Gene Steinberg
1 Not for experienced users
The title of my review says it all.
2 Don't Listen to Armchair Critics
I was really surprised to read a couple of reviews here making absolutely false attacks about this book. A recent one claims there's little more here than in the tiny guide Apple provides. Don't believe it! The Mac OS X Little Black Book tells you how to use each and every preference panel. The Apple guide doesn't. This book tells you how to make Classic work reliably. The Apple guide doesn't. This book tells you how to reinstall Mac OS X without erasing your drive. The Apple guide doesn't. And on and on. I enjoyed this book, because it provides solid information and doesn't just provide material for amusement as some other books (like that "Lost," which is really "Missing Manual" tries to do). I highly recommend Mr. Steinberg's book.
3 Boring!
This has to be the ultimate in "worst" Mac Books. It is nothing more than a repetition of the booklet that comes with the OS, more wordy but no more helpful. I subsequently bought the OS X in the "Lost Manual" series (also available on Amazon) and it was like night and day. Don't waste your money on this one like I did.
4 Worth every penny!
I bought this book awhile back, when Mac OS X first came out, and it was a tremendous help in getting me over the rough spots in getting the new system to run on my vintage B&W Power Mac G3.
So when I read a review from some dude who claims, "Between simple experimentation and using Help, you will quickly learn more than you will ever get from reading this book," I stare in disbelief. There is no way that person could have read this book, beyond perhaps a few pages. The information in the troubleshooting section alone is more than worth the price, and it contains information that is definitely NOT in the Help menus, nor something you could just hang out there and figure out for yourself.
I wonder why people trash books when it's clear they never read the book in the first place. I read this book and it's great! And that's all I have to say about the subject.
5 A waste of money
After installing MacOS X, I had enough questions and problems that I thought a good introductory book would help. I immediately ordered this book. By the time it arrived, it was already too basic - I'd figured out the things the book claims to cover.
Between simple experimentation and using Help, you will quickly learn more than you will ever get from reading this book.
In addition, the book is padded with information about the
status of various 3rd-party programs running on Mac OS X. This information was obsolete before the book left the printers! To find out about the status of 3rd-party apps, visit Apple's website or the various company websites.
6 Essential for any OS X user
This book actually reveals how to do a clean reinstall of OS X without wiping your X hard drive clean! That alone is a piece of the jewel this book offers.
More importantly, this book explores some troubleshooting procedures of the new OS. But that's not all this book is about. It also gives you a basic look at the OS X world in general, as well as delving into X's net capabilities. However, as I've found, this book's best is in its troubleshooting procedures section.
Solving problems, i.e. troubleshooting, is, as I said before, this book's strong point. At the start of every chapter you can briefly review which pages to turn to if you need to solve a particular problem. This is a godsend.
In closing, I'd like to thank author Gene Steinberg for a good job done writing this book and would recommend this book to anybody running OS X in any flavour.
7 This Book Isn't Just for Beginners
I am a fairly experienced Mac user, so I wondered why some of the reviewers here say this book is only for beginners who don't know anything about Macs. In fact, the book does what it's supposed to do, provide no-frills instructions on moving to Mac OS X. I enjoyed the generous amount of tips and tricks through the book, and the large troubleshooting section that got me out of trouble on more than one occasion. I'm also glad the book didn't dwell on unnecessary command-line stuff, and concentrated on the material Mac OS X users really need. Well-written, and definitely recommended for experienced Mac users.
8 A waste of money for all but beginners
Rushed to market to cash in early this book is superficial and not helpful to any but genuine beginners. Even they will do better to wait until more comprehensive texts appear after the issuance of System X.1 in late September, which will modify and improve the system significantly and provide the basis on which most key applications will be written.
Even now there are several better choices on the market.
9 Great! Extremely Easy to Read!
I am an experienced Mac user, but I don't like to read computing books. So many of them are written in a drab, cold style, as if they, themselves, were written by computers. The Mac OS X Little Black Book is a happy exception. Well-written and well-organized. I especially appreciated the approach, the In Brief sections that provide short explanations on how things under Mac OS X work and then the Immediate Solutions section, where everything is spelled out with in a simple step-by-step form. Highly recommneded!
10 Not Fast Enough
A computer book should, first and foremost, allow one to quickly and concisely reference something. Very few are structured this way and this book is no exception. Not enough illustrations, not elaborately indexed, and too much text combine to make this book ineffective for my needs. I should be able to pick it up and find my answer immediately. The "Dummies" books are on the right track but too elementary
for more advanced users. How about an "Advanced Dummies" series?
11 Great Book for Intermediate Users
I am not a beginning Mac user. I've had Macs for years, and I appreciated this book for its forthright writing and easy step-by-step information. It helped me switch over to Apple's new operating system without trouble or tribulation. I especially enjoyed the troubleshooting section and the terminal tips that helped me get over a couple of rough spots. This is a book on a Unix-based system for folks who want practial information and not arcane commands.
12 Little OK Book
This is just a little too simple for experienced Mac users. Good solid intro to OS X for novice Mac users, with enough tips and detailed intructions to keep a novice busy - but it's just not informative enough for me. I needed more info on how to navigate the Terminal application in this OS. This book just doesn't have it.
13 Stop Gap 'Til the Missing Manual Comes Out
Though it's marketed as a book for intermediate to advanced users, as suggested by the other reviewers, it's really designed as a get acquainted guide for everyday Mac users - those who will never look at the command line - not power users, never mind those with Unix experience. It doesn't supply you with much beyond what the Missing Manuals book will when it comes out (if it's anything like the OS9 version), and isn't as easy on the head as the Missing Manual series books are. If you're completely at sea with OS X and have to learn more now, pick it up; but don't expect to walk away an OS X guru.
14 Too simple, too soon.
First I want to say that this review in no way reflects on Mr Steinberg's writing ability. The book is sold as an intermediate to advanced book and I think that is a stetch. While this book would be good to put in the Box with X , it is not fo rthe seasoned Mac Techie. Too much comparison between OS 9 and X on simple stuff I found out after installing it and using it on two different computers over period of a couple of weeks at the most. In fact I learned stuff on my own that's not in the book. I hope the other books on X are more detailed and indepth, getting into the Unix under belly. If you are going to be Mac techie, you have to go there.
15 Solid Guide for Experienced Users
Gene Steinberg's Mac OS X Little Black Book is really helpful for those of us with a lot of experience but no UNIX background so we still have some trepedation. I find the organization in the book wonderful. Well written, succinct, and answers questions before you knew you needed to ask them. This is the book for us!
16 Avoid this book if you want an in-depth look at OS X
This book is very good if you are used to working in Mac OS 9 and you want to know how to do things in OS X that you did in OS 9. It covers where to find features and conrol panels that you are used to accessing in OS 9, and if that's what you want then this is a good book for you. However, if you want to learn about new features in OS X and more technical explanations to how OS X works then this book is definetly not for you. A huge part of OS X is the NetInfo Directory service and it is not even mentioned in this book.
