2 items found in General Computing.

Mac OS X: The Missing Manual (Panther Edition)

David Pogue

Pogue Press/O'Reilly, 2003

One of the great selling points of Apple computers is meant to be their user friendliness. Just take it out of the box, and you're up and running. Certainly, my G4 Power Book is very easy to use, but as the Missing Manual slogan says, "this is the book that should have been in the box".

I got this book because I'd been so impressed with the Windows XP Pro Missing Manual, and I'm pleased I did. It's made getting used to the Mac a very pleasant experience. One extremely handy section is Appendix D - The "Where Did it Go?" Dictionary (Windows Version). If I want to find the Mac equivalent of a familiar Windows operation or feature, it's here, with a quick explanation, and a reference to the main part of the book for more details. There's a similar appendix for anyone making the transition from Classic Mac OS to OS X.

When I bought my Power Book, the helpful staff in the computer shop went into complex details about how to network it with my Windows computers. With this book, I was up and running in less than five minutes.

As I explore the Mac, this is a book I've been turning to on a regular basis, and so far, it's never let me down.

Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual

David Pogue, Craig Zacker et al

Pogue Press/O'Reilly, 2003

I've been using Windows since about 1987, and never thought I'd need to bother with another "how to" book. How wrong I was! Although Windows XP is fairly easy to use straight away, it's crammed with features that would take ages to discover without the help of a guide like this.

Several months after buying a new PC with XP installed, I began to encounter problems that I initially put down to a software conflict. Unaware of the System Restore feature, I battled on in the old-fashioned way trying to troubleshoot the issue. As a result, I ended up not knowing what was installed, and if anything might have been left behind in the registry that was still causing the problem. Looking things up in this book would have saved a lot of time and frustration.

The book is well-written, and it's got lots of sidebars with useful hints, so you find yourself dipping in when you have the odd moment to spare. It's also well indexed, so it's easy to find that essential piece of information just when you need it. I've used this book with both XP Home and XP Pro, and found no difficulty applying the knowledge to either version. There is an XP Home version of this book, but this is the one I'd recommend, particularly if you think you may ever upgrade from Home to Pro.