Should you buy the latest upgrade to Mac OS X (or some other software product)? It depends on the costs and benefits of upgrading. Here are some questions to ask:
- Are there new features in the upgrade that I will use? Will it make my Mac any faster? If so, is it worth the price, time and possible risks?
- Will the upgrade even run on my Mac? That is, does it require an Intel Mac, more RAM, a faster processor or more hard drive space?
- Is the upgrade compatible with my version of Mac OS X and my other software?
These are generally easy questions to answer. When it comes to Mac OS X or Microsoft Office for the Mac, there are also less-obvious benefits to consider: stability and vulnerability, especially on the Internet.
So far, when Apple releases a new version of Mac OS X, they have continued to provide software and security updates for the previous version. For example, Apple recently released the Mac OS X v10.6.2 update as well as the Mac OS X v10.5.8 Security Update. Security updates are important since they patch security vulnerabilities on the Internet. 9to5mac.com talks more about Apple's lack of support for older systems and some of the choices you have.
When Microsoft releases updates to Microsoft Office, they are also addressing vulnerabilities in their products. The current version for the Mac is Office 2008, yet they still release updates for Office 2004.
My recommendation: If you are not running Mac OS X v10.6 "Snow Leopard", then you should be running Mac OS X v10.5 "Leopard". If your Mac can't run Mac OS X v10.5, then that maybe a good reason to consider a newer Mac. If you use Microsoft Office 2008, you still may want to keep Office 2004 installed, since it supports macros. There is no problem keeping both on your system.