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FMUG REVIEW | Mac OSX: The Missing Manual
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GAME REVIEWS HARDWARE REVIEWS FlipStand iPod Case + Desktop Stand ShuttlePRO Multi-Media Controller Lexmark X73 All-in-One MultiFunction Printer Canon MultiPASS C555 MultiFunction Printer SOFTWARE REVIEWS |
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by David Pogue 
The first time using OS X one feels like a traveler in a foreign land, lost and adrift. Nothing is where it used to be. Everything is done in strange new ways. Confusion reigns. To the rescue comes OS X: the Missing Manual, making sense out of seeming chaos.
Basic chapters on organization of OS X and how to navigate around in it are invaluable.
The book clearly explains the lay of the land. Who would guess that your desktop folders now reside in a file 3 layers deep under your user name. The new column view begins to make sense and actually seems beneficial. Using the new dock feature becomes useful and even fun. The relationship between 9 and X and how they can both peacefully coexist on your computer at the same time is clearly explained. How and when to use Classic. Just a few minutes spent reading this book and you are back in business, feeling at home in the new land.
A whole separate chapter on installation is there to hold your hand during the installation process and guide you through every step along the way. And the troubleshooting chapter to help solve problems is always available to fall back on.
Worth the price of the book is Appendix A, “Where’d It Go?” Dictionary. This section discusses all the features we knew and loved in OS 9 that have suddenly disappeared in OS X. One by one it discusses where that functionality is now found in X or why it is no longer needed. For instance, Control panels and extensions are now a thing of the past and Extension Manager along with them, no longer needed. Favorites are still around but have moved to the Finder’s Go menu. Essential commands like Shut down and sleep have moved to the Apple Menu. Out with the Zoom box, in with the green Zoom button. This section maps it all out clearly, solving all of the mysteries, translating old to new.
Another chapter deals with the free programs included in OS X and how to use them. The Mac digital hub under OS X is also covered in depth with instructions on how to burn CDs and DVDs using iTunes, iMovie, etc. Sounds, Quicktime Movies, and speech recognition are all explained. Having separate user accounts on the same computer and networking with other computers are made easy. Online functions like Mail, Sherlock searching and web sharing are all covered.
This book is very complete and detailed. Probably the only complaint is that there is just too much information to possibly remember it all. If you are so inclined, it can be read and reread from cover to cover for information and for shear fun. Or it can be consulted as a reference manual when questions arise. Readers of other David Pogue books appreciate his clear, user friendly writing style. After reading this book and prowling around on my computer, I feel quite at home in OS X and able to talk the talk with any of the user group geeks. This is a book that no one switching to OS X should be without.
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/macosxmm/
Judy Haber
Fresno Mac User Group