Excellent guest post by Joe Caiati at 512 Pixels:

Depending on the year it was purchased or whether you configured it with top-tier specs, your once-current Mac’s performance may be less than desirable and at this point you could be facing those tough questions.

Luckily, older Macs are more flexible with hardware upgrades and coupled with third-party software, you can unlock features that Apple doesn’t support on older models. Here is how to get the most life out of an aging Mac.

Sometimes it’s not worth it to completely replace an aging Mac. A well-thought upgrade instead can save you quite a bit of money.

If after reading the article you feel like attempting to replace your old iMac’s hard drive with an SSD, I documented the process a few months ago. My advice? Go for it. It’s easier than it looks and makes a huge difference.