Apple Users

like an iPad or iPhone or in the cloud. I have read that we should always back up our data before major updates, I often don't and have been very lucky I guess.

For future reference, maybe someone here could explain to me how having a backup of your pre-Mavericks settings and data could then be added back to your system. For instance, how would one transfer your bookmarks from a backup to the new operating system???

I seem to know a lot about Macs, having had one since 1998 but I also seem to have large holes in my knowledge...