Macworld Mac Secrets (4th ed) [Paperback]

David Pogue (Author), Joseph Schorr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 23, 1996 | Series: 4th ed

"Macworld Macintosh Secrets, 4th Ed". explores new key developments since the last edition of this popular title was published. The accompanying CD offers a hand-picked selection of shareware and a new assortment of real working commercial software titles.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From keystroke shortcuts to hidden operating system (OS) secrets, MacWorld Mac Secrets is the definitive guide to all of the lesser-known tips and tricks of the Macintosh and some of its most popular applications. You'll find plenty of unpublished features, advice on configuring attributes that you didn't know were possible, and buried treasure in the Mac OS itself. In addition, the authors fill each chapter with entertaining trivia and a few hilarious anecdotes.

Chapters detail how to configure control panels and extensions for best results, the differences in each version of System 7 (through System 7.6), and the role of potentially baffling system files at both startup and shutdown. The guide also includes a preview of some of the planned features of OS 8.

MacWorld Mac Secrets covers--or uncovers--some of the most popular Mac applications, including Word, Photoshop, QuarkXPress, and PageMaker. There is also an excellent chapter devoted to ResEdit, the Macintosh resource editor that is known for its lack of available documentation.

Other chapters include guides to hardware, communications devices, small computer system interface (SCSI) chains, NuBus and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) slots, and information on specific Mac models like Performas, Quadras, and PowerBooks. Sections on font management, printing, communications, Internet, and multimedia are also included. The bundled CD-ROM contains a searchable electronic version of the book, plus Claris Emailer, the QuickTime Virtual Reality (VR) kit, Now Utilities, and a bunch of great Mac utilities.

From Library Journal

For your Mac community, you can't go wrong with these titles. Linzmayer's Apple Confidential is an unofficial history of Apple and a great read. Pogue's MacWorld Mac Secrets explains all the oddities about any Mac still in use, while his iMac guide follows the format of the "Dummies" series. Poole's MacWorld Mac OS 8.5 Bible completely explains Mac 8.5, the newest operating system upgrade.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1208 pages
• Publisher: Hungry Minds Inc; 4th edition (December 23, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764540068
• ISBN-13: 978-0764540066
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,347,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Pogue is the personal-technology columnist for the New York Times. Each week, he contributes a print column, an online column and an online video. His daily blog, "Pogue's Posts," is the Times's most popular blog. David is also an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News and a frequent guest on NPR's "Morning Edition." His trademark comic tech videos appear each Thursday morning on CNBC. With over 3 million books in print, David is one of the world's bestselling how-to authors. He launched his own series of complete, funny computer books called the Missing Manual series, which now includes 60 titles. David graduated summa cum laude from Yale in 1985, with distinction in Music, and he spent ten years conducting and arranging Broadway musicals in New York. He's been profiled on both "48 Hours" and "60 Minutes."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Mac Book I Have Ever Encountered, January 21, 2000

By 

Dave - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Macworld Mac Secrets (Paperback)

Barring none, MACWORLD MAC SECRETS is the best Macintosh book I have ever read, and there have been many:

*Macs for Dummies

*The Little Mac Book

*My iMac

*iMacs for Dummies

*Programming the Macintosh for Dummies

*The Mac is not a Typewriter....

Yet this book combines the information in all these books and adds some more. Some of the book's secrets aren't secrets just plain old useful knowledge. It goes through each item in the Apple Menu, the Control Panel, and the System Folder and tells what each is for (and what you can Trash).

But it does contain secrets. Lots of secrets never before printed. It also contains a plentiful amount of Easter eggs, and highlights some computer of Macs programing anomalies.

It also contains a CD which is worth the purchase price alone. While some of programs included on the CD are well known to veteran Mac users (the Ambrosia Software shareware games), others are not and some like author David Pogue's Holiday Spoofs are to be found only on the CD.

I regret to say that I would not order the previous editions because MacWorld Mac Secrets is a tad bit pricy & I am extremely frugal. Oh, alright, I'm a tight-fisted cheapskate. But after being told by so many people that I HAD to have the book, and with the overwhelming customer endorsements on amazon.com, I bought the book. I don't regret it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a GODSEND!, December 5, 2000

By 

SWS (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macworld Mac Secrets (Paperback)

This has become the most helpful & valuable of all my computer books. It's exceptionally well organized & written, and covers everything:

Hardware-- Every Mac & Powerbook from the beginning to the first generation G3's & iMacs

Operating Systems-- Each Mac operating system through 8.5 dissected and explained.

Software-- Lost of shortcuts for popular titles like Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.

Peripherals-- Printers, CD-ROM drives, ADB, USB, SCSI--you name it!

I purchased this book when I bought my first used Mac and had to be my own Tech Support person. It's got a GREAT troubleshooting section and has helped me out even more than the "Mac Upgrade & Repair Bible." The included CD is exceptional--full of useful stuff, including the 4th Edition of Mac Secrets in its entirety.

If you own an older Mac, don't be without this book. Newer Mac owners would definitely benefit from a 6th edition--this one does not cover the Blue & White G3's, G4's, iBook or operating systems 8.6, 9 or OSX. And some of the included software, though useful, has become a little dated.

However, if a 6th Edition comes out--I"ll be getting that one as well!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS BOOK SHOULD SHIP WITH EVERY NEW MAC, September 18, 2000

By 

Geoff Lilley "MS Office Junkie, Poetry Lover,... (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Macworld Mac Secrets (Paperback)

Yes, it's THAT good. I've read the Mac Bible, The Mac is Not a Typewriter, and Sad Macs, Bombs, and Disasters. While each of the aforementioned books are worthy in their own right, I felt that Macworld Mac Secrets was simply the most comprehensive, covered the most useful subjects, and of course, had the best STUFF on the CD. I used the 2nd edition on a fairly regular basis with my old Performa 6100, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use this current edition. As a matter of fact, I plan on buying the NEXT edition when IT hits the shelves next month. There is some useless trivia (like what note each Mac starts up in) which I could have done without, but, on the whole, this is a very thorough reference that no Mac user should be without.