Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide

Maria Langer

Apple's Unix-based, industrial-strength operating system, OS X, is the biggest change ever faced by the Mac community. OS X looks different, feels different, offers new and different features, and is an order of magnitude more complex than any previous Mac operating system. Maria Langer's Mac OS X Visual QuickStart Guide from Peachpit Press is designed to quell the fears of those apprehensive users who are looking to make the switch, or have just switched and find themselves lost in a new world.

Starting with the best way to prepare your computer for OS X, and working it's way through installation and the interface changes, this book covers almost every basic aspect of the new operating system. Navigating with the new Finder, application basics, hooking up to the Internet--it's all here, in simple, concise terms.

If the book has a flaw, it is that only the bare basics are covered. Everything presented is clear and thorough, but there is not enough material. There is nothing about access rights, logging in or logging out, or getting around basic issues that might pop up. The book lays things out as they should be but offers little advice for those times when something goes wrong.

Since Mac OS X ships with minimal hardcopy documentation, the Mac OS X Visual QuickStart Guide is an ideal companion for the new user making the switch. There is plenty of information here, presented clearly and with countless screenshots. For the brand-new user looking for a well-illustrated manual, this is the one that Apple should ship with OS X. --Mike Caputo

1 A great book for the first time Mac user.
Summary

Labelled pictures along with clear and concise step by step instructions for navigating MacOS X and its basic applications makes this book ideal for first time Mac users or first time computers users with Macs.

Intermediate or advanced Mac users will find this book too elementary for their needs.

Details

This book covers 3 core topics, system configuration, navigation and how to use the bundled software.

System configuration covers the installation of MacOS X, system and printer configuration and Internet setup.

Navigation deals with file management, Sherlock and Finder.

Discussion of bundled software first deals with a general overview of menus and basic features common to all software. A single chapter focuses on using a few applications such as Address Book, Preview and the Quicktime player. A full chapter is dedicated to using TextEdit.

Instructions on how to accomplish tasks are presented in clear,simple checklists. Small "tip" sections provide further explanations of topics.

The checklists are usable and straightforward to follow.

Sharp screen shots of dialogs and menus are included to help the user work through the checklists. Screen shots are clearly labelled to help the reader learn the technical names of GUI elements.

Numerous screen shots provide ample visual examples to help guide the user through a checklist.

Keyboard shortcuts are listed when applicable.

Personally, I think this is a great visual guide for first time users of Macs as well as first time computer users.

2 Mac Addict Says it's "Droolworthy"
The September issue of "Mac Addict" magazine included this book on its "Droolworthy" page, with the comment, "Mac neophytes, this is your bible." I picked up a copy and am glad I did. It certainly helped me learn enough about Mac OS X to finally upgrade. Although it doesn't cover advanced topics, it leaves no stone unturned in its coverage of basic Mac OS X Finder and application operation. A great book! I can't wait to see the "Visual QuickPro Guide" that's due out later this year.

3 The Worst Visual Quickstart Guide Ever!
This is one of the worst books I've ever read. Every time a topic you would be interested in are discussed, the answer presented as "see our next book, Visual Quickpro Guide". And that is unacceptable. You can't ever learn OS X from this. No way. And I won't buy Quickpro either. Instead, I suggest if you really wanna learn about OS X, check out Mac Os X - The Complete Reference by Jesse Feiler. It contains everything this book SHOULD have had.

4 Only for the totally new Mac user.
M.Langer knows her stuff. And if you need to bu y a book, this one does does hold your hand and has plenty of screen shots along with words to explain them. However, any one with any curiosity about how or why would need another look at the subject.

5 Okay for newbies, Too remedial for me
Usually I like QuickStart books, but not this time. This guide would be great for a Mac OS Newbie or a beginning computer user. The two things that I was most interested in learning about were barely mentioned in the book. I would have liked to have seen information on networking with OSX and using the Terminal App and CLI. I thought that maybe these subjects would have been at least addressed in an advanced area of the book. I should have saved my money and bought an O'Rielly UNIX book instead.

6 Flip through briefly in the store, but put your wallet away!
I can't add much to the specific information contributed by the first three reviewers, I only wish to add one additional data point confirming that if you can already spell "Macintosh", you will learn precious little from this book.

It must have been written with an extremely limited exposure to the final feature set for the first shipping version.

Recoup some of the karma I wasted by passing on this book...

7 Beginners only...
Bottom Line: A good bood for the new Mac users whose first exposure to a Mac will be with OSX. However, it lacks the detail that experienced or power users might expect

This book appears to be really targeted at those with NO experience with the Mac operating system (OS), and really probably no experience with personal computers in general.

Although it does identify a few of the less obvious aspects of OSX, this book offers little of value to anyone with more than a few minutes experience with OSX and a reasonable amount of experience with previous versions of the Mac OS. As a result, I'm forced to ask why this book was written? It can't really be pointed at the early adopters as by and large they are already very competent in early Mac OSs. Nor can it be aimed at the true beginer as at this point (May, 2001) the true beginner will probably not be interested in adopting OSX given that it has yet to be installed as the default OS for new Mac computers. I suppose that it was written in preparation for those new Mac users whose first exposure to a Mac will be with OSX. As an orientation for new Mac users starting out with OSX, then, this book provides a good orientation and offers a quick and concise overview.

8 One Reeaally Basic Book
Having installed the new Mac OSX and finding it somewhat more complex than previous systems, I wanted a basic book to explain its workings. This book was the first to hit the stores, and promised to start with the basics of the new OS. And it does, in spades. It tells you how to click the mouse, and (I'm not making this up) that the little keys on the keyboard are for entering data. Halfway through the book, it's revealed that the new components in OSX will be discussed in the sequel, "OSX Visual Quickstart Pro" or some such. If you've never seen a computer before in your life, by all means buy this book....

9 Too simplified to be of any use.
I really like the Visual Quickstart line but this particular volume is not worth the money unless you have never, ever, used a Macintosh in your life. I was looking for a resource that would take me beyond changing icons, or setting the date and time of OS X. The power of this new operating system goes beyond the GUI and I felt this book should have at least addressed some of the basic features of the Terminal and Apache web server.

I will say that Maria Langer has written an excellent introduction to the Macintosh environment but if you have used a Macintosh since verion 7.1 of the operating system then this book is of no use to you.