Customer Reviews

Mac OS X Leopard Just the Steps For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers))

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Mac OS X Leopard Just the Steps For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
EASY TO UNDERSTAND, CUTS TO THE CHASE WITHOUT LONG TECHIE TERMS.
YOU HAVE A QUESTION ,LOOK IT UP AND THE BOOK PROVIDES A QUICK AND EASY ANSWER

A bit advanced for dummies if you have never been a Mac user! As a brand new Mac owner, I had difficulty with it for getting started on learning Mac but after a month, it is now helpful.

I have a fairly high level of I.T. proficiency in mainframe, midrange and P.C. systems. I was not interested in acquiring a detailed bible on operating systems I am not already familiar with. I found the MC OS X Leopard and Switching to a MAC for Dummies a quick and easy reference guide to start me on my new platform.

Well done!

After about 20 years on a PC, I switched to an iMac and bought with it "Switching to the Mac - Leopard edition." Nice book, but not for dummies.

I quickly found I needed a really, really basic intro to using the Mac's operating system and applications, and bought this Dummies book. Thank you, Mr. Underdahl! You must have had me in mind when you wrote it. All the basics are here in step-by-step form and written in direct, simple English. In one afternoon I learned all I needed to know to start feeling comfortable using the system. I went through the book with my computer turned on and began with customizing, then to creating and managing user accounts, managing files and folders, and so on. Then I went through the applications, going online, using multimedia, and networking. I have a feeling it will be my desk companion for quite a while.

It says it all on the cover: Pick the task, Find it fast, Get it done!

This book caters to the user who's completely bought into the notion that a Mac is the computer for the computer-illiterate--a simple, dependable, ideal "dream machine" made for manual typists and vinyl collectors like me. It's as much a promotional book as a genuinely useful guide and resource, and I purchased it because of a promotion (five bucks off) that I failed to submit before the deadline. At the undiscounted asking price, this book is too deficient in essential vitamins to be worth the investment (the much thinner manual supplied by Apple has more useful info). Instead, take a look at the first of MacWorld's "Super Guides to OS X Leopard."

Shortly after purchasing this Dummies book, I tried a simple restart of my iMac that caused it to go into a sudden, complete cardiac arrest (i.e. "kernel panic"). The Dummies book doesn't have any troubleshooting steps whatsoever let alone anything in the index about crashes, freezes and kernel panics (which you're sure to experience if you use many of the features the book discusses). The MacWorld publication, Super Guide: Basic Steps (downloadable for ten bucks), not only covers the same ground as this Dummies book but provides a fairly comprehensive and specific account of common Mac-attack problems in a mere 5-6 pages. While it didn't solve my problem, it enabled me to discover safe mode, reboot my machine and have a fairly good understanding of the (quite logical) causes. Better than wondering if your machine has been assaulted by terrorists and not knowing what or whom to blame (probably that Sadamm guy)

Coming from a Windows background, it really did not do too much for me. It may work for other Mac folk - and I would be studying this if it were a mandatory changeover, but frankly it was of limited use.