Macintosh Systems Books

In iMovie 2 Solutions, Erica Sadun gave us cool tricks with low (or no) cost additions to iMovie 2. Now iMovie 3 is out and the tips from the iMovie 2 book are....still working. Some of the same tricks show up in this new book, but that is expected with a program like iMovie. As I said about iMovie 2 Solutions, if you're looking for a basic iMovie how-to book, look elsewhere. That's not what this book is for. This book is going to show you how to use iMovie 3 and a few mostly inexpensive pieces of software to do the kinds of tricks that you would spend hundreds or thousands of dollars for high end DV movie editing software packages. The high end software might do it easier and maybe faster, but the learning curve, not to mention the cost, is so much higher. The new tricks are well worth the cost of this book. Ms Sadun writes very well. Clear and consise without talking down to her intended audience. All the tricks are laid out step by step, with examples shown not only in the book, but also on the very useful companion DVD. The software included on the DVD is also a nice bonus. If you're really brave, you can make your own iMovie plugins! Many very useful plugins are included to get you started, but this will whet your appitite for the huge assortment of practical (and some not so practical, but fun) world of iMovie plugins. Hit the search engine of your choice and type in "iMovie Plugins". OK, what software will you need to do these tricks? A graphics program like Adobe Photoshop Elements for less than 80 bucks (although you could also use any decent graphics program), and Apple's very own QuickTime Pro (the free regular QuickTime will not do) for [a few] measly bucks. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to go beyond iMovie's feature set without spending a fortune.

As Erica says "iMovie can do a lot more than you might ever expect from a free product" Having spent a lifetime editing film and then video by the traditional methods I found computer editing with iMovie both a revelation and a revolution. You can use it as an easy way to put together family and holiday videos but as this book shows it has hidden power to allow you to make high quality productions.

Written in a clear and authoritative but friendly style it provides step by step guides to accomplish a wide range of visual and audio effects. The author comes up with a set of solutions based on her own practical experience. This is a hands on book written by someone who enjoys the challenge of pushing iMovie to the limits.

You can read it cover to cover and be impressed by the attractive layout and use of colour but keep it within reach of the Mac ready to provide the answer for any new effect you want to create not only with iMovie but also with Quicktime. As a generous extra there is a disc full of plug ins and other helpful software - some of it written specially by the author and not available elsewhere.

Erica's first book about iMovie helped me rescue a major project which had refused to open from the hard disc and the this one has a wealth of new material on how to exploit the added features in iMovie 3 and solve some of the issues it raises. If you use the software this book is essential to fully exploit iMovie 3

This was the best tool for the switch from OS 9 to 10. It was easy to follow and for a mac lover like me.

This is a great book for novice users accustomed to Mac OS 9. The design is most impressive, clearly and attractively displaying on the left side: OS 9, and one the right side: OS X Panther. There are countless illustrations and explanations on how you do it in OS 9, and then the equivalent way to do it on OS X.

This book isn't totally perfect as there are some missing important parts, such as:

- cannot create groups like in OS 9, as this is only available through the GUI in OS X server, or through the command line and NetInfo in regular OS X.
- states that extensions doesn't need to be managed, but this is untrue, as there are extensions and preferences that sometimes cause headaches (under the /Users/UserName/Library umbrella of directories). This is controlled through System Preferences, or through command line.
- doesn't mention file type and creator, which is still used in OS X. This causes major problems and headaches infrequently, but often enough. There are ways to handle this using "Open With" in right click or Get Info, and in other extreme cases using Developer command line tools GetFileInfo and SetFile.

Overall this is a good general guide, but it does omit (maybe conveniently) some important essential missing features that do not give OS X such a rosy outlook. Some missing features, like the app switcher menu can be re-introduced through freeware and shareware.

In Conclusion, any user familiar with OS 9, and wants to know how to do the same thing in OS X, this is THE book. I highly recommend it. The design is really nice and intuitive, and the book is easy to read. Some things missing, but maybe we can prod the author to do a PowerUser version.

upgrade of my first review.The cd is a bit dated but is quite substantial.the book is clearly the best Mac book.

this is the best book l have found for a performa home user with internet access.it has the detail an intermediate level user wants.the cd enclosed was dated and a bit of a letdown.the book still is worth the price.

The text describe the nitty gritty of coding or porting your OpenGL applications to the Mac OS X environment. To a limited extent, the book has a general treatment of programming in OpenGL. But it is not meant as a text on the latter. Instead the focus is on the "issues" that making for possible problems on OS X.

One of which is that OS X has 2 types of windows, Carbon and Cocoa. It might perhaps be nicer if there was only one. But this is what you have to deal with. The Apple OpenGL (AGL) is the interface to Carbon, while you need the Cocoa OpenGL for Cocoa. It is slightly unusual that a major platform would have 2 types, and you may want to code just for one type. The book gives many details about both APIs, as well as the GLUT API. An evenhanded discussion. Different readers might well have different preferences.

Some of you should check out the discussion about multithreading, if intensive graphics performance is needed in your applications. The OS X OpenGL engine is said to have much better performance due to its multithreading, than typical serial engines.

This book has a lot of shining points. First, all its explanations are crystal clear, focused into the concepts and techniques OpenGL developers really need. Furthermore, the book comprises OpenGL architecture and configuration on OS X, and the various APIs we can use in order to create OpenGL applications, specifically, CGL, AGL, Cocoa, (our old buddy) GLUT, and X11 APIs. A chapter focused into API interoperability is also included. But there is much more information in this book: history notes, a germane review of Mac's hardware, OS X programming, compatibility between Mac platforms, and a discussion about OpenGL extensions. Appendices contain an useful Glossary and notes about Cocoa API for OpenGL in Leopard. Last but not least, the book is the OpenGL/Mac companion we were demanding.

This, however, is not a book for starting to learn OpenGL (use the OpenGL SuperBible or the Red Book instead). This is a book aimed at two categories of programmers: Mac developers in general, and those with OpenGL foundations who want to explore the enormous benefits of OpenGL development on Mac OS X. I do strongly believe that any OpenGL developer will benefit of studying this great book.

Personally, Chapter 11 is the one I've enjoyed the most. The technical wisdom revealed in such chapter almost justifies by itself the full cost of the book. It's such a fine chapter. The almost 5 pages covering the "Axioms for Designing High-Performance OpenGL Applications" are very interesting, particularly the care we must have when doing our OpenGL drawing in Object-Oriented programs; we could easily incur considerable glVertex overhead, if our code is not properly structured. The little tutorial section "Putting It All Together" includes a detailed optimization of an OpenGL program, "Please Tune Me". Delicious. Very Recommended.

The Visual Quickstart series is, in my opinion, the best replacement for a manual, or for those excuses for a manual that appear in software boxes. The Photoshop Elements book fits that need to a T.

The numbered steps take you through each of the operations, and I've yet to find an error or omission in any Quickstart book I've read. The reason that this book doesn't get five stars is that Photoshop Elements is a difficult book to fit in the Quickstart format.

In writing a dual-platform book, author Craig Hoeschen faces the problem that a large part of the program (the Windows Photo Organizer) only shows up in one version. It is possible to work without the Organizer, but most Windows users will adopt it, so then there's the problem of looking for what you consider the basics only to find they're in the last chapter of the book.

Many programs need no explanation of how to use them in terms of what you need to do at the meta level - there aren't books such as How to Write a Novel in Microsoft Word. It's assumed that once the user learns the difference between the program and the traditional way of doing things (like MS Word versus the typewriter) then no more help is necessary.

But Photoshop needs lots of project-based instruction, and although Craig Hoeschen makes a good stab in a chapter called Creative Techniques (and in many instances through the rest of the book), you really need another book to help with this (which is why I bought Jennifer Fulton's "Photoshop Elements 3 in a Snap"). Then I found the book to extend Photoshop Elements called "The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 3" (by Richard Lynch) which came with a CD that added many useful features to the program.

So the Quickstart Guide can't deal with all your Photoshop queries. It will satisfy your needs for an easy-to-get-to guide for many program operations, but you'll need other books to get the most out of the program. All these books are good, but be warned that no single Photoshop Elements book will show all you need to know.

I like the format of the Visual QuickStart Guides. Generally speaking, the pages are divided into two columns. The outside column has a headline explaining what the page is about and text to describe how to do it, and perhaps include a bit of explanation or a Tip. The inside column has a screen shot of what the monitor should look like as you do that particular operation. This is combined with an index that directs you to the page based on what you need to do.

I find that this approach works very well for me. I also happen to like the writing style that Craig Hoeschen has. He seems to pick just the right level of detail that I want to start doing some function.

This particular book is on Photoshop Elements, version 3. Version 3 has some nice extensions to the older versions of Elements, but if you've used Version 2 you probably don't need this book to pick up the differences. If you're new to Photoshop Elements, this is an excellent place to start.

I have had this book for a while and it is great because it has lots of illustration. I also had version 6 book of this men and it was wonderful.

I'm still working my way through this book, but it's been very helpful for a novice user of ProTools. I would really give the book 4-and-a-half out of 5 stars. The only reason it doesn't get 5 is because there are some wickedly complex elements of ProTools that the book can't quite explain easily, since it's written at a beginning and intermediate level. Still, I like the simplicity and clarity, because it's what I need. The book even has a few sidebars that explain basic audio recording facts. Experienced audio types will probably find these sidebars laughable, but they're great for newbies.

After purchasing my iBook in July, I wanted a book that would possibly give me some hints for longer battery life, greater mobility, ect. This book came through on most of these points. It is very much geared towards beginners, although I am quite familiar with the Mac platform, I did find a few items in this book very useful, and pertinent. It also contained a couple of things I never knew. Mr. Steinberg's book is well-written, in easy-to-understand "One Hour Lessons". I would recommend this book to ANYONE new to computers, and even to seasoned Mac user's who want to have a handy reference availible for when problems arise.

I bought an iBook when they first came out, and I was looking for a good guidebook to help me along. Unfortunately, like all new Apple computers, the iBook is quite deficient when it comes to printed documentation. Mr. Steinberg's book is a great way to be introduced to this new computer, plus I learned a thing or two about all the great software that came with it. Highly recommended.

Finally an inexpensive reference manual that helps me understand Photoshop... I have several of Andy Anderson's other titles and, I have to admit that I am a fan. I've been to two of his seminars... to say that he loves Photoshop is an understatment... I've never met anyone with his understanding of the program.

This is an excellent title for the beginner, or anyone who wants to know the how and why of what makes Photoshop tick.

This is not a book that goes into a lot of detail; it is useful though as a quick reference to the techniques in photoshop that you need to look up quickly and have a practical demonstration of how to apply. No color photos, now down and dirty tips for weird stuff but useful succinct basic guides.
Some sections suffer from the brevity eg you won't come away with much clue about color management if you rely on the chapter in this book, but it's become my handy desktop quick reference of choice. And it's not expensive.

As Miser explains, there is a lot that you can do with a Mac running OS X. The user interface is beguilingly simple to learn. And this has characterised Macs over their 20 plus years. But you can learn here that under the simple UI is a ton of complex capabilities that you can access.

En route, if you can dedicate yourself to systematically go through this book, you learn a version of Unix. Which by the way, and to good first approximation, is equivalent to learning much about linux. Of course, this is not the primary intent of the book. But it is an unheralded extra virtue.

With regards to Unix, you can learn how to use the command line. While the UI lets you do many common tasks, there is a limit even to the ingenuity of Apple's designers as to what should be enabled at the UI level. The book has a relatively short chapter on the command line. For serious, specialised tasks, you may well end up carefully perusing the chapter.

On more general issues, Miser covers the most common usages of any personal computer. For browsing, the Mac has a default browser called Safari. You may not need to consult the book's notes on it, if you just do standard browsing. Then for email, the book shows how the Mac has an application for easy use.

What adds to the book's heft is its description of higher level, value-added applications that Apple has astutely used to build up the Mac's cachet. As in listening to or managing a music collection with iTunes, or even making music with GarageBand. More elaborately, running iMovie to be your own movie director. While it should be no surprise that Miser gives extensive coverage to the iPod and how its use can be integrated into the use of a Mac.

You can think of these sections of the book as being a useful and detailed adjunct to various skimpier books that describe those applications. Here, Miser's narrative lacks the often vivid multihued illustrations in those books, but makes up for this with more comprehensive details of usage. Though some of you might wince at this turn of phrase, the book elucidates a "Mac lifestyle".

I`ve owned Apple computers now since 2000, theres no turning back. However, like most first users I was surprised that there was no manual when I purchased my G4 in 2000. So I went out and got the Missing Manuals, the Macs for Dummies and so on. These books are all great. When I got the G5 with the new OS X, I was drooling. This machine was beauty and with the little knowledge I did acquire from my wanderings on my G4, I realized the G5 was even easier to use and so intuitive that I really did not feel the need to get a manual but I did anyway because I knew there were things I was simply unaware of and that I could take this G5 further into my creative endeavors.

Anyway, there are many excellent books out there to get but I try not to stick with one publisher or writer because everyone has their own style and ideas and I try to get as many as possible, not only that but I just feel every book has their own strengths so I seriously sit down and thumb though key sections for me at the book store before purchasing. With the said, I found this book to be the most helpful of the bunch and the easist to read. There are other books that are more colorful but this book gives me the info I need without all the photos and hoopla.

I should add that even though the book can get technical, if you`re into that sort of thing, it also helped me to set up my printer which should be an easy thing to do but this time I was having trouble with my HP. After thumbing through the book, I found what I was looking for and was printing seconds later. So this book can help with the most simple to the most technical aspects of working with your OS.

Since they've come around, I've been one of those people that have had to have the latest and greatest phone. I've had just about every high end PocketPC or Smartphone available. And I've really liked them. I had one of the 1st gen iphones (4gb) but b/c I was on T-Mobile, it was little more than an iPod (and I use a Zune so that wasn't even very important to me). I had an unlucky streak though and broke the last two iMate Smartphones I had within a few weeks of each other so was left using a Windows Mobile 5.0 device. A coworker was going to return his iPhone and offered it to me for a decent discount and i figured what the heck, I'll give it a try.

At first though, it was of little benefit. That's b/c I was on T-Mobile not AT&T and knew veyr little about the iPhone. After looking around the net, I saw this book had really high ratings and was available for the Kindle. So while I was eating dinner, I bought it. A few seconds later it appeared on my kindle and I dove in. I started making notes of what all I needed to do to get it working on T-Mobile and a few other things. I had struggled for a few days trying to get it working to no avail. I was having a lot of trouble getting it to sync with my ultra mobile pc running vista. With this book on my Kindle, I returned home and dove in. About 2 hours later I was up and running. Not only did I have the phone working but I had the ipod synced, and internet connectivity. It took me all of 10 seconds to fall in love with Safari. So chapter by chapter I kept reading. In all, I ended up doing a late nighter b/c I was learning how to do things on the iPhone that I either didn't know about or couldn't get working. Navigation went from being a pain in the a55 to a breeze. In no time I had it synced with my Outlook contacts too... and it even pulled in each contact's picture if it was available in my Outlook profile.

So in just a few hours, I went from not being able to make calls or use the iPod to basically having a smaller and faster version of my ultra mobile PC. In fact, now that I've gotten so familiar with it, I rarely use my ultra mobile b/c it's just another gadget to worry about and have to keep charged.

The book is very easy to read and while I'm not a technical novice, I was completely unfamiliar with Apple products. It got me right over the learning curve in just a few hours. Every single thing I had wanted to do with the iPHone was explained - perfectly I may add, in this book. Additionally, the book amazingly gets right to the point of everything and gives it coverage commensurate with the importance of the feature. It really holds your hand through some of the more difficult things (like getting it working with other networks) but doesn't belabor issues that aren't all that big of a deal.Every other book I can think of on how to use any given mobile device, be it a camera, zune, xbox etc is the opposite - it covers the basics in painful detail and tends to cover the important stuff lightly. Maybe it's just that what I consider important is the same stuff the author did, but I think pretty much anyone new to the iPhone will be left feeling the same way I was. (the best example I can give is with respect to the warnings and explanation of the warranty. If you're a none AT&T user, you don't want to do anything to void the warranty and end up being left out to dry. So I was really hesitant to just indiscriminately try things I found on the net. By specifically addressing this issue, explaining the downside and upside, the author makes it clear they understood what you're facing and then she proceeds to explain it in enough detail that you won't be (or at least I wasn't) afraid to give it a try).

If you have an iPhone already and are well versed in all of its features, then you probably don't need this book although there will be a few things you'll find helpful (particularly in terms of navigation). If you have a AT&T Contract and only use bread and butter features then you'll be in the same boat. But if you're new to iPhone and particularly if you're on another network, and you are of the "I can't live without my phone" mindset, this book is absolutely for you. It's written to that type of user specfically and she does a superb job in that respect

Considering the price for the Kindle edition in particular, it was one of the smartest buys I made in a while. Without it, I would very likely have just given up on the iPhone, and now I've definitely become a major fan of it and would really hate to not have an iPhone. All because of this book.

So you've taken the plunge and bought an iPhone. You've read what passes for an instruction manual, and you're amazed that everything just seems to work. But you *know* there's more that you're missing. Taking Your iPhone to the Max by Erica Sadun does a very good job in walking you through all the major parts of the iPhone interface, explaining how they work, and giving you plenty of "hidden tips" along the way. I changed a few ways I do things on my iPhone after reading...

Contents:
Selecting, Buying, and Activating Your iPhone; Interacting with Your New iPhone; Placing Calls with iPhone; iPhone Messaging; iPhone E-mail; Browsing with Safari; Preparing Your Media in iTunes; It's Also an iPod; iPhone Photos; Google Maps and Other Apps; Hacking the iPhone; Index

Since the "instruction manual" included with the iPhone is about eight panels of a fold-out piece of paper, you're not going to get much in the way of instruction when you buy the thing. You can download the PDF guide from Apple's site, but how often did you ever read the manual of your prior cell phone? Thought so... Sadun presents the information in a much more relaxed and understandable format. Rather than a simple "do this, this, and this", she explains why things work the way they do, as well as some things that aren't common knowledge. For instance, there are a number of service shortcuts you can use to get information about your AT&T account. *225# will give you the balance of your bill, *646# will give you the remaining number of minutes on your account, etc. I'm sure you can dig up that information somewhere, but it's all nicely formatted and presented here in a logical, cohesive manner. Personally, I hadn't known of (or remembered) about punctuation dragging, where you touch the .?123 key and then drag your finger over to the punctuation character you want. Since it's a single character action, the keyboard immediately returns to the alpha setting. I find myself doing that all the time now.

While the book is well-suited for the non-techie phone users, there's also coverage of the jailbreak process and how that works. She references that technique in a number of places, and explains where you can find certain directories and files if you've got command-line access to your iPhone. As this came out before the official Apple API release, you won't get any coverage of it here. But when you get down to it, the people who will use the jailbreak method probably won't want to play by the restrictive rules of the official API anyway. :)

This wasn't the first iPhone book I've read, but it was no less valuable than the first one. I find myself picking up new tips and tricks that I didn't remember or that didn't stick the first time. And given the size and style of the book, it hits a nice blend between pure tech and hand-holding newbie. Nicely done...