPhoto for example. Oh yeah, running on 12,1 imac (mid 2011 2.8 gHz i7)