How to Do Everything: MAC

Product Description

Have more fun and get more done with your Mac!

Now you can get the most out of your Mac, whether it's an iMac, MacBook, or Mac mini. How to Do Everything: Mac shows you how to set up and customize your Mac and use all of the built-in tools and applications, such as iTunes, Mail, Safari, and the iLife and iWork suites. The revolutionary new features available in Mac OS X Leopard are also covered, such as Quick Look, Time Machine, and Spaces. Plus, you'll get details on hardware and peripherals, networking, troubleshooting, and maintenance. This is your must-have Mac guide!

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Manage files, folders, and applications with the Finder
* Connect to the Internet and explore with Safari
* Use iWork for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations
* Edit, organize, and share your pictures with iPhoto
* Master iTunes and iMovie for music, video, and movies
* Tweak the System Preferences
* Synchronize your Mac with your iPod, PDA, or cell phone
* Set up a wired or wireless network
* Dual-boot between Mac OS X and Windows
* Add external devices via USB and FireWire
* Troubleshoot, maintain, and back up your Mac

Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #321558 in Books
* Published on: 2008-01-09
* Original language: English
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Paperback
* 505 pages

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dwight Spivey is a software and support engineer for Konica Minolta where he specializes in working with Mac operating systems, applications, and hardware. He teaches classes on Mac usage, writes training materials, and is a Mac OS X beta tester for Apple.

Customer Reviews

Excellent Book for ALL I-MAC USERS5
This book is an excellent resource/must have for all I-MAC users! Excellent tutorial without the Boredom Nonsense.

BEST MAC BOOK THAT I HAVE EVER PURCHASED!5
This book, by far is the best book on the current Macintosh that I have ever purchased. It covers ALL of those 'secret' things in a very logical and pleasant (not too geeky) way, and has lots of tips for those who (like me) have been using the Mac for 14 years (started with the Apple II)... I just bought a big 24" duel core Intel iMac with everything!!!! This covers the Intel versions on, including some Leopard... Time machine, all the extras, all the behind the scenes stuff... lots of well-illustrated diagrams and good copy, too. Good history, too and even some info on the development of Apple and it's superior design ability. Get it! You just CAN'T know everything!!!!!! A great and pleasant reference book.

Stuffed with iPod-cool eye candy, but where's the hot Leopard sizzle?2
Two stars for the author's valiant effort, three demerits to the editor/publisher staff for putting this incomplete beta version of a "How-To" manual on the shelf. I bought this book to ease the transition from creaky Windows to robust OS-X. Other than finding my bearings with the Dock and the Finder, and far too many glowing page fillers about those esoteric OS recreational applets, I found little of practical productivity use - other than a gushy 40-page discourse on iWork (the second coming of MS-Office?) - until I discovered that the MacPro Leopard version offers iWork trialware neither as a Dock icon nor as a file in the 'Applications' folder (even Searchlight couldn't come up with a reference).

The unfamiliar (to PC users) keyboard isn't clarified at all, and the presence of two Control keys - along with the distinct cloverleaf Command keys on the slim Apple keyboard - only adds to the confusion for PC keyboard switchers (Ctrl-C, for instance). Far more serious is failure to mention that the CD/DVD drive is accessed with a keyboard button next to the [F12] key, rather than with a screwdriver pried under the slot's cover. Further on that topic, the top row of function keys does double duty - primarily adjusting screen, sound and playback options - but requiring the additional press of a function [Fn] key to signal when you want the ubiquitous [F1] to [F12] shortcuts for application software ... perhaps Apple's new slim keyboard took the author off guard? Advice for keeping the Finder's columns aligned after tedious adjustments is nowhere to be found -- drove me banana's!

Incredibly, there isn't even the briefest instruction for installing application software - it's as if the Mac needs only the packaged applets to sing, dance and entertain. The reader is just assumed to have a broadband connection, nothing on dialup modems (not to mention the unflattering forum reviews of the Apple modem) for those living in the boonies, or on the road with a notebook. For instance, the 352 MB Leopard upgrade to version 2 would require a nearly 24-hour continuous connection that would give my ISP fits. Sure, I went to the local Kinko's to download the disk image ... but where do I go from there? Not a word of help to be found. Bootcamp is nicely covered; there is a hint that Parallels might be a more flexible solution for co-installing MS-Windows (stick with well-proven, albeit dowdy, Win-XP!), but the author seems unaware of the competing VM-Fusion utility that is optimized for virtualization with Intel multicore processors.

In short: this is an earnestly conceived manual, but with too many vital parts lacking to survive its premature birth. It might serve as a very basic personal entertainment guide, but fizzles out in substance and depth for productivity workers. My suggestion? Stick with the "Dummies" series for the basics.