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IBM Books Media Businesses Book Reviews Apple

Mac OS X -- The Missing Manual, Panther Edition 104

Posted by timothy from the mahone dept.
emmastory writes "It shouldn't really surprise anyone that David Pogue has once again produced an unqualified success in the third edition of Mac OS X: The Missing Manual. Since OS X came out, I've read and reviewed some dozen Mac books, but when it comes time to pick a single volume to recommend to friends making the switch, I invariably choose Pogue's. It's true that OS X beginners can understand it without any problems, but that shouldn't suggest that it's somehow too simple for veteran users - it's just that the text is exceptionally clear, meaning that even beginners won't find it too scary or confusing. While other books are bigger (Mac OS X Unleashed) and others are written specifically for a more advanced audience (Mac OS X Power Tools), the Missing Manual is the best all-purpose book on the subject, and one that should be in the library of pretty much anyone who runs OS X." That answers the question of "Did she like it?", but read on for the rest of Emma's review, including a mini-interview with David Pogue.
Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition
author David Pogue
pages 763
publisher O'Reilly/Pogue Press
rating 10
reviewer Emma Story
ISBN 0596006152
summary A must-have manual for Panther users

As I see it, there are really two groups of people who might be wondering whether or not they ought to buy Pogue's new Panther book: Mac users who own a previous edition of the Missing Manual, and those who don't. For the latter folks, the short answer is Yes - you should buy this book. And for the former, the short answer is Probably. Keeping in mind that all the various online retailers offer significant discounts on the book, and that you can also get 30% off if you've registered a previous edition with O'Reilly, it's going to only wind up costing you about twenty bucks, and it's definitely worth it. The text hasn't just been updated to reflect changes and new features in Panther - it's also been updated to reflect reader feedback on previous versions, including things like more information for people migrating from Windows, and mini-manuals on some of the iLife applications. There isn't a single page that hasn't been changed from the Jaguar edition of the book (and there are over seven hundred pages).

Some of my Mac-using friends have told me that they haven't picked up anything from the Missing Manual series because they're under the impression that they're basically novice guides. This is both right and wrong: it's absolutely true that beginners will get their money's worth from a Missing Manual and that they won't get lost in an abundance of overtechnical discussion. The part that isn't true, however, is the implication that these are books only for beginners. I've been using Macs for over ten years now (and various Unix-like systems for five), but my copies of the Missing Manuals get dog-eared and underlined more than any other technical books I own. One of the reasons I'd dispute the claim that this book isn't useful for advanced users is that sprinkled throughout are dozens of little productivity notes -- a keystroke here, a shortcut tip there -- and this is the stuff that I, at least, really get off on, while it seems like novice users tend to be content with straightforward dragging and double clicking. I dive into Part One ("The Mac OS X Desktop") with my Mac in easy reach not because I don't know how to minimize a window, but because I had no idea that (for example) there's now a Finder keystroke to jump immediately to the parent directory. That's not to say topics typically associated with power users aren't given their due, though. Even people who know their Unices (and Unix workalikes) will probably welcome the coverage of NetInfo Manager and other OS X oddities. If you find yourself stuck on some particular topic, chances are it's covered here. It's not by any means an exhaustive guide to BSD, but it's a good way to get started with Darwin. I end up using this book often enough that it has its own place of honor on top of my G4 (my other Mac books are also nearby, of course, but they're not necessarily quite so handy).

Aside from the little-bit-of-everything approach, one of the most refreshing features of the Missing Manuals series remains the writing itself - surprisingly readable, often funny, and rarely confusing. These are some of the few technical books that I'm willing or able to read cover to cover, and some of them I've even read in bed or on the subway. As for specific parts and chapters that stand out from the rest: the new mini-manuals dealing with iLife applications like iTunes and iPhoto are a welcome addition. They'd been more or less ignored in previous editions of the OS X book, since they've got their own books, but the Panther edition introduces a section on each to get you started. Another of my favorite portions of the book is the addition of Appendix F, the Master Mac OS X Secret Keystroke List. It will take a while before I'm able to memorize all of them, and in the meantime it's great to have them all collected in one place.

As for bits I didn't like? Well, I was going to complain that as someone who owned a previous edition of the book and who just upgraded to Panther, it would be nice if the "What's New in Panther" section in the Introduction were a little more fleshed out, so that I would know immediately everything that had changed. But after playing around with the new OS and reading the rest of the book, that wish seems a little impractical - after all, every page in the book had to be changed, so the entire thing is really about what's new in Panther. The section at the beginning covers the biggies (like Expos and the new security features), so that's probably all it really needs to do.

It's probably pretty clear by now that I liked the book, but I still had a few questions about Panther in general and the Missing Manual in particular. Lucky for me, David Pogue was willing to answer them for me - and here they are, in case you're wondering the same things I was:

ES: What are a couple of your favorite new Panther features?

DP: I'm just nuts about the secret buried just-for-fun features: the secret graphing mode of the Calculator; the choice of surface textures for the pieces in Chess (including Marble and Jaguar Fur!); the way you can Option-drag in Preview to copy only one column of text without snagging the adjacent column in the process. These are the kinds of grace notes that really distinguish the Macintosh from the more boring operating systems.

ES: Anything from Jaguar or earlier that you particularly miss?

DP: ALMOST all of the stuff that disappeared from Mac OS 9 has now come back into Mac OS X: labels, the clean install, spring-loaded folders, randomized desktop pictures, and so on.

A few niceties still haven't returned, though. Occasionally I miss the Put Away command, SimpleSound (for quick and dirty sound recordings), and the ability to encrypt a folder on the fly without leaving the desktop.

ES: Do you think that Apple's decision to more or less give up on writing their own manuals is a wise one?

DP: Well, as someone who's making a living filling the gap Apple left behind, obviously I have a vested interest in this point.

But the truth is, a lot of people never crack software manuals--I'm told this over and over again by software makers--and they are expensive and, more to the point, time-consuming to create. (Translation: Once the product is ready, the company wants to SHIP it--not wait around for manuals to be printed and bound.) And Apple certainly isn't alone in eliminating paper manuals.

For myself, yes, I rather wish my software programs came with printed manuals--they're infinitely superior to online help. Whether it's "wise" or not depends on whether you're a shareholder, programmer, customer, product manager...

ES: For those just switching to Mac OS from Windows, should they go for Mac OS X: The Missing Manual or Switching to the Mac? (Or both?)

DP: At this point, Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition. Because I haven't yet updated the Switching book to reflect Panther.

ES: What's another Mac book you'd recommend?

DP: There are many books that pick up in technological depth from where mine leave off. For example, if you're interested in digging deeper into the Unix underpinnings of Mac OS X, I hear great things about Mac OS X Unleashed. And if you want to become a Mac OS X programmer, of course, the whole O'Reilly line of Cocoa, Unix, and Java books await.

The bottom line: if you're a Panther user, you should probably pick up this book. You'll definitely be getting a lot of bang for your buck, even if you think there's nothing you don't know about Mac OS X.

You can purchase the Mac OS X: The Missing Manual from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
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Mac OS X -- The Missing Manual, Panther Edition More

Mac OS X -- The Missing Manual, Panther Edition

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  • Great.. (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 19, 2004 @02:31PM (#8023504)
    they've found the manual I was looking for.

  • Other Title: Mac OS X - the missing mouse buttons (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 19, 2004 @02:31PM (#8023506)
    Author: S Jobs

  • Oh WTF... (Score:1, Funny)

    by devphaeton ( 695736 )
    OS X is dying....

    too much Karma is bad for you anyways. It causes corruption.

  • Hmmmm (Score:4, Funny)

    by wiredog ( 43288 ) on Monday January 19, 2004 @02:37PM (#8023564) Journal
    I'm told this over and over again by software manuals

    The manuals actually talk to him? I knew there was something strange about those Mac people. Obviously he's suffering from overexposure to a reality distortion field.

  • Excellent book! (Score:5, Informative)

    by BobWeiner ( 83404 ) on Monday January 19, 2004 @02:39PM (#8023588) Homepage Journal
    I have DP's Missing Manual:Panther Edition and I do agree with the author's review. It's very informative -- not just for rank beginners to OSX, but to intermediates (and dare I say) pros. I've gleaned numerous bits of info (no pun intended) from going through the book thus far. I highly recommend it - especially if you're making the switch from another platform.

    • I have it,too (Score:3, Interesting)

      by thefinite ( 563510 )
      I have it as well and highly recommend it. While I found myself skimming most of it, the book still has some excellent functions for an experienced Mac user:

      Fill in the small knowledge gaps. In each chapter I found at least one or two little gems that filled in some information I didn't know.

      Give it to friends and family. If you are like me, you have acquaintances who are newer Mac users. Sometimes it is better just to have them read a particular chapter of this sucker rather than spend an hour explaining

    • Where is the MacOSX server manual. The one that explains how to integrate with active directory. How to set up port forwarding and multi homing. The one that explains how automount works.

      Maybe a Macosx for freebsd administors or something like that.
    • bits of info (no pun intended)

      Well the pun would be Tukey's [google.com], I suppose.

      (I take it you didn't mean this problem [ectaco.com] of the French with bits and bytes...)

  • Thank You Mr. Pogue (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MissMarvel ( 723385 ) on Monday January 19, 2004 @02:39PM (#8023589) Journal
    Major kudos to David Pogue for what sounds like another major success. He has restored my faith in documentation writers.

    I've often wondered why we don't see more books of this caliber hitting the market. It shouldn't be that hard to write good documentation, should it? What does it take? As the reviewer states:

    "It's true that OS X beginners can understand it without any problems, but that shouldn't suggest that it's somehow too simple for veteran users - it's just that the text is exceptionally clear, meaning that even beginners won't find it too scary or confusing."

    OK, here they are!

    1. Appropriate for a wide audience, novice as well as veteran
    2. Clear
    3. Concise
    4. Accurate
    5. Affordable

    Thank You Mr. Pogue for writing yet another great piece of documentation and providing this an excellent of how to do it right. Give the man a medal!

    • Re:Thank You Mr. Pogue (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gwernol ( 167574 ) on Monday January 19, 2004 @02:55PM (#8023754)
      I've often wondered why we don't see more books of this caliber hitting the market. It shouldn't be that hard to write good documentation, should it? What does it take?

      Well, first the fact that there are so few good manuals should tell you something about how hard they are to write. Here are a few of the reasons its hard:

      1) Most technical writers are writers first and technical people second. So they sometimes struggle to understand the complex technical subject matter they are trying to explain. BTW, David Pogue is a clear exception to this generalization.

      2) Writing introductory manuals is particularly hard. By the time you are well-versed enough in the subject matter you are something of an expert. Its very difficult to remember which bits need explaining to someone who is not as expert as you are now.

      3) The audience for manuals is large and varied. What is too complex and technical for one reader is too patronizing and long winded for the next. Its almost impossible to write something that's pitched at a suitable level for more than 2 readers.

      4) Writing clear, concise, accurate English (or any other language) is hard. If it were easy there'd be many more well-written manuals.

      5) No-one buys a product because the manual is good, so there really isn't a financial incentive for companies to hire those rare good technical writers.

      Of course, some companies just don't try, which is abysmal. Sometimes you see excellent manuals. But most are just mediocre. I agree, a big "thank you" to the real artists like David Pogue who continue to provide excellent manuals and books.
    • Excellent synopsis of what it takes to write a good tech manual. I think one reason that good software(and computer hardware) manuals are scarce has to do with the nature of the products. While there is almost infinite complexity in computing, few lose life or limb if something fails or is operated improperly. Manufacturers of more mundane and more dangerous equipment have PI attorneys looking over their shoulder and over their manuals for anything that would imply liability. On another note, I do not be
  • O'Reilly has done a pretty good job with "The Missing Manual" books in the past, so I'd expect this one to be informative as well.
    There are often small changes from version to version that are nice to have documented.

    At the very least they make great gifts for family members that have recently purchased a new Mac or for people that want to upgrade to 10.3. :-)

  • The Missing Manual (Score:5, Funny)

    by Chuck Bucket ( 142633 ) on Monday January 19, 2004 @02:41PM (#8023613) Homepage Journal
    It's always in the last place you look.

    CB
    • Apologies to George Carlin, I last heard this skit in HS.

      GC: Hey ma, I just lost my yo-yo!!

      GC's mom: Where did you leave it last?

      GC: If I knew that, I'd still have my yo- yo!!

      GC's mom: Well, it didn't just get up and walk away!!

      She always got me on that, "it didn't just get up and walk away... then one day, I lost the cat.

      GC: Hey mom! I just lost the cat

      GC's mom: Well it just didn't get up and <coughs>

      GC: Gee mom, I think you figured this one out

  • Get off? (Score:5, Funny)

    by CGP314 ( 672613 ) <CGP@@@ColinGregoryPalmer...net> on Monday January 19, 2004 @02:47PM (#8023677) Homepage
    sprinkled throughout are dozens of little productivity notes -- a keystroke here, a shortcut tip there -- and this is the stuff that I, at least, really get off on

    Ewww. So what do you scream in a moment of passion? Apple, Option +?

  • Very good review, Emma (Score:4, Interesting)

    by FunWithHeadlines ( 644929 ) on Monday January 19, 2004 @02:47PM (#8023679) Homepage
    Thank you Emma, that was a very well done review. You answered the usual question ("should I buy this book?") clearly, and the mini-interview with Pogue showed some extra initiative.

    For what it's worth, I also like Pogue's writing style. He's very clear, readable, and funny. I also own the OS X Unleashed book, which I recommend too, but it's hard to go wrong with a Mac book by David Pogue.

  • I think the titel of the manuals ought to be changed. The are not missing - they're not needed. Users don't NEED a manual in order to be able to use OS X productively. Isn't that the hallmark of a well though-out UI? The manuals should be called "The unnecessary manuals". The finer details of what's possible (like option-dragging in Preview) are kept from the average user simply in order to avoid confusion. And I think it's a good decision. Anyway, the missing manuals are nice books indeed but if you really
    • All die hard PC users (and probably most Linux users as well) can read...

      The finer details of what's possible (like option-dragging in Preview) are kept from the average user simply in order to avoid confusion.

      ...and supply their own punchline.
    • Yes, you might not "NEED a manual in order to be able to use OS X productively," but the book is there to make you even more productive. For instance, my office mate did not know about the Open Apple + Tab feature to switch between windows. And how intuitive is F9-F11 to use Expose? Information like this does not magically pop into my head, I have to learn it somewhere.

      And why is utilizing "the UNIX underpinnings to their full extent," so important? Most people who use Macs aren't looking to that to be
      • A few bits. Apple + Tab cycles running applications, where as apple + ~ (tilda) cycles windows in the active application. Not obvious to be sure, but you can see that F9-F11 are set if you pocked your nose in the Expose system pane.

      • And why is utilizing "the UNIX underpinnings to their full extent," so important? Most people who use Macs aren't looking to that to be productive. Increasing my productivity is more important to me than running apache/cron/sudo on my iBook.

        I bought a powerbook because PC laptops are, on the whole, ugly, and getting decent power management under Linux (compared to Mac) is near impossible. The "unix underpinnings" are important to me, and learning about them improves my productivity significantly. It m

      • You're right, mostly. However,there's more to UNIX than running apache or cron of course. There's things that you can do with the command line that you cannot do as easily from within a finder view. You might argue that AppleScript can help with automating things but I find personally that something like sed is hard to replace for specific purposes. So I remain with my argument that if you know your way around a shell you can do more with your Mac.
        • You guys love putting words in my mouth. =) That's okay, I guess I should clarify. I use the terminal and X11 every day too. I'm not a huge fan of applescript, and there are things that you can do with a terminal that are faster than finder (grep being my favorite tool ever). I'm not arguing with you that using a terminal isn't faster than finder et al, rather that the book is not an "unnecessary manual" and it does speed up productivity.

          My problem with people stating the greatness of the "unix unde
    • I can't speak for the more recent editions of OS X Unleashed, but I bought the first edition and was not particularly impressed with its usefulness or its accuracy. Some of the errors were undoubtedly the result of simply not actually looking at the operating system before writing about it. In particular there was some confusion about the meaning of group ownership under BSD and OS X as opposed to SYSV or Linux.

  • She reads technical books in bed? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Champaign ( 307086 ) on Monday January 19, 2004 @03:05PM (#8023873) Homepage Journal
    Marry me Emma!

  • With regard to simple audio recording... (Score:3, Informative)

    by herbman ( 857 ) on Monday January 19, 2004 @03:13PM (#8023945)
    SimpleSound (for quick and dirty sound recordings)

    I've found Audio Recorder [tinyurl.com] to be a very nice little app. I keep it in my dock when playing with my acoustic. When the urge to record pops up, it's two clicks away. Allows multiple-format saving, etc.

  • The pogues (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Sweet. I didn't know the pogues got back together. Hopefully the book comes with a pint of whiskey.

    Drunken Shane the Mac Expert rules!

  • Secret calculator mode? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 19, 2004 @03:20PM (#8024019)
    In case you were wondering (I was), get info on the calculator app in the finder. Under plug-ins, click "add...", and select
    Calculator>Contents>Resources>Graphing-2D. calcview ,
    and relaunch the calculator. Select graphing from the view menu. Pretty wimpy so far (try graphing sin(1/x) with the default params) but a good start!

    Another plug-in is Hexadecimal.calcview .
    • All the plugins are:

      BasicAndSci.calcview - which is built in
      ExpressionSheet.calcview
      Graphing-2D.calcview
      Hexadecimal.calcview

      The problem you are getting with sin(1/x) is because of the "X-Step" being set to 0.1, try setting it to 0.05, 0.01 etc. to get a more detailed graph.

      But true, I'll be impressed when it does what "Graphing Calculator" did back in the day - is there anything like that for OS X ?
    • That's certainly a lot more secret than the "secret" jaguar-fur chess pieces that you select from a non-secret drop-down list in the preferences dialog.
  • Sounds like an interesting book... but will it tell me how to get my @$%&@& Powerbook to be able to print to a @()#%& network print server?

    When I plug the printer into the USB it just KNOWS the printer, finds it's drivers and everything (once I've installed the Canon driver) but when you tell it to install a network printer, the Canon drivers are nowhere to be found. Gah!

    All the Apple people say "Put the printer on the Mac and share it from there." It's a LAPTOP! I'm not putting a network devi

    • Re:Yeah, but... (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Intersting . . .
      I just plug into my network and my powerbook automatically finds my networked canon printers, my canon copiers, and my Xerox printers.
      I wish I could remember exactly what I did to help you more. It might have been something under netinfo manager, but I think i just let it scan my network for all printers and then selected configure from a dialog box or something
    • Go to http://localhost:631

      Try dinking around there.

      -fred
    • What make/model of printer do you have? I am pretty sure I can help you get started. --monkey
    • You don't mention which version of the OS. I'll assume Jaguar or Panther.

      As I understand it Jaguar has the printer sharing hidden. Try hold the Option button down while in the printer setup window. (Can't test it as I've moved up to Panther).

      Here's where it gets ugly: OS X is using CUPS and CUPS doesn't seem to support my Canon, while I can hook it up directly to the Mac and print without difficulties. (anybody knows how to redirect the USB stuff over the network and print to a regular share let me know!)
  • I just got this book the other day, as I am about to go to OSX on the desktop (notice I didn't say Mac -- I'm having trouble accepting that I'm joining the cult). Anyway, the book is awesome.

    I am particularly interested in learning the keyboard shortcuts and other efficiency-oriented material, and the book is full of this kind of stuff. I'd recommend it to anyone who's going to be spending time on a Ma-- in OS X.
    • I went from a Linux user at home and VB Programmer/Windows/Linux network admin at work to a totally OS X oriented guy. You won't regret the switch. I've had my 14" iBook laptop since late 2003, and people still think it's brand new. It still feels brand new. The OS is awesome, especially for anyone that's used *nix. I couldn't be happier. I could see myself going back to Linux in five or ten years just so I can play with it, but right now I doubt I'll ever use anything for as my primary system other than
      • I always liked how the Mac OS did things. Apple puts a lot of effort into its design and is usually not afraid to throw everything away and do something new. Sometimes they just hang on to things for no good reason. I hope they finally got rid of that stupid Chooser accessory that should have died when OS 7.x came out. I would switch back to a Mac except I can get old PCs on the cheap and throw Debian GNU/Linux on them. (Yes, I am cheap at times.)

  • AppleScript, etc. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pbooktebo ( 699003 ) on Monday January 19, 2004 @03:48PM (#8024388)
    I own this book, and what I most love is the organization of information. I had just picked up the O'Reilly book on AppleScript, but decided to read Pogue's section on AppleScript after the "definitive guide" had my eyes glazing over. In 30 pages, he presents all the basic concepts and ideas, analyzes a few scripts, even runs you through recording a basic script in "watch me" mode.

    Beyond that, he cites several websites which I immediately bookmarked, and cited a few books (including the one I have). He linked to the text2speech script at apple.com, described how and where scripts are accessed in the Script Menu, and discussed editing programs.

    Pogue, like Apple, gets how people use computers. By speaking plainly but with precision, and citing from many sources, he has created a book that 90% of people will find immensely helpful.
  • We keep a number in stock at work (I work for a uni department currently mifgrating from OS9 to X one machine at a time). Each time we transfer a user we lend them a copy for reference - its the only tech manual I've seen that is as useful to an experienced user as a complete newbie - its the book I always recommend to anyone asking for a good book on the OS.
  • and that you can also get 30% off if you've registered a previous edition with O'Reilly

    I don't remember seeing that offer in my Pogue book...any details on this?
  • Not all of Apple's products are without manuals. The massive, well-printed documentation that comes with Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro is extremely useful. The manuals are very well-written and go far beyond simply explaining all the menu items one by one.
  • I bought my wife an iBook for Christmas and I couldn't believe how simple it was to set up and use. The best is plugging in almost any digital camera or DV cam and having it work immediately! No drivers, no cr@ppy free-in-box editing software. Everything is right there. My linux-shared printer worked immediately too. Meanwhile, I got my dad a digital camera and it took two hours and a half-dozen reboots and patch downloads to get it to play with his windows box! Arggh! Garbage! I have this book as w
  • get lost in the first place? As a Mac user it would be nice if Apple would include more info on how to actually use OSX and it's benefits. I for one am tired of manuals.

    I used to use SGIs and when I first booted a new SGI system it woould run the "Out of Box Experience" which would give me the lowdown on the new features with a multimedia presentation. The Mac which is supposed to be the king of multimedia doesn't include anything like this beyond the flying multilingual "Welcome" intro.

    I think linux dist
    • I used to use SGIs and when I first booted a new SGI system it woould run the "Out of Box Experience" which would give me the lowdown on the new features with a multimedia presentation. The Mac which is supposed to be the king of multimedia doesn't include anything like this beyond the flying multilingual "Welcome" intro.

      You will get the lowdown by selecting "help", where you can select "New to MacOS X?" section, and you are greeted by this menu:

      Welcome to Mac OS X!
      If you're new to computers, click "

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