MacBookPro3,1 and unsupported OS

[humble turnip]

I have a Macbook Pro with the following specs:

Model Identifier: MacBookPro3,1
Memory: 4 GB
Chipset Model: GeForce 8600M GT
No SSD drive.

Does anyone know which the best unsupported MacOS would be to use on this system? According to the Open Core Legacy Package, the MacBookPro3,1 is unsupported, but would I be able to use some other patcher?

I've tried Googling, but every discussion about the MacBookPro3,1 refer to systems that have upgraded Ram and graphic cards, which I don’t have.

The reason I want to use an Unsported OS, is because I have a new Mac which is my main machine. But it has to go away for repairs. On my old MacBookPro3,1 it can only run El Captain, which doesn't let me access iCloud drive (probably because I've used iCloud drive on a newer MacOS so it's probably upgraded something). If there is any way I can upgrade the OS to access iCloud Drive that would be great!

I only use the system for Affinity Photo, Affinity Publisher, Affinity Design, Apple Pages and Apple Numbers.

I'm only looking for an unsupported OS that runs well. I'd love to hear from anyone who has had experience with using an unsupported OS on this system.

Thanks!

 

[Amethyst1]

The MacBookPro3,1's CPU lacks SSE4 instructions, which all macOS versions newer than El Capitan require. So there's no way to go past El Capitan.

 

[Project Alice]

This may seem counterintuitive; but if those are the only apps you need, you could install Windows 10 (and probably 11) on it. Apple pages and numbers can be replaced with a number of free office suits, or MS office.

Otherwise if iCloud drive is your only limiting factor though I would just use a USB stick or something instead. Does iCloud drive still have a Windows client? If it does, that still might be a good option.