OS X El Capitan: The Missing Manual 1st Edition

David writes this series in a way that will help anyone using this latest OS. From a Mac newbie who needs to understand preferences, the finder, etc, to someone who has been using Macs since the classic. I learned my lesson over a decade ago, I might find answers on line to help navigate the latest OS, or I can have the missing manual at hand. The book pays for itself in the time saved to troubleshoot something you've never run into before. To be clear, I'm talking about the paper version. I saw the first reviews come in regarding the Kindle version. I can only say my prior copies are highlighted, sticky noted, and dog-eared.

I'm a computer instructor who has used OS X for about two years...after having used Windows machines since the days of DOS. So as a Windows power user, changing over to the Mac has involved a steep learning curve. And although my MacBook Pro is the fastest and most reliable computer I've ever used, my OS X skills are pretty ordinary...so I know I'm not getting all I could out of the machine.

I REALLY like to know all of the little tricks and options to make a computer work exactly the way I like. This Missing Manual is getting me a lot closer to the OS X power user I want to become. Like all of the Missing Manuals, this book is well-written and contains a wealth of helpful info. Like my review title says, I've barely cracked the book and I've already learned a lot of excellent info. Just get this book, you won't regret it!

In this day and age of "Help" actually meaning online chat or topics browsing or support forums, it's essential to have a good text in black and white close by, at hand. What if your Mac or PC won't boot up? What if your Mac's or PC's browser continually crashes because of a drive problem? What if you simply cannot access the web? Uh, duh .... And I'm not about to gobble up my data allowance on my iPhone potchkeying around a hundred sites for a fix. Much of what pops up in searches is two, three and four years old, seriously out of date and out of touch.

The OS X El Capitan text in the ongoing series of "The Missing Manual" proved it was well worth its cost not two weeks after I had upgraded my older iMac desktop from Lion to El Capitan and hit a sudden drive problem that immediately stalled my browser with the dreaded spinning ball of death, repeatedly. By researching several possible solutions in the manual, I was able to boot up into a safe mode, access the utility, get the drive self-repaired and the browser conflict resolved. Having the book close by saved me a lot of time as well as the cost and wear 'n' tear of taking my iMac into the store. You have to remember that no matter what your level of familiarity or expertise with Macs and PC's, upgrading to a brand new operating system can very quickly throw you into a state of real unknown. Much of what once worked on the old OS, no longer applies at all.

OS X EL CAPITAN: A LUCID MANUAL LACED with WIT

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Reviewed by C J Singh (Berkeley, California)
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I enjoyed reading the earlier editions of this book on Macintosh Operating Systems, learning a lot from David Pogue’s lucid expository style laced with humor.

The publisher, O’Reilly Media, rightly claims:
“The Missing Manuals are witty, well written guides to computer products that don’t come with printed manuals (which is just about all of them). Each book features a handcrafted index; cross-references to specific page numbers, not just ‘see Chapter 14’; and an ironclad promise never to put an apostrophe in the possessive pronouns ‘its’.” As a professional editor and writer, I admire this promise because I find far too many recent books blemished with this particular error.

This comprehensive book exemplifies David Pogue’s highly engaging writing style. In my copy of the book, I’ve marked numerous examples that illustrate this. Here are five of the marked, chosen randomly from the beginning, middle, and closing pages.

“OS X is an impressive technical achievement ; many experts call it the personal-computer operating system on earth. But beware its name. The X is meant to be a Roman numeral, pronounced ‘ten.’ Don’t say, ‘oh, ess ex.’ You’ll get funny looks” (page 1).

“When you write a book like this, you do a lot of soul-searching about how much stuff to cover. Of course, a thinner book, or at least a thinner-looking one, is always preferable; plenty of readers are intimidated by a book that dwarfs the Tokyo White Pages. On the other hand, Apple keeps adding features and rarely takes them away. So this book isn’t getting any thinner” (page 7).

“Handwriting Recognition: In the same way your grandmother turned yesterday’s dinner into today’s sandwich and tomorrow’s soup, Apple recycled the handwriting technology of its failed Newton handheld and added it to OS X, It’s now called Ink, and it does exactly what it used to: turn your handwriting into typed text in any program. Can Ink replace the keyboard? Not for anything more than quick notes, that’s for sure. But it can be handy when you’re web surfing, sketching, filling in database forms, and so on” (249).

“Maps: When Apple brought its own Maps app to the iPhone in 2012, the underlying databases had a lot of problems. They didn’t include nearly as many points of interest as Google. Addresses were sometimes wrong. Satellite view showed bridges and roads melting into the sea…. In El Capitan, Maps has gotten smarter: It can now propose public-transportation routes—complete with the times and names of subways, trains, and buses—in seven U.S. cities, with more to come” (page 398).

“Setting Up Messages: There are some great chat apps that Messages can’t touch.… Skype, the granddaddy of all chat programs, which offers audio and video chats like Messages, but also connects to Skype running on Windows, iPhones, Android phones and so on” (page 721).

The book comprises 19 chapters and 4 appendices. Yes, the 828-page book is heavy, but its numerous light touches and detailed "hand-crafted" index earn it five stars. (The Index refers to the previous edition of the book, "OS X YOSEMITE: The Missing Manual" in its entries and page numbers. The mismatch is occasional which proves that El Capitan is not all that different from Yosemite.) An alternative to reading the whole book is to use it as a reference while doing the hands-on exercises in the much briefer "Teach Yourself Visually OS X El Capitan."

Part One: The OS X Desktop
1. Folders, Windows & Finder Tabs
2. Organizing Your Stuff
3. Spotlight
4. Dock, Desktop & Toolbars

Part Two: Programs in OS X
5. Documents, Programs & Mission Control
6. Data: Typing, Dictating, Sharing & Backing Up
7. Mac+iPhone: Handoff, Airdrop & Continuiting

Part Three: The Components of OS X
8. System Preferences
9. Notifications
10. The Free Programs of OS X

Part Four: The Technologies of OS X
11. Accounts, Security & Gatekeeper
12. Networking, File Sharing & AirDrop
13. Graphics, Fonts & Printing
14. Sound, Movies & Speech

Part Five: OS X Online
15. Internet Setup & iCloud
16. Mail & Contents
17. Safari
18. Messages
19. FTP, SSH, VPN & Web Sharing

Part Six: Appendixes
A. Installing OS X El Capitan
B. Troubleshootig
C. The Windows-to-Mac Dictionary
D. Master OS X Secret Keystroke List

A useful book in line with its predecessors. But the table of contents has not been enabled! How is one to find his way through a 848 page reference book without a table of contents?

I can't imagine a more complete manual. Although I've been using OS X for a number of years I always find something new in the Missing Manuals. For a tech manual it is very enjoyable to read. It even has some humor in it.

Probably my 5th Missing Manual, going back to OS 9, but my first Kindle one. I now live in Mexico and had to buy the Kindle version which I found a lot more difficult to access than the paper ones previously. I would probably still give the paper version 5 starts.

The whole series [Missing Manual] is solid. This iteration is no exception.

My only complaint is it had too much information I already know.

HINT: if you are not a geek or power user, this book will help (tremendously) to take you there.

Just found it a little too fluffy to give it a full 5-star rating.

Great, overall.