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Mac
OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual
Essential
book for new (and maybe even seasoned) Mac users
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Reviewed by Timothy Arends
Remember when the computer was supposed to usher in the era of the
paperless office? Well, that hasn't happened yet, but the computer and
software manufacturers have ushered in the era of...no computer
manuals! Most computer documentation is in the form of online help or a
PDF manual on the desk, which is why a huge publishing industry has
grown up around the computer.
David Pogue's Mac OS X: the missing manual is one such book. As Pogue
points out, online help systems are tersely written, offer very little
technical depth, lack useful examples, and provide no tutorials. You
cant even mark your place, underline, or read it in the bathroom.
This series is David Pogue's own imprint, which means that he came up
with the idea for them and is the editor of the series, though not all
of the books in the series are written by him. The book is well
organized with illustrations, informative sidebars, and a bar on the
upper corner of each page describing what that page explains.
O'Reilly
usually publishes more technical computer books, such as books on
programming, so the missing manual series is a departure for them, but
a good one. David Pogue writes as if he is actually talking to you. He has a clear,
down-to-earth writing style. The book is as easy to read as one of the
Dummies books, but more in-depth and without the forced humor.
Pogue covers much ground in this book. The book is written as an
introduction to the Mac operating system even for people who have never
sat down at a Mac before. This means that the book really covers not
just Snow Leopard, but every version of Mac OS X. Therefore, long-time
Mac users who are simply interested in learning the new features of
Snow Leopard will have to wade through a lot of information, but that's
OK. They will probably pick up several new tips anyway. For Mac-using
web marketers, this book is essential, for understanding the tools of
your trade, in this case, a Mac, is essential to success.
The book starts out with the very basics. Chapter one explains how to
work with windows, Finder options, logging out and shutting down, and
getting help in Mac OS X. Chapter two covers the Mac OS X folder
structure, understanding icons and aliases, and using the trash.
Buy now from Amazon
Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual
Subsequent chapters cover other Mac basics, such as customizing the
desktop, finding files with Spotlight, switching programs using the
dock, moving data between documents and between other Macs,
and setting system preferences.
There is a chapter on setting up multiple accounts, the keychain,
multiple users, file encryption and voice recognition. The book also
includes chapters on printing, sound and digital movies, and speech
recognition (where the computer recognizes a set of basic commands, not
to be confused with voice dictation).
The book does not
just cover the bare basics. Chapter 22 covers SSH, FTP, VPN and Web
sharing. The book has a whole chapter on networking and file sharing.
It even has a whole chapter on using AppleScript, including how to
write your own basic scripts. If you read and absorb this chapter,
you'll probably know more about AppleScript than 90% of all Mac users.
The book even contains a full chapter on UNIX called "the UNIX crash
course" and a chapter on "Hacking Mac OS X."
The appendices include "The Windows to Mac Dictionary", which helps
Windows switchers get acclimated to the Mac way of doing things.
Another nice section is "The Master Mac OS X Secret Keystroke
List" which lists handy keyboard shortcuts. Plus, there's a
section on installing Mac OS X 10.6 and a brief but helpful
troubleshooting section. All in all, it is amazing just how
much the book covers.
The book runs over 850 pages (up from 461 pages back in the
OS 9 days, with an ever increasing number of pages for each new release
of the Mac OS) and includes a related website (www.missingmanual.com)
with links to the shareware programs mentioned in the book, although
these can also be obtained from any download site.
All in all, this is one of the most painless and easiest ways to learn
the Macintosh there is. I highly recommend it.
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