The Macintosh Bible (Bible Series) (Paperback)

by Sharon Zardetto Aker (Author), Sharon Zardetto Aker (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The Macintosh Bible is billed as the "most popular Mac book ever," and reviews for earlier editions (from Macworld, the New York Times, and Byte among others) are almost universally superlative. No wonder. Sharon Zardetto Aker, who has authored and/or collaborated on each edition of The Macintosh Bible since the third, offers thousands of hints and inside suggestions that will be invaluable to even the most seasoned Mac user. This time, her attention extends to material through Mac OS 8.5 and issues of concern to iMac owners. Topics treated in depth include: beginning with a Mac, hardware, the operating system, other system elements, productivity software, creativity software, and connections. More than 80 percent of the material is new in this edition. The revised version especially excels in its attention to minutiae, encompassing issues as far-ranging as "zapping the PRAM" (that's the 24K parameter RAM that retains control panel and date/time settings, etc.) or the "Color Menu addition" to SimpleText (SimpleText Color Menu is a shareware utility that adds some cool functionality to the basic Mac text processor). In fact, you can pick just about any page in the Bible and find some new Web site or new function that will expand the power of your Mac or iMac. This one is essential. Updates will be continuously available at the readers-only Web site (password information is hidden in the book). --Patrick O'Kelley

From Library Journal
Some 30 experts contributed to this all-encompassing, beginning- to intermediate-level guide, much broader in scope than Gene Steinberg's Upgrading & Troubleshooting Your Mac (Computer Media, LJ 2/1/02). It will win over new users with its interesting history of the Mac and life-saving information on the desktop and troubleshooting. Because OS X and other recent innovations are treated here, libraries owning older editions should purchase.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1024 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Pr; 7th edition (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201874830
• ISBN-13: 978-0201874839
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,264,817 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Full of Information, Fudges a Little, October 28, 1999

By A Customer

This book should probably ship with every new MacIntosh. It brings out the Mac's potential in a way that gave me new appreciation for its elegance and simplicity. In an enjoyable--albeit hokey--style, the author not only presents the information about hardware and software that it is expected she give, but often does the MacIntosh user's work for him. In the section on the software application QuicKeys, for instance, the are several pages of useful suggestions as to what keys the reader should assign to various tasks when using that program. That is amazing, that is not even the book's main task and it is more nuts-and-bolts, time-saving information than the very manufacturer of Quickeys supplies with their own software. The same is true in the section on how to set up an Apple menu. I just followed every suggestion the author made; it saved me time, works like a charm, and I'd never have come up with that stuff on my own. It's even a fun book (for Macheads) to just jump around in in one's free time; such browsing will almost always yield new knowledge or a useful trick or shortcut. I doubt that Windows users have this much fun learning about their OS, and I doubt that Windows could yield a book that makes such integrated sense as this one.

I only have one annoyances with this book. First, the author fudges and glosses over real explanations of some of the more difficult concepts such as Apple Script and memory. It's as if she's so determined to make the book all-inclusive that she settles for doing a less than satisfactory job with advanced material that she'd have been within her rights to simply leave out of the book. In these instances, she seems to lift a lot of information out of the Mac OS's documentation, and fails to supplement those often spotty explanations. No one is going to understand how to use Applescript by reading her account of it. Also, the book supposedly comes with an interactive, "readers only" website, with the password to that website hidden somewhere in the pages of the book. It's so well hidden that I've had the book for 9 months and still not found it.

All in all, indispensable, and I'll be buying the OS 9 version when it comes out.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the single most useful mac book on the market., February 1, 1999

By A Customer

I have been using macs for about ten years and had read earlier editions of the mac bible and loved them. But after becoming an old mac hand (ignorance is bliss!) I had stopped feeling the need for newer editions of the mac bible. But last week my mother bought her first ever computer, a really sweet G3 Powerbook, and in preparation for flying across the country to tutor her I went shopping for some reference books to give us a hand. I bought the Mac Bible, the Mac OS 8.5 Black Book, and the Microsoft Office 98 Visual Basic Book. The Mac Bible is far and away the most helpful of the bunch. Easiest to read, most in depth and with valuable opinions, real life applications and a sense of humor. In fact I decided to return the Black Book and buy a Mac Bible for myself to take home.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is THE BEST Mac book!, July 6, 2001

By	skunktrain (So. California, USA) - See all my reviews

I got my first Mac ever about a year and a half ago, being a PC person before that. Being a book fanatic, I used this Mac purchase as an excuse to go out and buy lots of Mac books! The Mac Bible was one of the first I bought. It still remains the book I consult most often.

I found it had an absolutely fabulous "history of Mac" section, so I was able to catch up on all the Macs through history. I was keenly interested in that, and still am. I love to read about the old LCs, and such. (Yes, I'm a pathetic geek.)

But there's more to that to this book. Just lots of explanations on OS features, different kinds of problems you'll encounter, and some of the best software to use on a Mac. It has a great index, so you can find the information you need quickly. I have it by my Mac at all times. What would I do without it?

I can't explain it - this book has EVERYTHING. I read it eagerly (I even had it before I got my Mac! I ordered the Mac, and read this book while waiting for it to arrive.) This book helped me adjust to the world of Mac-dom very quickly. And now, a year and a half after my first Mac, I am a full-fledged Machead, thanks in part to this book.