The first impression that popped into my head when I began reading Rita Lewis and Bill Fishman's "MacOS In A Nutshell," is that this would be the perfect book to recommend to someone migrating from the Windows PC platform to the Mac.

It is also a handy volume for anyone who is already competent in the basics of using the Mac OS, but who would like to upgrade their skills toward more advanced user status.

I must say however, that "The Power User's Complete Reference" subtitle is more than a bit misleading in the sense that there is probably little to be found in this book that a Mac power user would not already know or be able to sleuth out on his/her own.

I think the "Power User" nomenclature is unfortunate, because "MacOS In A Nutshell" is an excellent reference for what is probably the largest proportion of Mac users -- people who have transcended the neophyte stage but are still well short of being "power users," -- hazily defined as that latter definition is.

For example, my 15 year old daughter, who has been using Macs for years but who has never delved very deeply into the nuts and bolts of how they work, thumbed through "Nutshell" and remarked, "Dad, this is the kind of book I should have."

The subtitle is accurate to the degree that this really is more a reference book than one you would sit down to read from cover to cover, although Lewis and Fishman write in a style that is light and conversational enough that you could comfortably read it through.

Unlike David Pogue's companion Mac OS 9: The Missing Manual, also published by O'Reilly, "Mac OS In A Nutshell" does not concentrate exclusively on one MacOS version. It is principally oriented toward MacOS 8.5 and 8.6, with a separate chapter on MacOS 9 grafted on, presumably toward the end of the book's gestation, and even some discussion of what's to come in OS X. In any case, most of the tips, tutorials, and techniques discussed are version-ambidextrous, and indeed largely apply to Mac OS 8 and System 7.x as well.

The book's graphic design and layout will be familiar if you've read any of the other recent O'Reilly offerings, but the cover art depicting a pensive primate in profile merits special mention. Scattered throughout the text are helpful, short tips indicated by owl graphics, and warnings which have a turkey logo. Most of the book's illustrations are screenshots, and there are also sidebar-type boxes containing the sort of information that used to be relegated to footnotes or endnotes. Graphs and tables are also employed copiously.

Just about every user-significant component of the Mac OS is discussed and explained, as well as almost every command and utility, plus Internet configuration and access, and there are short but helpfully explanatory chapters on AppleScript and Macintosh Runtime for Java, Multimedia/QuickTime, Sherlock, and color management as well as others. The chapter on networking would be worth the book's price alone for someone setting up a network who had never done so before. This is all useful and helpful information, but once again it is oriented more toward intermediate than power users.

A nice touch is frequent references to useful third-party utilities and helpful Websites, complete with URLs, and there is also a section, satisfyingly short in this case, on Mac viruses.

There is an appendix listing and explaining Mac error codes, something I as a non-programmer have never found particularly helpful, and a more useful one on keyboard shortcuts.

For the complete Table Of Contents, click here.

I always feel diffident about identifying minor factual errors in a book review, because as a writer I know all too well that sometimes tieing up all those pesky details can be like trying to herd cats. However, there one clanger I noticed in "Nutshell" appears in the "Short History of Mac Hardware" section where the 68020, '030, and '040 chips are listed with only one clock speed respectively -- 16.7 MHz for the first two, and 33 MHz for the '040. Actually, there were 25 MHz, 33 MHz, and even 40 MHz '030s, and 16 MHz and 25 MHz '040s.

Four clock speeds are listed for the Power PC 601 chip, topping out at 110 MHz, but the PowerMac 7200 had a 120 MHz 601, and there was also a 100 MHz version which is not listed.

The 603e is cited at only 75 MHz, but there were 100 MHz, 117 MHz, 133 MHz, 160 MHz, 166 MHz, 180 MHz, and 200 MHz, versions, plus the 603ev at 225 MHz, 250 MHz, 275 MHz, and 300 MHz.

Two versions of the 604 chip are listed at 120 MHz and 132 MHz, but the 150 MHz 604 is omitted, and I think the 604e started at 180 MHz rather than the 150 MHz cited.

That niggle aside, I expect that I'll be reaching for this book frequently as a quick reference. It would also make a great gift for virtually any Mac user, and don't be put off by the "power user" thing. If you're not one, and you read this book, you'll be a lot closer to being one, but the logical market for Mac OS In A Nutshell is much broader than the power user niche.

If you would like to sample Mac OS In A Nutshell, you can find Chapter 16, "Inside the Mac OS," at this URL:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/macosnut/chapter/ch16.html

Mac OS in a Nutshell
By Rita Lewis with Bill Fishman
1st Edition June 2000 (US)
1-56592-533-5, 368 pages, $24.95 (US)
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
http://www.oreilly.com

The Authors:

Rita Lewis has written 20 books, and says that this one is the culmination of a year of research and over 15 years of working with Macs. She has an MA in Cultural Anthropology that she has applied to the study of corporate computer marketing departments. You can visit Rita's web site at http://home.earthlink.net/~lewisrf/

Co-author Bill Fishman has written a variety of mainframe software manuals, and says he is pleased to have had the opportunity to help write a book that people will actually read.

Charles W. Moore

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Tuesday, 07-Oct-2008 10:21:20 EDT