Customer Reviews

Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.6: A Guide to Supporting and Troubleshooting Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As the title says, this is an excellent book.

There are some things to keep in mind, however:

This book was made specifically for passing the exam, and therefor if you wish to delve into various capabilities of things like the command line in-depth, you'll need further resources. (Especially things like full-on scripting.) If you're jumping into the command line "cold," something like the O'Reilly BASH book would make a good companion.

AppleScript, it should be noted (beyond a half dozen pages in this book), is in another book in this series.

If you wish to become knowledgeable about Mac Servers and you're not seasonably Mac proficient (esp in the 'Apple Way' of doing things...), you'll need this book as the Server book alone will not do. You'll also want the Directory Services book. (Actually, if you start working with DS in any format, you'll want the DS book, Server notwithstanding.)

Again, it's a sweet book and gave me the foundation so I can continue taking my skills to the next level.

Small Nitpicks: Only a few errors, but they will bite you if you don't catch them (Which you will if you try the examples.) If it doesn't look/work right, websearch it, try it both ways, and you'll be good to go.

The top of the page doesn't give you the chapter number (just name), while many pages refer to explanations of various resources in different chapters. As I'm one of those people who "can't let it go," (and look it up immediately) this was irksome.

The nitpicks aren't enough to cut it a full star: 4.5, rounded to 5.

If you are new to The snow leopard operating system, this book tells you every little thing that you can do with snow leopard. i've been using my mac for years and this book has taught me feature i didn't know existed in snow leopard/leopard. again great for anyone that has never used a mac before.

I passed the test in DEC 2009. Everything needed for the test is in this book. Nothing tricky, very straight forward.

Instead of dropping upwards of $1500 for the Snow 101 course to prepare for the Support Essentials Exam, just buy this book and study at your own pace. I bought this book, studied the chapters for a month, took the exam, and passed with flying colors. I have little previous IT knowledge (beyond the basics such as how to use a computer, connect to the Internet, etc.) In fact, I bought my MacBook Pro less than a year ago and had never owned a Mac previous to that. If I can do it, you can do it.

Mac OS X Support Essentials v10.6 is an extraordinarily well written book. It thoroughly covers the subject matter that it claims to cover. (When you read a book with this title you expect to learn exactly what this book delivers.) The pace is even and the progression is natural. The writing is clear and free of extraneous fluff--very skillfully done. No lame attempts at humor or other failed artifices that distract the reader. There is a lot of material, but the reader never feels like he is being buffeted by a whirlwind of facts and "how to" steps. But the most surprising thing about this book is the very high quality of the editing. I must be mistaken, but having read all 663 pages I can't remember a single typo. No (or extremely few) misspellings or mismatched cases, numbers, etc. Only a few places where there is any repetition, and those places are clearly intentional (for example, repeating a short note that was encountered in a previous chapter when discussing a topic from a different angle). The high quality of all major aspects of this book is rare in the computer industry and very refreshing.

The purpose of this book is to prepare for the Apple OS X 10.6 certification test. This is a book for serious geeky users. If you are looking for a book telling you how to use your Mac try David Pogue's Missing Manual series or something similar because this is not that book. On the other hand, if you're looking for an in-depth look at the inner workings of the operating system or if you're trying to get a handle on administering Macs this book is quite useful.

I bought it to study for the certification test in place of taking an expensive class. If you diligently study and remember this book cover to cover and know the answers to all the study questions thoroughly you can pretty much take the test successfully. Along the way I learned in a lot more detail than I might have otherwise the ins and outs of how the operating system is structured and how to make it do what you want it to.

If you're using it as a reference rather than a study guide it is a good solid block of knowledge concerning the nitty-gritty administrative stuff. If you're a hard-core user, if you use or administer lots of Macs or a network then this book is worth having around.

I've been using OSX since Jaguar. I'm decent at it. I've been through 4 or 5 of the Snow Leopard books. All the books that are good. Bible, Missing Manual etc.

This one is by far the best for those familiar but not expert with OSX.

No useless jokes. Concise and to the point with step by step instructions and just enough background information on the technical reasons for why you need to do things. Good diagrams. Good index. Good enough I'm not falling asleep when I read it. I'm actually looking forward to reading the whole dang thing.

Even if you are not taking the test this is the book to get. I'm reading a library copy now but I might just spring for it.

I read this book cover to cover and it covers everything that is on the Mac OSX 10.6 Fundamentals test. I highly recommend.

I have gone thru the peachpuit press equivalent of this book already so I guess I have already learned most of the details. This book was dissapointing to me. It doesnt seem to go into much detail and instead is more of a gloss over what OS X administration is. Considering that its supposed to be prep for an exam I would hope that it would cover more than what you need to know for the exam. Instead it seems to cover just enough, if that.
I may take the apple support exam, but I am not counting on this book to get me to pass!

If you know this book then you will pass the test. The book is an easy read and to the point.