Upgrading Pro Tools M-Powered from 8.0.5 to 11?

[evernaut]

Hi all - I've been trying to bend my brain around a few things regarding upgrading my Pro Tools M-Powered and was hoping some of you may be able to help.
I have an M-Audio Profire 610 and Pro Tools M-Powered 8.0.5 on my Mac Mini running OSX Snow Leopard.
Recently (i.e - last week), I decided to get a brand new iMac and am wondering what my options are to continue using my Profire. The new Mac ships with the latest version of Mavericks installed.
Now, I'm aware that M-Audio only supports drivers for the Profire up to 10.8.5 , but have heard some success stories from people using these on new Macs with Mavericks....guess I'll have to take my chances on that.
I'm also aware that I'll have to update my copy of Pro Tools regardless as M-Powered 8 won't run on the new iMacs.

So, in short, what are the options open to me?

Can I upgrade to Pro Tools 11 without having to buy a new interface? Is PT11 still dependent on Avid-approved hardware anyway? Is there such a thing as Pro Tools M-Powered 11 now?

Sorry for all the questions, it's just I have a fab new Mac, a nice interface and endless upgrade problems (that's even before we get into Thunderbolt adaptors, etc..)

THANKYOU!!

[Craig F]

From v9 on regular versions Pro Tools are not tied to Avid Hardware
So you can get 11 and run it on your new iMac, get the basics working (using the system for output), make a backup image of your system, try installing the Profire driver to see if it works and doesn't cause problems;
if no problems occur your golden
if problems arise revert to you backup image and look at other interface options

[evernaut]

Thanks Craig!

BTW - I am right about PT8 not working on new iMac with Mavericks right?
(Just checking before I spend even more money )

[Craig F]

defiantly not approved, it won't get past Gatekeeper w/o hacking at it and then we're still talking about an app that has not been updated for the last 2-3 OSX versions

if you want to try make a backup system image before you try install it for easy recovery