I am a firm believer of: owning a book on the Mac OS; subscribing to a Mac magazine (Macworld and MacAddict are my favorites); visiting online sites (Macnn.com and Macsurfer.com;) and joining a Macintosh Users Group. Unfortunately, many users frequently skip the book purchase. Perhaps that is because of the quandary of whether to buy a tutorial or a reference book; and then which book to buy. For many users, this book addresses both needs.

The text of Mac OS X Panther All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies is arranged as a bookshelf reference. It bills itself as "7 Books in 1" and proudly announces those 7 mini-books on the cover, the spine, and in a "Contents at a Glance", which precedes the Table of Contents. They are:

1. Introducing Mac OS X [159 pages] — covers Basic OS X, Classic, and Sherlock
2. Customizing and Sharing [104 pages] — system preferences, Finder, multi-users & sharing documents
3. The Digital Hub [124 pages] — iTunes, iPod, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD & QuickTime
4. The Typical Internet Stuff [78 pages] — Mail, iChat, Safari, & iDisk
5. Networking in OS X [71 pages] — wired & wireless
6. Expanding Your System [70 pages] — peripherals, USB, FireWire, & hardware
7. Advanced Mac OS X [80 pages] — UNIX, AppleScript and hosting a web site

These mini-books can be read in any order, but a new user may want to read them sequentially. The book is well written, engaging, and humorous. It has helpful screen shots, dialog boxes and the same easy to follow instructions which characterize the Dummies series. The author does a good job tackling each topic, and I like the author's style. Within the book cross-referencing is also well done, but when the author skimed over a topic, as he did with iDisk and peripherals, he left me wanting another 100 pages.

The table of contents and the index are each 23 pages long, and either will help you find your way in the book. A pullout cheat sheet can sit next to your keyboard or in your travel bag while the book sits on the bookshelf. Unlike the books in the competing "Missing Manual" series, this book has no "errata" web site.

The cover states this is a reference book but I also thinkit works well as a beginner's how-to. That's a lot to get from the same book. I think it is excellent for a new Panther user, either as a switcher from Windows or as an OS 9 upgrader. Previous OS X users should probably look elsewhere, provided they have educated themselves by reading books on their previous versions.

Mark L. Chambers has written over 15 computer books, many of which can be found or downloaded at Amazon.com. I recommend his books because of his clear writing style.

Reviewer: Ed Stevens Ed Stevens, the Frugal Mac, has been a member of MLMUG since 1994. His modest biography is at the MLMUG website at www.mlmug.org/MoMEdS.html

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© 2004 by Ed Stevens & MLMUG
Posted 06/23/04
Updated 09/15/04