Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Help Desk Essentials [Paperback]

Peachpit Press (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321278488 | ISBN-13: 978-0321278487 | Publication Date: August 5, 2004 | Edition: 1

The only Apple-certified book on Mac OS X, this comprehensive reference takes support technicians and ardent Mac users deep inside their operating systems, covering everything from networking technologies to system administration, customizing the operating system, command-line programming, and more. Keyed to the learning objectives of the Apple Helpdesk Specialist certification exam, the lessons in this self-paced volume serve as a perfect supplement to Apple's own training class and a first-rate primer for computer support personnel who need to troubleshoot and optimize Mac OS X as part of their jobs. Self-quizzes and chapter tests reinforce the knowledge gained along the way.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The only Apple-certified book on Mac OS X, this comprehensive reference takes support technicians and ardent Mac users deep inside their operating systems, covering everything from networking technologies to system administration, customizing the operating system, command-line programming, and more. Keyed to the learning objectives of the Apple Helpdesk Specialist certification exam, the lessons in this self-paced volume serve as a perfect supplement to Apple's own training class and a first-rate primer for computer support personnel who need to troubleshoot and optimize Mac OS X as part of their jobs. Self-quizzes and chapter tests reinforce the knowledge gained along the way.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 1 edition (August 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321278488
• ISBN-13: 978-0321278487
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,783,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fine introduction for the new user, but a bit anemic for the exam, July 2, 2005

By 

Robert Pratte (charleston, il USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Help Desk Essentials (Paperback)

I used this book when studying for the ACHDS exam. While I passed without a problem, I do have a few criticisms regarding how well it helped me prepare. If you are using this book to prepare for the exam, then I would recommend supplementing it with David Pogue's Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition and perhaps Michael Bartosh's new Essential Mac OS X Panther Server Administration. That said, what are the pros and cons of this book?

This book would make a fine introduction for new OS X users, as it covers a wide variety of topics and does an excellent job of walking through each example (step-by-step instructions and useful screen shots). It also includes a plethora of useful links to Apple technical articles that supplement the book nicely. While I have years of Unix and Mac experience, overall I seemed to learn about one interesting fact/tip per chapter. In terms of how its coverage fits in with the test, it will prepare you for the basics.

In terms of criticisms, the book spends far too much time on simple tasks and trivial examples, while not spending nearly enough discussing the finer points of the command line and file system. When I took the exam, I relied on my Unix and OS X experience rather than anything I learned from the book.

Overall, the writing is clear and informative but I feel that it only provides about 75% of what a person would need to prepare for the ACHDS exam. If you are a new OS X user, however, I would recommend this book as a fine introduction.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just What the Help Desk Person Needs., August 15, 2004

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Help Desk Essentials (Paperback)

Even Apple users need help once in a while. So Apple shops have to have a help desk just like any other shop. This book presumes a basic level of familiarity with the Macintosh operating system, and then goes on to provide in-depth technical information and procedures that are used by Apple-certified technicians to install, configure, maintain, and diagnose Macintosh computers.

It is oriented, as you might expect, to teach help-desk personnel to knowledgeably address customer concerns and questions. Each chapter is presented as a self contained lession, complete with an introduction, summary and a review quiz. The book is arranged as a help desk professional would appreciate. It covers those areas that he is likely to be asked about, not an attempt to give an in depth lession in the OS.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overall Decent Technical Resource, June 29, 2005

By 

Joaquin Menchaca (San José, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Help Desk Essentials (Paperback)

I am excited about this book because it is the first publication on one of the certification programs for Mac OS X. This is a great start and I hope there can be others in the series. From these types of books, one hopes to find materials that will assist in passing the certification exams for this program "Mac OS X Help Desk Essentials".

In this scope, some red flags were raised either about Apple's certification program or by the books representation of that material. Many of the questions seem rather frivolous or esoteric, and makes it hard to pass an exam if these are the indeed the types of questions. For example, one question asks: "What are five things you should do before you upgrade Mac OS 9.x to Mac OS X". One would expect perhaps five empirical technical things that would need to be done for the operation of installing Mac OS X, but instead you get things like read the "Read Before you Install" document, check the network configuration of Mac OS 9.x information, decide on installation method, upgrade to Mac OS 9.x, and back up your hard disk. The upgrading to Mac OS 9.x seems reasonable, but the other steps are esoteric and not related to the operation of Mac OS X. A company may have a backup policy in place already, or the system is a clean configuration (no data) where a backup is not needed; the network configuration could be well documented or auto-configured through DHCP and therefore this is not needed. Thus do we really have to memorize these types of fluff for an exam?

Beyond the types of questions, there are one overall prevailing concern about the certification program itself, and thus the book about such content. By the time the certification is refined, a new Mac OS X version will be released. Apple tends to move rapidly to obsolete older operating systems immediately, e.g. Steve Jobs playing taps and placing Mac OS 9 in a coffin at a keynote presentation. This book is for Mac OS X 10.3, where the current version is now Mac OS X 10.4. With each operating system release, there are new configuration systems and different user interfaces for graphical tools. Though this is needed for the overall evolution of the beloved Mac OS X, it makes stapling down certification more challenging.

Beyond the concerns raised, I do feel the book has some decent material for technical coverage of previous Mac OS X operating system. There is even some great advance material for configuration Mac OS X to use Kerberos and LDAP or even Windows Active Directory for authentication. The other thing that I think is nice is that there is reference to technical articles within each chapter allowing readers to research more exacting material from Apple's online documentation.

I only hope that there can be more books like these, and I dearly hope that the certification program can improve. I hope the concerns raised might be addressed at some point (are some of the esoteric questions from the certification or book representation?), but beyond that I think this book is a great start.