Customer Reviews

Mac OS X for Dummies, Second Edition

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

 

 

This is a good book for true novices...

Just go the book from the library and remembered why it is a "Dummies" book. It has page after page with screen shots of things like the dock, or how to navigate the file folder structure.

If you know how to use a Mac and have looked at X for over a few weeks this might not be the book for you. I am still looking for something that would say tell me where to find the Apache config files, and this book will never do that!

I recently switched from a PC to an iBook notepad with OS X. So I was looking for any help I could get to teach me what I need to know. I checked out this book from the library and have found it extremely helpful. I don't think this book is aimed at "dummies" as another reviewer wrote, but at someone like myself who is just starting out with a Mac (and I don't consider myself a dummie). It is true that someone who is a "Power User" and has years of experience with Macs and the OS would find this book boring and talking down to them. But, if you're new to Macs at all, I think you'd find this book very helpful. It is a starter book, and from here, I would like to read other, more advanced books on the topic to further my knowledge.

I have loved Bob LeVitus's other books but this one for me misses the mark. Confusing search for topics and solutions for problems that I had with Mac OS X leave me searching for another book on X. Too much reference to pre-X operating systems. OS X is a new operating system, I wanted more on X and not a refresher course on previous Mac Operating Systems.

This book wastes too much space trying to be hip and funny "Dummies" style. While it's a nice quick-read introduction of what's new in OS X, there is very little in the way of nuts and bolts. For example, you won't be able to configure Mail using this book, or figure out how to wend your way through the new multiple-users security system. Just when it starts to get meaty the author says something like "but that's beyond the purview of this book" or "this book is too short to cover this in detail." (Well, it wouldn't be if they didn't waste so much space with quips and cliches.)

Read this one at the library...you can do it in an hour. Then spend a few bucks more and get THE MISSING MANUAL.

Bob LeVitus' Mac OS X for Dummies is well written as are all of the Dummy books (my how I hate that denegration, though). It should be fine for newbies and for casual Mac users suddenly facing the new operating system. A bit too jokey/hokey wordy for my taste, but that is probably better for the new and scared. This is the book to recommend to friends and relatives.

I rely mostly on books and some videos to get around on my G4 with FCP3 and Photoshop 7. My Mac has OS 10.2. I have the Robin Williams and the David Pogue books. The are both very helpful. But, like most, I don't like to read detailed directions. Sometimes I feel I don't even qualify to read books for "Dummies". This book seems easier and quicker than the above 2 books to find answers to my problems. I am now becomming a fan of the "Dummie" books and I am beginning to feel that I might be a qualified reader. I can then go from there and read the Geek books if I need to. I would highly recommend these and other "Dummie" books. They are quicker and cheaper than highering a consultant or teacher.

Except for the last section, section VI: "U2 can B a Guru," this book, has used three hundred and twenty pages to embarrassingly repeat the obvious -- things that one learns thorough osmosis with the very intuitive Mac computer.

Unless one is allergic to exploring the "ins" and "outs" of OS X; or is not in search of "real" information on this operating system, then this is definitely not the right book to buy. This takes "hand holding" to a ridiculous lower limit.

As but one example, in order to format a hard disk on OS X, the Mac uses an "extended" or an "extended journal" format, as opposed to the "Fatbit" and "Fatbit-32" formats used by the PC and on older Mac operating systems. As important as this bit of information is, it does not appear anywhere in this book.

This book simply confirms what I have found to be true of others in the "for Dummies" series: that none of them ever go go beyond just repeating the obvious. For the Mac, things that are obvious appear in "pull-down menus," and therefore, there is no need for an elementary users manual, only a need for a less obvious one.

I believe even "dummies" are better off relying on Mac's built-in menus rather than this book. One star.

Very good book,it has helped me, but it is more for early versions of O S X

This book is filled with overly cute writing and bad jokes. Like radio talk show hosts, Levitus and Brisbin take every opportunity to say something they think is funny. This kind of writing makes it very difficult to follow any thread of useful information. I'm very sorry that I bought this book.