Book: OS X Yosemite: The Missing Manual Author: David Pogue Publisher: O*Reilly Press ISBN: 978-1-491-94716-6 Number of pages: 856 US Price: $34.99 Level: Advanced-beginner, Intermediate Rating: Excellent

When Apple releases a new major software update, it does not come with a manual. That's when I reach for The Missing Manual Series by David Pogue.
From experience, I expect Pogue will provide a useful guide that will help me take advantage of all the new features and there are many.

David Pogue has been the author of the OS X The Missing Manual Series since the first one (10 editions). Each book adds the new features, never forgetting to address the needs of the advanced-beginners and intermediate Mac fans, and always written in a witty way. However, for those who have just bought a Mac, I recommend the OS X Yosemite for Dummies by Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus a Wiley Brand. It is written expressly for beginners.

Underneath OS X is Unix, the rock-solid OS that drives many a Web site and university. OS X is feeling more and more like the iPad. Yes, the transition is ongoing. The icons are becoming more and more alike: iBooks, Reminders, Notes, Notification Center, Maps, Game Center, and so on. The simplicity of the iPad is now part of the Mac: Auto Save, Full Screen mode, and Launchpad.

New in Yosemite:

• Continuity feature with an iPhone; the Mac now becomes a speaker phone, taking and making calls (for Continuity and Handoff features you will need Bluetooth 4 and you must be on the same WiFi.)
• Handoff passes documents between the iPad or iPhone and the Mac. I can start an email on my iPhone and finish it on my Mac. The same feature works for other Apple programs such as Safari, Maps, Messages, Reminders, Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Keynote, Numbers and Pages. It works in the other direction too; start something on the Mac and an icon appears on the lower-left corner of your iPhone*s lock screen that opens the same item.
• Airdrop is Apple*s file-transfer system between Macs and iPhones and iPads. Before now it only worked Mac-to-Mac, or phone-to-phone.
• iCloud Drive is Apple*s version of Dropbox. Your files are available on your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or other Macs wherever you go.
• Bigger, better Spotlight
• A new Today view in the Notification Area
• MailDrop lets you attach up to 5 GB to any outgoing message in OS X*s Mail program. Recipients get the attachment right in the message with Yosemite*s Mail program or get a link to download the file if they use another Mail program.
• Family Sharing which allows up to six family members can all buy stuff on your single credit card. Be careful!
• The Message app, in which you can give names to group conversations, and see shared-photos in a conversation on the same screen. Screen sharing is back *great for helping someone with a computer problem over the Internet.

David Pogue takes great pride in making the index the best he can and he succeeds. It is well organized to facilitate the reader's need to find topics quickly. He says: "Each book features a handcrafted index; cross-references to specific page numbers (not just 'see Chapter 14'); and an ironclad promise never to put an apostrophe in the possessive pronoun its."