Customer Reviews

Robin Williams Cool Mac Apps: A Guide to iLife, .Mac, and More

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If you are familiar with other books by Robin Williams then you know how useful and valuable they are to the Mac user. And if you have recently purchased a new Mac with OS X installed, then this book should be a tremendous asset in helping you to learn the many applications that are installed or available. Cool Mac Apps is an easy to follow, step-by-step instructional book with a vast amount of illustrations that are displayed just the way you see them on your monitor. Every button or control in the illustration is fully explained and the material is presented with the novice in mind. Each application that Mac OS X installed is covered in detail in a chapter of its own, making it easy to skip around to the areas of greatest interest. The first section covers the iLife 04 applications - iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie, iDVD, and Garage Band. The how to instructions are covered in such a manner that they are easy and fun to follow and will teach you how to get the most out of your photos and music and will help you get connected to the digital world. The second section of the book is devoted to the applications that are available if you subscribe to a .Mac Account. These include iDisk, iCards, Home Page, iMac Web Mail, iSync, .Mac Slides Publisher, Virex, and Backup. That is a lot of applications for $99 and this book does a great job of explaining how to use each and every one. The last section covers the other Mac OS X applications - iCal, Safari, Mail & Address Book, and iChat & Rendezvous. This section is devoted to helping you get the most out of the World Wide Web. As stated on the front cover, this is indeed 17 manuals in one book! This is the book I would like to have had included with my new iMac.

Reviewed by club member, Lola.

The day I bought my first Macintosh-many years ago-I asked the salesman to recommend a book to get me started. Without hesitation, he handed me Robin William's "Little Mac Book," saying it probably was all I'd need, and he was right. After verifying that the author was not, in fact, the famous actor (indeed, is the other gender), I went on to fall in love with Robin William's easy to understand style and thoroughness, which has now put many of her books on best-selling and award-winning lists.

After writing several paragraphs of this review, I realized I can't say it much better than the back cover of the book itself. Robin Williams Cool Mac Apps is a companion volume to Robin Williams Mac OS X Book, Panther Edition (a title that is almost longer than the very first Little Mac Book, which was 8 pages). Basically, the Mac now comes with so many useful applications that it needs 2 volumes to cover it all now.

It maintains the clear writing style that Robin Williams and John Tollett are known for. Although it is assumed that the reader has read the Mac OS X and can navigate around the Mac interface, nothing else is taken for granted. Everything in each window of the 17 apps is explained, usually with several illustrations showing the progression of steps.

I am not a novice Mac user, but neither am I a geek or power user. I haven't bought the OS X volume because I could figure most of it out by myself (chorus: that's because the Mac is so intuitive...) But there are always tips and tricks to learn, and so Cool Mac Apps is good reference for the intermediate user, and well as an introduction for the novice.

It covers 17 applications that come on most (all) current Macs, covered in three categories: the iLife suite, the .Mac apps, and OS X apps.

Cash, as my musician friends inform me, is the sincerest form of applause. In the same vein, I think the highest praise a review can offer is this: I bought the book before I had to return it to the library. Which I did.

Billed as 17 manuals in one book, this book contains what are effectively stant alone manuals for:

iLife: iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie, and iDVDOS X: Mail, Address Book, iCal, iChat and Rendezvous, and Safari
Mac: iDisk, HomePage, WebMail, Backup, iSync, Slides Publisher, and Virex
More: AppleWorks Word Processing, Database, Spreadsheet, Painting, Drawing, and Presentation, plus OmiGraffle, FAXstf, and Inkwell.

The nice thing about an overall book like this one is that you get a quick overview, enough to get started on any of these applications. It may turn out that you want individual books on some of them, but if you don't know what they do you won't know if you need that application or not.

The book is written with a nice mix of technical with commentary that explains what that particular application is trying to do. Highly recommended.

As we have all come to expect from Robin Williams, this book is written in a clear, precise manor. The illustrations are all very helpful. I particularly like the way the windows of each application are illustrated with details about each item within the window.

I have been using OSX for over two years now and thought I knew my way around each of these applications, but I was able to learn a lot of easier ways to do things . I have also learned that there were a lot of the features that I was not even coming close to using to their full potential. I have been using iCal, iTunes, and iPhoto on an almost daily basis, so these new tips and techniques are a real timesaver for me.

I was really surprised at how much new knowledge I gained on using Safari. I am on the internet on a daily basis and just took the browser for granted. The quick Tips section was very helpful. The section on RSS feeds opened up a whole new world of information for me.

Cool Mac Apps is a must have reference book that every MAC user needs in their personal library. I would give this book an excellent rating!

Can these people write, or can they write? Thier books are always easy to follow, and presented in an entertaining fashion as well. If Robin Williams had written books about all the subjects I so disliked in school, I would undoubtedly have been very well read in all topics.
In a matter of minutes, I was able to unlock a few mysteries about my Mac...in days, I was using the applications without fear or hesitation. And while I am quite aware of how user friendly Macs are anyway, Ms Williams takes away the fears I still tend to harbor. I'm no computer wiz kid, I am FAR on the opposite end of the spectrum. But this book in particular, opened my eyes....from a place of feeling overwhelmed by all the things I KNEW this little box could do(that I didn't think I could) to a world of fun, and confidence. Cool Mac Apps is quickly becoming my favorite book. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn anything about the iLife applications.

John Tollett and Robin Williams' Cool Mac APPs: A Guide To iLife 05, .Mac And More may sound familiar: it's in its second edition now, and continues to back Williams' Little Mac Book by offering detailed explanations and tutorials of the main applications Mac OS X installs on your computer. From iLife applications to setting up files for Internet storage and sharing or synchronizing calendars and contact info with a PDA, COOL MAC APPS offers some nifty short-cuts, tricks, and customized set-ups.

These authors provide us with an astonishing range of moves to make the best use of new platforms and software. Their books are clear and direct, and this one is no exception.

After half a dozen years as a Mac traitor who got dragged kicking and screaming into the Windows-only world at work, I'm retiring from the work world and switching back to Mac-only at home. I waited for about six months for Robin's update for Leopard to be published and it was well worth the wait. While I'm just getting into the book, I can already see that it's going to be a member of my on-desk library of essential Mac reference books. Way to go Robin and John!

I switched to MAC about one month ago, bought the book the next day and found it very helpful. I went through it page by page and it was easy to read and understand and it was more than helpful. I recommend it highly for the first time MAC users.

Book is very informative, easy to understand and use. I bought this book for school (I don't own a mac), but there were many things I learned about iTunes (only non Mac program I use) I wouldn't have known without reading this book. Definitely would recommend for anyone wanting to get the most out of their Mac.