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Having recently reviewed Gene Steinberg's "Mac OS X Little Black Book," I was interested to see how Mark R. Bell's "The Mac OS X Book" would compare,. Both books are published by Coriolis, which also has Mac OS X Black Book (presumably bigger than Mr. Steinberg's not insubstantial tome) by Mr. Bell and Deborah D. Suggs, so they have the OS X bases pretty well covered. I haven't read the Bell/Suggs collaborative effort, but of the two that I have reviewed, I would distinguish them thus: The Mac OS X Little Black Book is more of a reference work, and addresses primarily readers who are already well versed in the Macintosh experience. The Mac OS X Book is aimed more at beginner to intermediate users, and a structured in a tutorial, instruction manual type format. Part I provides an excellent explanatory overview of OS X and its underlying technologies in accessible English. If you're a bit hazy on what terms like Mach kernel, BSD, Carbon, or Cocoa pertain to, this section provides a helpful tutorial. There are also explanations of the various functions of the Mac OS X Finder, most of which will be familiar to users experienced with the classic Mac OS, but with OS specific details noted. Speaking of classic, chapter 2 is devoted to configuring OS 9.1, and using it in conjunction with OS X. Much of this really will be old hat to veteran Mac OS users, but it is good useful information for newbies. Chapter 3 is about working with classic, looking at the differences between running classic applications when booted directly into Mac OS 9.1, and in classic mode under OS X. Again, a lot of this is pretty basic stuff, but just what the doctor ordered for new users. However, there is also plenty of more advanced information on issues like memory management and multitasking to hold the interest of this longtime Mac user. Finally, 105 pages into the book, we get down to working with OS X itself. This is not a negative criticism. OS 9.x will be around for a long time yet, and I appreciate the attention Mark Bell has paid to it. Chapter 4 is about working with the Finder and Desktop, including the Dock, and provides a thorough treatment of their functions and use. Chapter 5 deals with customizing Mac OS X, using its own standard features, plus several shareware and freeware utilities that can reconfigure the Dock, change the appearance of window toolbars, multiple user configuration, and various other functions that can be used to tailor the Finder and Desktop to an individual users' needs and tastes. The use of nine third-party customization applications is also discussed, with links to download sites. Chapter 6 covers organizing your data by using aliases, working with Sherlock, and compressing, encrypting, and expanding files with DropStuff and Stuffit Expander. Chapter 7 is the road warrior chapter, addressing issues related to using OS X with portable computers. Bell notes that OS X is the first Unix designed to be used with all sorts of computers from servers to laptops. The Linux folks might take some issue with that! He observes that a number of classic Mac OS features oriented toward PowerBook and iBook users are not included in OS X, at least not yet, which may give portable fans some pause about adopting X at this stage of its development. However, Bell, who I infer is a PowerBook guy, provides lots of info here on workarounds for OS X's present shortcomings as a portable Macintosh operating system, and thus ends Part I. Part II, entitled "Applications," begins with Chapter 8 -- "Working With Applications," in which Bell examines things like Mac OS X compatibility, the more than three dozen applications and utilities that are part of the OS X package itself, working with documents, and running multiple applications. Chapter 9 is about managing fonts, including a brief history of Macintosh font types, information on third-party font utilities, selecting printers in the in the Mac OS X Print Center, saving documents as PDFs , and Color Sync and Color Matching . Chapter 10 moves us into multimedia with QuickTime 5, Speech and speech recognition, text-to-speech, iTunes, and iMovie. Chapter 11 is a nice tutorial on scripting OS X using AppleScript -- one of the best treatments of that topic I've encountered, while Chapter 12 is a similar tutorial on the use of Java on the Mac. Chapter 13 is on troubleshooting Mac OS X, structured in a problem: cause-solution dialectic, which is quite effective as a reference. The chapter also covers useful tools for OS X and OS 9.1 as well, including utilities bundled with the systems, and several third-party applications for the classic Mac OS. Since the book went to press, Micromat has released its new Drive10 utility for OS X. There is also a list of useful Web sites for troubleshooting information, including URLs. Part III is on networking with Mac OS X, beginning with Chapter 14 on File and Web Sharing, which is configured quite differently in OS X than in classic, and the amount of detail provided will be welcome both for new users and those making the transition from OS 9.x. There are also sections on HTML, Web server configuration, and using iTools. Chapter 15 delves deeper into issues associated with working on a network once you get OS X configured. Chapter 16 moves us on to the Internet, beginning with how to get connected, and configuring various connection protocols, while the next chapter is on using Internet applications and utilities. Regrettably, Internet Explorer is the only browser discussed (it was probably the only one available at the time the book went to press, and of course it ships with OS X). Again, several third-party utilities and tools are reviewed. Part IV is 53 pages of Appendix information, such as getting help, keyboard shortcuts, learning Unix shell commands, a Mac OS 9.1 and Mac OS X feature comparison, installing and upgrading both systems, and a useful list of helpful online resources with URLs. There's also a 19 page Index. There are also sidebar boxes distributed throughout the book covering topics like what to look for in a good monitor, and short tip boxes interpolated within the text. Like most computer books of this sort, the Mac OS textbook is illustrated mainly with screenshots, which is fine by me. Finally, a feature that used to be almost customary with computer books, but which is becoming rare these days, the Mac OS X book comes with a bundled CD-ROM containing a bunch of OS X utilities -- Drag Thing (demo), BB Edit Lite (freeware), Graphic Converter (shareware), OmniWeb browser (shareware), iTools (14 day unlimited demo), Auto Complete (demo), Space. dock (freeware), MetamorphX (freeware), and Docking Maneuvers (freeware). The usefulness of such CDs is questionable, since later versions of most of these applications are now available on the Internet (in some cases several versions newer), but I suppose it is convenient if you just want to take a looksee. I liked this book very much, and I expect I will be returning to it often when I get down to using OS X seriously. I especially recommend it for the beginner to intermediate users that are its target market, but it is comprehensive enough to be of interest to power users as well. There is a ton of good information here, and it is written in a readable and accessible style. Mark Bell is currently writing a Mac OS X book for advanced users. My main criticism of the book is that a is pretty expensive at $39.99, making me wonder if they could have pared five bucks off the price by leaving out the CD, which is already more less obsolete even though the book is barely off the presses. OS system version books are great resources in this day of no or rudimentary product print manuals, but they have a short half-life, making one swallow hard at laying down 40 bucks for one. Gene Steinberg's Mac OS X Little Black Book sells for a more comfortable $29.95, although it includes no CD, and is a much smaller volume. Consequently, I'm giving the Mac OS X book two Applelinks ratings -- price dependent and price independent:   The Mac OS X Book
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Cool Mac Gear• iPod 1G-2G • iPod 3G • iPod 4G • iPod Mini • PowerBook-iBook • Keyboard Skins • Garageband
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