I got an iPhone last week. Upgrade from a VERY old Nokia on 3. They asked would I like one, I said sure. They did not tell me anything about needing certain system upgrades on my Mac. Which now I obviously need.

I am running Tiger still - OS X 10.4.11.

I understand I need Leopard, or Snow Leopard. But Apple doesn't stock the former anymore so it's the latter or bust.

Right?

I went into the Apple Store today and spoke to the staff there about getting Snow Leopard. One person in there said I could get the £25 upgrade, and it'd be fine; another that I could but I'd risk losing some of what I have installed with Tiger. The third guy said NO, IDIOT. You need this pack that costs the best part of £200. With i-Suite or something... with Garageband and stuff.

SO.

If I get the Snow Leopard upgrade - the cheaper option - I'd need to back everything up, yes? For which I'd need some sort of external hard drive? Which I do not have.

So it probably makes sense to get the fat pack, which I believe guarantees not losing anything (like baby photos, years' worth of iTunes, etc).

Advice, welcomed. Cos I am totally outta ma depth here.