Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual
by David Pogue
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Book Reviews of Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual
Book Review: Best Way To Learn OS X Leopard!
Summary: 5 Stars
'Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual' by David Pogue is another home run of an effort from the Missing Manual series, this one written by David Pogue himself. The thing I love most about the Missing Manual series is how incredibly USABLE these books are. Whether you are an experienced user or new to the topic being discussed, you can pick up a MM book with confidence that you are getting your money's worth and that you WILL learn by reading these books. I can't stress this enough... there are lots of books on the shelves available to readers, but if you want top notch content at one of the fairest price points in the industry, BUY THESE BOOKS!!
Having said that, there is a lot of new features in Mac OS X Leopard that truly deserve a new text to discuss and show them off. From the wonderful main layout to things like the new backup features in Leopard, this is one of the greatest operating systems ever created and now you can learn to do the most with it!
If you are a new Mac user or simply want to find out all the new goodies that you can get out of this OS upgrade, pick up this book. Read it, learn from it, and most of all... SAVOR the contents!!
OK enough of reading this review, go get the book, if you aren't happy with it you can contact me and give me your piece of mind!
***** HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION
Book Review: A reference that every Mac owner should invest in.
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the kitchen sink of books, but our plumber has that smell good freshness about him that you really don't equate with plumbing. So that metaphor was a stretch it not for a series that prides itself on being "The Missing Manual."
We want this series to cover everything that we don't get when we open our software, in this case the software and hardware that is so closely associated with it. There is so much detail that it is overwhelming and reading it in one sitting is not likely. That and the more than 800 pages of dense material and examples would make that difficult for many.
It can be used as a textbook reference, and in the style of the wry humor throughout, it could also be used as a doorstop. That wry humor is one of the things that make this book standout. Without it, the book would be dry, not wry. 800 plus pages of college level text would probably drive you away from your bigger purchase, the computer, and this book is designed to help you to appreciate your Macintosh.
It does that well and is worthwhile or every Mac owner. The one minor inadequacy is that along the way tricks are mentioned that aid you in your use of the operating system, but the indexing system is not as comprehensive as it could be, so days later when you go to find a shortcut or feature of the Mac OS, it is not quite so easy to find.
Book Review: Great Training Wheels
Summary: 5 Stars
My review won't be as thorough as some other reviewers; however, I write to you all today simply to say this book broke me into the Mac World. Formerly a die-hard Windows Vista fan and user, this book gently and logically walked me through all of the mac nuances, idiosyncrasies, and programing logic, which helps the new mac-user understand how and why things look and act the way they do on a mac os 10.5 platform.
Bar-none, one of the best qualities this book pushes and explains, are the use of short cut keys, which has dramatically increased my workflow 200%, compared to my Windows Vista experience. In addition, Mr. Pogue gives adequate attention to every program and user-feature pre-installed with your copy of mac os 10.5 Leopard.
With that being said, this book does not have overly complex or technical prose, if anything it's written for the "american idiot"! Mr. Pogue tries his best to make the book light-hearted with his somewhat bizzaro, border-line blasphemous humor (for all you bible-thumpers out there), but it does not detract from the juicy instruction that is dripping off of each page.
Overall, this is a fine purchase, as this should compliment any geek's or first-timer's computer/tech. library! Happy reading; and remember, once you go mac, you never go back!!!
Book Review: Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual
Summary: 3 Stars
Obviously, the original series has been turned into mass production. When I switched from the "dark side" and bought my 1st Mac, OS X was on Panther (10.3). I browsed and purchased "The Missing Manual". Even though I am an expert, it was an excellent presentation of Macs and home computing, beginning with the basics, through to medium level system administration. Well laid out, with plenty of examples and illustrations. Logical.
Not so anymore. Like the "For Dummies" series, this edition has become more confusing in its presentation of the complexity of material. It has less logical order and progression from simple Mac usage topics to system administration. Chapters seem to be a mishmash of topics, that are not always related. Examples are not as clear. Illustrations are not as helpful. And now, having owned 2 Macs, and used them for 5 years, I am even more knowledgeable.
My advice is to head down to the local bookstore. Browse the shelf of Apple "how to" books. Pick the one that fits your level of expertise and has the most sensible examples/illustrations. Since you are now already at that local bookstore, you ethically owe them the purchase as well.
Lastly, I gave this book a 3 star, because you can get most of what you will encounter on a Mac out of the book, somewhere.
Book Review: Excellent book for those switching to a Mac
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been a die-hard PC user for over 20 years now. I'm a DOS guy who remembers Windows 3.0 and who is tied so tightly to the ThinkPad trackpoint that I've bought my own ThinkPads when working at companies that didn't provide them.
But I wanted to see for myself what all the hype was about, so I got my first Mac (a Mini) and started playing around with it. Yeah GarageBand was cool, and iPhoto was nice (though I missed Picasa), but I remember thinking to myself "what's all the fuss about Macs... they're not THAT special".
But then I picked up this book and started reading. It's written in such a clear, casual style that I actually went through cover-to-cover. And now I can't wait to ditch every last PC I own for a Mac.
This book covers it all. Much of it in detail (like Spotlight, Spaces, Time Machine, Expose, and System Preferences). And some of it at just enough detail to get you interested and pointed in the right direction (Automator, AppleScript, and the Terminal).
Without this book, I would have still been thinking to myself, "this is cute, but so what". With this book, I'm a convert. It really is the missing manual, and Apple should ship a copy with every new Mac (though it wouldn't really fit into the neat little Mac Mini box).