Using Mac OS X Leopard - Special Edition Series
Reviewed by Robert Pritchett
Introduction
“We crafted this book to grow with you, providing the reference material
you need as you move toward software proficiency and use of more advanced
features. If you buy only one book on Mac OS X Leopard, Special Edition Using
Mac OS X Leopard is the only book you need.
• Explore the depths of Mac OS X’s core including the desktop, Finder,
Finder windows, the Dock, user accounts, the Dashboard and widgets, Spaces, and
much more.
• Master OS X by installing and using Mac OS X applications,
customizing the system, making your Mac accessible to everyone, automating your
Mac with the Automator, using Unix commands, and working with mobile Macs.
• Run Windows applications on your Mac for those rare occasions
when a Mac application isn’t available.
• Exploit Mac OS X’s Internet tools to connect to the Net with or
without wires, use email, surf the Web, and take advantage of the many features
of .Mac.
• Explore some of the great applications included with Mac OS X,
such as iTunes, QuickTime, DVD Player, iCal, Address Book, iChat, and on it
goes.
• Expand your system with input devices (such as keyboards and
trackballs), output devices (printers, displays, and such), hard drives, and
hubs (Ethernet, USB, and FireWire).
• Connect to other computers and devices safely and easily using
Mac OS X’s advanced networking tools. Learn to configure your own network
including Macs and Windows computers and how to share an Internet connection
among them.
• Use great Mac OS X tools
and techniques to keep your system in top condition and to solve problems.”
What I Learned
“Special
Edition Using Mac OS X Leopard is the only book you need.” Okay, maybe. This
book also has a 45-day free online edition at Safari Books Online after
purchase.
All graphics are black and white and not color. Each section
is full of Tips and Notes.
This is a reference book. I guess I’m spoiled by O’Reilly,
where there are online updates that keep hardcopy current and where print
errors can be tagged and corrected. I’d like to see QUE Publishing do the same
with their books. They have stiff competition form the O’Reilly Missing Manual
Series.
Conclusion
I find this book to be a snapshot in time and it is clear to
see that Brad Miser loves to write about the stuff he knows like the back of
his hand.
Will the book become quickly obsolete as Apple updates the
OS? Probably. Is the book worth getting? It definitely goes much more deeply
into Leopard than anything else I’ve seen for beginners who have not discovered
the “Help” button at the top of the screen.
