Mac OS X: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Widely esteemed Mac authority David Pogue weighs in on the latest offering from Cupertino with Mac OS X: The Missing Manual. It's a fact-packed romp through the operating system and the extras that come with it, made resoundingly more readable by the depth of Pogue's knowledge, his familiarity with Mac history, and his eagerness to engage novices as members of the Mac user community. Unlike most books about Mac OS X, this one explores its Unix-like underpinnings (the Apple implementation is called Darwin) pretty thoroughly. However, based on the logic that if you wanted to use Unix, you would, Pogue emphasizes the traditional, graphical Mac interface over the Terminal window.

Pogue, who's written about Macs for years and whose professional qualifications extend beyond computers (he's an orchestral conductor), writes about Macs at the user level with clarity. He's also quite good at dealing with the numerous options and variations that apply to Mac procedures, and makes very good use of sidebars for clarifying details. In a section on printing, for example, Pogue explains why there's no longer an option to turn off background printing (true multitasking has rendered the option obsolete). There's also good coverage of the online iTools, tailored to people unfamiliar with integrating remote resources into their personal computing environments. --David Wall

Topics covered: Apple Mac OS X for people who will use the operating system, either on a standalone computer with Internet access or on a computer that is part of a home or organizational network. Running applications (in Classic mode as well as in native Mac OS X mode), printing, networking, multimedia, security (including Keychain), and utilities are all covered.

Review

"An indispensable guide for Mac users that ought to come with every new Macintosh." Computer Shopper, July (4 stars) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 450 pages
• Publisher: Pogue Press; 1 edition (December 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596000820
• ISBN-13: 978-0596000820
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (114 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #836,310 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This item is part of The O'Reilly Missing Manuals Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book kept me from going crazy...., January 30, 2002

By	Carol Watkins (Memphis, TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you have OSX or are thinking about installing it, this book is a MUST HAVE. OSX is a remarkable operating system, but I felt like I was back in the first grade trying to navigate between the world I was familiar with and this new one. After buying another book (that will go nameless) which offered absolutely no assistance at all, I discovered David Pogue's "Missing Manual." Finally, my computer and I became friends again. It is extremely well written and easy to follow. Every chapter holds countless tidbits of information, tips, and screen shots to guide you through the OSX maze. The "Programs and Documents" and "Back to Mac OS 9" chapters helped me tremendously in understanding how to work effectively with both systems. I've spent hours pouring over the information in this book and have highlighted hundreds of "must knows." I haven't attempted Applescripts yet, but I'm ready to try with this excellent resource in hand. I wish I had bought it months earlier. It would have saved me from some major headaches and the cost of several bottles of aspirin. Thank you, David Pogue!

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pogue hits another homerun!, February 8, 2002

By	Scott Rose "Computer Geek" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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David Pogue is one of the best technical authors of our time, and once again he hits a homerun!
I've been using Mac OS X as my primary operating system for the last month, and I've had absolutely no trouble learning Mac OS X in record time. It's such a great operating system... so elegant, so user-friendly, so intuitive, so crash-resistant.
And so I wondered, "Okay... do I really need to purchase David Pogue's manual on Mac OS X? I mean, I have a really firm grasp on the OS to begin with!"
And as I started reading the book, the answer became a resounding YES! Before I had even finished the first chapter, I had already learned dozens of new tips, tricks, secrets, explanations, and reasonings that I did not know! Stuff that I didn't REALIZE I wanted to know until I read them in Pogue's book.
And as always, Pogue's breezy, friendly, & cheerful writing style makes this manual read like a gripping novel. You can read this from cover-to-cover without ever losing interest.
This book is a must read. It should come bundled with every copy of Mac OS X.

68 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully Useful for ANY OS X User, December 31, 2001

By	Russ Harlan (Augusta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

I purchased "OS X: The Missing Manual" as a Christmas present for my nephew who recently migrated to OS X. I figured the manual would be a helpful "Getting Started" guide to him, and relieve me of a bit of tech support duty. Being a "power user" of OS X meself since the Public Beta days, I dun NEE no steenkin' manual, missing or no.

After spending about 20 minutes with this book, I was back at Amazon ordering a second copy. For <ahem> meself. (Power user or no.)

"OS X: The Missing Manual" was a long-time coming... but it covers Apple's new operating system clearly and comprehensively. The book presents a huge (HUGE) subject with clarity, wit, and delightfully useful tips that any (ANY) user of Mac OS X will find helpful, time-saving, and wicked cool.

David Pogue didn't give us the first manual for OS X... but he has delivered the best.

I wish all technical writing were this good.