Top Notch Writing

This is the third iteration of "Mac OSX: The Missing Manual", by David Pogue. It updates the contents to cover the new features and elements of OS 10.3, known as "Panther" which is touted as having 150 new features. I've already described the previous editions as representing the best of software manual writing and this edition continues that excellence.

The format, structure, and graphical features are the same as the earlier editions, although this volume is a bit larger, at 763 pages, including index. All the important and most popular features of Panther are covered comprehensively, including the new Sidebar navigation feature, the Exposé application "launcher", FileVault encryption, the return of the Labels feature, and fast-user switching. The new applications are covered here also, like the built-in fax program, iChat AV, and the Font Book font manager.

Pogue is best when he provides power-user tips and discloses hidden or little-known features of Panther. The nearly-obscure ColorSync control panel now illustrates gamut spaces in color profiles, for example, and he describes "Pixlet", a new video codec which is a lossless highly efficient video compression tool (supposedly designed for use by Pixar employees and associates only).

Other little-known tidbits include descriptions and insights to some of the Developer tools on the XCode Tools CD . There is an OSX version of Simple Text which includes a sound-record feature, not available anywhere else in Panther or in OSX applications, with the exception of iMovie. A special feature is the addition of mini-manuals on Safari and the iLife applications - iMovie, iPhoto, iChat, and iTunes.

Full of rich suggestions and insights, enjoyably written

For Jaguar (Mac OS 10.2) I purchased Ray's "Unleashed" volume. I wanted a different take this time around, especially for hints about undocumented features in Panther - because although I routinely peruse the MacNN forums, there are SO many new shortcuts and features to keep track of I wanted it in a book.

David has not disappointed - within minutes I found several tips on Mail and Safari that were well worth the modest Amaz price. I've been using Macs for nearly twenty years, so there's obviously a lot here that's not new to me - but there's a lot that is! The "Missing Manual" had doubled the value of my having upgraded to Panther (OS 10.3). It has made it easy for me to start taking advantage of system features that I never took the time to figure out.

The section on the Terminal and Unix command line is brief, but still a very helpful intro to the complete newbie for understanding whether/why one would want to learn more about those power-tools within your Mac. If you really want to get deeply into that, you'll probably want to go with something like O'Reilly's "Learning Unix for Mac OS X" (ISBN 0596003420 ) after reading David's intro.

As with David's "iMovie Missing Manual" the writing is very comfortable - clear and pleasant, lightened with occasional humor (but without the obsessive lame jokey-ness of some computer guides "for dummies"). This does not FEEL like reading a manual... but is incredibly helpful as one!

I would actually give more than 5 stars for this!

You know what? English is not my first language, but I speak it fluently. For people like me it is quite annoying when the writer is using "synonyms" option in their word processing program every time just to look coooool... Here:
1. When I saw this book I said when I opened the package - "Oh my God!" It was huge!
2. I opened it, and instantly felt a deep feeling of appreciation for an ease of use. David - thank you for valuing MY TIME!
3. It is funny in many places! What a relief!! Entertaining and useful at the same time.
4. It explains everything! C'mon! I was reading some picture manual recently and it was really hard! I got lost after Chapter 1 (with all cool looking pictures around)...
5. Just buy it - trust me, it's worth every dollar you invest.
And finally....
Mac Rules!!!