I have an iMac running Snow Leopard. I haven’t upgraded to Lion because I still have important files in AppleWorks 6 Draw format, that I can only open with Rosetta. My iPhone 3GS runs iOS 3.1.3, and I have a MobileMe account. I’m trying to figure out how to keep Rosetta compatibility (will Mountain Lion have Rosetta?) and still move to a newer iPhone, and get iCloud. I need to know what to do and in what order.

The iPhone 4S, which is out now, can sync with your Mac as long as you’re running Mac OS 10.5.8 or later--that’s Leopard, and you have Snow Leopard, so you’re good there--and iTunes 10.5 or later. iCloud is a little pickier. To use it on an iPhone or iPad, it must have iOS 5 or later. On your Mac, you need Lion (OS 10.7.2 or later). And you also need iTunes 10.6.

But as you’ve pointed out, if you upgrade your Snow Leopard Mac to Lion (which is $29.99 via the Mac App Store), you’ll lose Rosetta and you won’t be able to use AppleWorks anymore.

EazyDraw can open tons of image formats, and version 4.0.2 can even open images from AppleWorks 6.

But you can still access your AppleWorks files with different software. EazyDraw will import your AppleWorks Draw files, and then you can save them as a newer file format.

Specifically, you need “EazyDraw Retro 4.0.2,” which imports AppleWorks and requires Mac OS 10.4.3 or later. Download it at www.eazydraw.com/support.htm, and be sure to look for Retro. The license for it costs $95 from www.eazydraw.com/store.htm, or you can get a 9-month license for $20. Once you’re no longer using your AppleWorks files, because you’ve resaved them as a newer format, you can upgrade your copy of EazyDraw to the most current version, which is 4.1 as of this writing.

We’d put money on the fact that Rosetta won’t be part of Mountain Lion--Apple’s left it firmly in the past.

As far as upgrading your phone, the iPhone 4S is already leaps and bounds beyond your iPhone 3GS, but if you’d rather wait for the next iPhone, you could try putting iOS 5 (required for iCloud) on your 3GS. Visit www.apple.com/icloud/get-started/ for Apple’s instructions on getting all your devices ready for iCloud.

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