Cool Mac Gear

Appendix 1: A Reader Review Of Mac OS X: The Missing Manual

Applelinks reader H. Peter Blum has submitted this brief review of Mac OS X: The Missing Manual

Mac OS X: The Missing Manual
By David Pogue

Reviewed by H. Peter Blum

There is no way I can prove it, but I suspect that I am a pretty typical Mac user; not quite a Power User who understands how everything works and not a novice afraid to try new things.

I like to stay fairly current with the new applications and see what all the fuss is about. So, I early on installed OS X even though I still have an older beige G3. I didn’t care much for it and thought the problems I was having were because of my old G3, and decided not to spend much effort on it until I got a G4 (or G5). Then the updated 10.1 version was released. What a difference! Now it ran as advertised and I wanted to use it. But, I was very confused by itsâ differences from OS 9.2 and was not making much headway in making it do what I wanted. At this point my Mac behavior becomes untypical.

I actually prefer to read instructions while attempting to learn something new. I like to follow printed directions and find that doing so several times burns the procedure into my memory. So, I looked around for a book which would explain OS X. That’s when I read that David Pogue would be coming out with an edition of his Missing Manual series on OS X, including 10.1. I have been a fan of David Pogue since first joining the Mac faithful back in 1995. My Performa 630 blossomed under his guidance dispensed in the Macs for Dummies series. I was especially impressed with his ability to marry humor with knowledge in explaining the workings of the Mac operating system. There seems to be less outright humor in this volume, but the style is still not heavy and is easy to digest.

The book is set up in Six Sections:

The Mac OS X Desktop
Applications in Mac OS X
The Components of Mac OS X
The Technologies of Mac OS X
Mac OS X Online
And several Appendixes.

In the latter section is a feature which I found extremely useful entitled, “The ‘Where’d It Go’ Dictionary.” This is David’s description of it:

“Hereâs your complete guide to which of the classic Mac features live on in Mac OS X, which have moved around to confuse you -- and which have bit the dust.”

This is pretty typical of David’s style as well as evidence of the usefulness of the book. The only Section I have not ventured into is the one dealing with the Technologies of OS X. At this point in my education I am not ready to tackle the intricacies of Unix. But it is there for those who wish to do so.

In summary: I strongly recommend obtaining a book to tackle mastering Mac OS X, and although I have not examined the several of them already published, I can give an unqualified thumbs up this one.

H. Peter Blum

Appendix 2: Mac OS X: The Missing Manual Table of Contents

Charles W. Moore