Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual (Paperback)

by David Pogue (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Apple's "Switch" campaign, aimed at Windows PC users who've had it to here with the complexity, intrusiveness, viruses and hassle of life in Windows, is having tremendous success. This concise, entertaining book from celebrated author and New York Times columnist David Pogue shows novices and power users alike how to convert from Windows to Mac quickly and easily. With refreshing humor and jargon-free prose, Pogue tells readers how to move their files, address book and email collection from a PC to the Mac; adapt to Mac versions of programs such as Microsoft Office, FileMaker, Photoshop, America Online and Quicken; find familiar controls in the new system; set up a network to share files with PCs and Macs; and adapt their old printers, scanners, and other peripherals. An important part of this book is Appendix B, the "Where'd It Go?" Dictionary, which includes an alphabetical listing of every familiar Windows feature, and where readers can find its equivalent in Mac OS X.

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, an online video, and a popular daily blog, "Pogue's Posts." He is also an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News, and he appears each week on CNBC with his trademark comic tech videos. With more than 3 million books in print, he is one of the world's bestselling how-to authors. He wrote or co-wrote seven books in the "Dummies" series, and in 1999 he launched his own series of computer books called the Missing Manual series, which now includes more than 100 titles. He has been profiled on "48 Hours" and "60 Minutes." Pogue's website is www.davidpogue.com and his Twitter screen name is Pogue. He lives in Connecticut.

Product Details

• Paperback: 447 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly; 1 edition (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596004524
• ISBN-13: 978-0596004521
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #186,069 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

106 of 107 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't recommend enough, April 7, 2003

By	J. Clark (Maine, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you're a PC user and you're buying a Mac, for whatever reason, do yourself a favor and buy this book. I've been a PC user for most of my life, and all of my previous Mac experience had been with OS 9 or earlier. When I decided to buy a 12" Powerbook (also very highly recommended) I went out and picked up this book. Despite its size I had it read in less than a week. It's very well written, informative but still fun to read, and, a rarity in computer books, even not having the computer right in front of me didn't keep me from understanding and learning from this book. In short, it covers everything you'll need to know to get started, and it does it from the point of view of a PC user, making the transition a quick and relatively painless one.

One word of caution though, if you pick up this book too far in advance you'll be sorry, it'll make the wait until your new Mac arrives almost unbearable.

71 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A SWITCHER'S CLASSIC, March 16, 2003

By	reviewer (Zurich, Switzerland.) - See all my reviews

"Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual" provides a smooth adjustment path for anyone who intends to explore Mac's new environment. This book is a portable classic, whose pages manifested all those qualities found in the 'Missing Manual' series.
Apart from the detailed explanations on how to settle-down in the new Mac environment, this book provided comprehensive coverage: as it concerned all the supportive Mac staples. These extensive discussions include: Quicken for Mac, Mac's Microsoft Office, Filemaker for Mac, Photoshop, and so on.
Also discussed were all the important facts (and features) regarding networking and peripheral configurations. This text is by every means, a reliable introductory to the Mac arena. Traditional Windows users, who seek a Mac adventure, would have a lot to gain from it. But, complementing its efforts with that of an established Mac text would yield better result. In this case, I would suggest either "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual" or "Mac OS X: In A Nutshell".

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for all, September 19, 2003

By	JR (the Netherlands) - See all my reviews

Even if you aren't switching, this book provides accurate information on Mac OS X and the technical help for transferring documents to a Windows computer. David Pogue, my favorite mac writer, known for his vivid style, won't let you down. Highly recommended.