Macintosh Books

This is just the book you need if you want to do ANYTHING inside your mac mini.
This book eliminates any fear you may have about opening up your mac mini.
The mini is an incredible little computer with lots of potential and this book will help you make the most of it.
Many projects from simple to complex (Increasing CPU Speed)are laid out with easy to follow instructions.

The money you save by doing your own memory upgrade will more than pay for this book, in fact with the money you save you can upgrade the Hard drive or optical drive too!

Execellent Books for understanding basic of colour and other related topics.

This is a very good book and an excelent adition to the Dummies series. This is very good for older mac and explains all taht you need to know in a very easy to understand manner. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who has a Macintosh comuter or anyone wanting to know more about the Macintosh OS.

When I was looking for a new computer I had to decide on the operating system, Mac OS or Windows 98. I read all that I could about both systems and I found Langer's book easy and informative to read. It's not aimed at the complete novice (where chapter 3 deals with using the mouse) but it is advanced enough to give useful tips and advice. I almost bought a Mac but went with the PC instead, but that is a different story. Anyway, if you want to read a great book on the Mac OS 8.5 get this book.

Mac OS X and the Digital Lifestyle
Brad Miser
Premier Press
ISBN 1-931841-74-8
...

Several years' back, Steve Jobs announced the "digital lifestyle." I'm not sure if using a Mac and a digital camera or camcorder qualifies you to live the "digital lifestyle," but if it does, then Brad Miser is going to tell you how to live it. In fact, his book tells you how to live the digital lifestyle "a la vida loca."

There are plenty of good books focusing on iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes, and iDVD (the so-called "iApps.") Nevertheless, this is the first book to focus on the integration between the iApps. Miser does not tell you just how to use iMovie, iTunes, and iPhoto; he tells you how to use them all together to create a seamless digital production. This focus on integration, and using the strong points of each application is what sets Mac OS X and the Digital Lifestyle apart from books that simply tell you how to use one iApp.

Before reading Mac OS X and the Digital Lifestyle, I felt reasonably conversant with the fundamental of iMovie, iTunes, and iPhoto. (I have never paid attention to iDVD as neither of my Macs have a SuperDrive.) I could fool around with the various programs, and get some moderately interesting results. But I always felt I was never taking best advantage of the programs as a suite of applications.

Three pages into Mac OS X and the Digital Lifestyle, I knew this book was something special.

Using QuickTime Pro as a focal point, Miser lays out the graphics underpinnings of the iApps. The ability to import and export scads of file formats makes QuickTime Pro and especially iMovie extra-flexible. You learn that you can get almost any external file into your production, and how to best import it.

iTunes gets attention next, then iPhoto and iMovie. Each chapter, while not as comprehensive as specialized books on each iApp, gives plenty of detail. I especially appreciated tips relating each program to its siblings; how best to format an export from iTunes to get it into iMovie, for example.

After each member of the iApp suite has had its' turn, Miser gets to what is the best part of the book. He presents logical strategies for creating digital productions. These are not cookie-cutter "step 1, step 2" checklists that some beginner-level books use. Miser talks fundamentals, and uses general principles to help you learn how to use the iApps together to best effect. While each one has strengths and weaknesses, Miser shows you how to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts.

If you think I like this book, then think again.

I LOVED this book. It is well written, with easy-on-the-eyes formatting (less common than you may think), and it weighs less than 5 pounds. But the best part of reading Mac OS X and the Digital Lifestyle was the constant feeling I had of "so THAT is the best way to do that effect," or "jeez, I was wasting a lot of time doing it my way."

Rather than list all the chapter titles, I'll simply say you will learn all you need to know to use your digital camera, camcorder, CD/DVD burner with your Mac if buy and read Mac OS X and the Digital Lifestyle.

This is a must-buy for anyone who wants to get more out of their digital hardware and the iApps that ship with their Macintosh.

MacMice Rating: 5 out of 5

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David Weeks

...

This book is all it claims to be. Concise and easy to use. I received my OS X.2 on a new G4 and after spending several hours trying to just do the everyday things that had become second nature in OS 9, I went to Amazon.com and found this book advertised. It is exactly what I needed to make the conversion. I already had two books on OS 9/OS X but at 1,000 pages each, what I needed either wasn't in there or was buried too deeply to find quickly.

If you're converting from OS 9 to OS X, do yourself a favor and order this book at the same time. I can say from experience and without exaggeration, it will save you hours.

One thing I disagree with the author on. In "Start Here" of the book, he says "Don't sit down and read it cover to cover." I think he's right and wrong. The tips are easy to find without reading the whole book; but his writing style makes the reading fun and knowing some of the conversion tips before needing them reduced my stress level considerably.

Unfortunately, for me, my iBook 700 was too slow to run Dreamweaver MX 2004. I don't care what the folks at Apple or Macromedia say. You need a G4 to get the most out of that program. At first I was pretty bummed, because I'd gotten years, and I mean years, out of my PowerBook 1400 before upgrading to that iBook that I'd had for only 9 months. But the lure of the lastest, and I must say greatest, version of Dreamweaver was too much. I bought one of those spiffy G4 iBooks and now I'm a happy guy.

But low and behold, the machine came with Panther pre-installed. And I'd just gotten a handle on Jaguar. So, I did what I did when I wanted to learn Jaguar, I bought a book. Notice I said book, not books. When confronted with Jaguar, I went to the bookstore and bought several books, only to learn that the lynda.com people had the best of the bunch. So this time I saved a gang of money and bought the only book you'll ever need if you want to learn Panther. Two fat thumbs up from me.

This is a superb book for those looking for an easy and comfortable introduction to Mac OS X. The information is presented in an easy-to-learn format, but unlike some similar books, the author here doesn't talk down to the user...it is like having an experienced friend help you through the basics of your Mac.

I highly recommend this bookfor any beginning to intermediate users of the Mac. If you are buying a Mac for the first time, this is a great book to get, especially since Apple doesn't provide any documentation of its own.

Mac OS X: Power User's Guide by Macintosh computer expert Brad Miser is a highly practical and comprehensive guide to the basics of getting the most out of the Mac OS X system. Specifically covering version Mac OS X version 10.1, this invaluable instructional reference has everything from upgrading and installing Mac OS X to setting preferences, printing, Internet access, AppleScript, and much more. Black-and-white screenshots illustrate step-by-step "walk through" instructions guide users of all experience levels in the most user-friendly possible way. A first-rate basic, "user friendly" reference, Max OS X is a welcome and highly recommended addition to any Mac enthusiast's reference shelf.

If you are looking for a Mac OS X 10.4 Server book and want to buy just one, this IMHO, is THE book to buy! Last year I took the Mac OS X 10.4 Server Essentials Class at Apple in Boston and while it was worthwhile, I was new to server and a bit of it when over my head.

This book not only solidified my training, it expanded my understanding of Tiger Server in many, many ways. The chapter on Open Directory and Active Directory Services is worth the price alone.

I just WISH Schoun would put out a book on Leopard Server!!!

Marcel R. Vachon
Macintosh Desktop, Portable, Toshiba, & CompTIA A+ PC Certified Technician
Member, The MacXprts network

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