19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent little reference, November 23, 2005
This review is from: Mac OS X Tiger Pocket Guide (Pocket References) (Paperback)
In a little over 200 pages, Chuck Toporek discusses the various applications and features that are a part Mac OS X Tiger. As the author acknowledges in his introduction, this book is a good starting point to explore Tiger, but it cannot provide the deeper level of detail that new users of the operating system will want eventually. I would agree with that statement. It is, after all, a pocket guide, and not an exhaustive manual.
With that in mind, Mac OS X Tiger Pocket Guide delivers pretty much on its promise. It goes through virtually every feature that Tiger has to offer; some in greater details than others.
Part V of the book, Applications and Utilities, for example, lists all the applications and utilities available, and very superficially describes their purpose. It does not go into any detail on how to use, say, Mail. The book does, however, go into great detail on how to customize your Mac, based on your personal preferences, in order to make using your machine as pleasant and fast as possible.
Mac OS X Tiger Pocket Guide is terrific for looking up solutions to problems that one may be struggling with. A good chunk of this book consists of FAQ-like steps to follow in order to obtain a certain result. A comprehensive index at the back of the book enables the reader to quickly locate the solution to the problem. In short, as a reference, is excellent.
People who like to work with keyboard shortcuts will find this guide especially useful: if it can be done through a shortcut, it is described in this book
There are screenshots in the book, but they are fairly sparse. Overall, these were well chosen, as the bulk of them illustrate new features, such as Spotlight and Dashboard, though perhaps not necessary.
It should be noted that if you are looking to get familiar with Tiger in the comfort of your couch or on a train or plane, this book is not for you. It is, overall, quite dry, and is not exactly a "fun read," especially compared to, for example, The Missing Manual series of books, wherein the authors go out of their way to make the books pleasant and light to read. Again, Mac OS X Tiger Pocket Guide is pretty dry. What you do get a book that is more compact and portable - and significantly cheaper - than The Missing Manual books.
The bottom line, then, is that Mac OS X Tiger Pocket Guide is very informative, but works much better as a reference tool than as a sit-down-and-devour kind of book. Being a relatively new user of Mac OS X, I learned a great deal from this book and I will likely consult it more often than I will my copy of iPod and iTunes: The Missing Manual.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mac OS X Tiger Pocket Guide, August 25, 2005
This review is from: Mac OS X Tiger Pocket Guide (Pocket References) (Paperback)
I particularly like the pocket guide because of its compact size. I refer to it as a quick
reference when I need a fast answer. Mac OS X is a complex operating system and a user Cannot know everything. The pocket guide gets you over the hump in helping one
find the basic concepts of a complex system, especially with the new features such as
Dashboard and Spotlight. The guide is stocked with "Tips and Tricks"
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pocket Rocket, November 14, 2005
This review is from: Mac OS X Tiger Pocket Guide (Pocket References) (Paperback)
The most important thing that stood out for me with this book is that it contains most of information that longer reference books on the same subject have, but without all the fluff. And then when you consider the low cost of this book, you'll certainly feel like you got more than you paid for here.
Part I presents an excellent and compact overview of Tiger's new features, with enough detail to be understandable and to illustrate how something is relevant, or why it's cool, but without so much information that it defeats the point of reading about it later.
The remainder of the book highlights and explains some of the key components of Tiger, such as System Preferences, Apps and Utilities, and UNIX basics, and then finishes off with some configuration-specific tips. The descriptions of the various features are particularly straight-forward and easy to read, as are the tables, which provide a great reference tool for things like keyboard shortcuts.
Parts II through V of the book are perfect for switchers and new users, with good, fundamental information about the operating system. Somewhat more seasoned, but not expert OS X users, will probably find the most value in parts VI and VII (UNIX basics and configuration). If you're not familiar with the UNIX underpinnings of OS X, then Part VI is good way to dip your toes into this ocean and not get soaked. When you're ready you can then move on to more advanced O'Reilly titles, such as "Learning UNIX for MaC OS X" or even "Mac OS X for UNIX Geeks," both of which are excellent.
The only caveat I offer on this Pocket Guide is that it seems more intuitive to swap the order of Parts II and III (Survival Guide and OS X Basics), but given that the book is more of a reference guide than a cover-to-cover read, this isn't a big deal.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
