Nov 19 2002
MacOS X The Missing Manual
When veteran OS 9 users moved to OS X, they felt alienated. That’s probably
the biggest reason OS X books have done so well. If you only want to buy one
book for OS X, get the Missing Manual Second Edition. Even if you don’t feel
alienated, I guarantee you that you don’t know everything about OS X. The second
edition brings the Missing Manual up to speed with Jaguar (it’s almost a 150
pages longer than its predecessor). Don’t be fooled by “edition”,
the second edition is a whole new book.
I enjoyed both the first and second editions of MacOS X the Missing Manual
immenselly, but got my copy of edition one to late to post a review (Jaguar
was coming out too soon). Jaguar threw OS X authors a major curve ball, but
Pogue handled it with ease. It’s his writing style that makes this book (as
well as his others) excellent. It’s refreshing to read such a well written book.
This isn’t a book for complete computer newbies and it’s not a book for gurus
that feel the need to use the terminal as much as humanly possible (go nab Unleashed
for that). It makes an excellent addition to any OS X user’s reference library.
Even though it’s not target at beginners, it has some content that will surely
be below you (as you would expect an any book of this size). The other side
to that is that there is surely some content above your comfort level. Pogue
does delve into AppleScript and the Terminal, but not to a point it makes the
book targeted towards more advanced users. No matter what kind of user you are,
you’ll find stuff you didn’t know in this book. I think Pogue devoted his giant
über brain completely to OS X.
Like most OS X books (Jaguar
Killer Tips is the only exception I’ve seen), this book is only black and
white. Since this is the norm, I can’t hold it against O’Reilly. That said,
I’d love to see some beautiful Aqua in its true colors. Not having color keeps
the cost down, which is a good thing, so I can’t complain too much.
The second edition isn’t just 150 pages tacked onto the first edition, Jaguar
is weaved throughout the book. I’m very anal about finding mistakes in screen
shots, but it appears they have all been re-done for the second edition. My
usual fun with screen shots is to find info about the author or whoever took
the screen shots. I’ll leave that fun to you however (tip: iChat and Address
Book). This book is definately Jaguar to the core.
If you don’t have the first edition, do yourself a favor and spring for this
book. If you are lucky enough to have the first version, and have already upgraded
to Jaguar, support Pogue and help your troubleshooting sessions by upgrading.
It’s listed as $29.95 on the back cover, but Amazon has it for only
17.97
which is a steal (40% off).