Wow! How does one measure such a work? I measured the book to be 1.75 inches thick! The page count (excluding forwards and appendices) is 814. There's no CD, so these are printed pages. Then there are the additional PDFs at missingmanual.com, another 5 booklets! And these are "meaty" chapters. For example, the very last chapter is entitled "SSH, FTP, VPN, and Web Sharing" with the last section on using a VPN, which, if you're a network person like me, is very important. If one were to ask users to read the manual before installing Leopard, they'd never do so.
I consider myself an advanced user, having worked for Apple in a technical capacity and now providing network engineering support. I decided to read this book as fill-in, provide how-to information on the 300+ new Leopard features, possibly fill in any missing gaps I may have in Mac OS in general. I feel this was completely satisfied by reading this book. I even put post-its on a few pages for reference to sometimes used features for quick reference.
There are many other fine reviews detailing the book's contents. I'll just point to a few things I thought made the book stand out. The most often used new feature for me is Quick Look. Just like
dragging a file to a desktop printer icon prints a file, so Quick Look allows me to view any supported file type without having to launch an app. I even took the suggestion in the book and visited www.qlplugins.com to find more Quick Look plug-ins. The book did a great job explaining the many controls available in Quick Look. I also solved another riddle I've experienced - how to navigate windows and dialog boxes with the keyboard.
I look forward to the side bars, thinking I'll find "special features" revealed. I've had Windows users ask me about viruses. The book has a concise sidebar I can now reference on p. 839, Appendix B, simply stating there's little about which to worry. This appendix also explains some tips to troubleshoot when, for instance, the computer starts loading and the watch dial just keeps on spinning. These are useful reference tips. I don't think I'm alone in getting questions from people asking me for something so they can "learn more." More about what? Well, this books obviates the what, as The Missing Manual touches upon anything I can think they may ask.
I've had Microsoft's Windows Vista Inside Out book, 1019 pages, for years and never made it through. The book is simply not engaging and even a nerd like me can only endure so much. The missing credits seems to indicate Pogue had four contributing writers. This is a daunting amount of writing. It seemed obvious those chapters he wrote, for they contained elements of light-hearted fun, such as p. 537, "thanks to a freaky little wormhole in the time-space continuum." In spite of the length of this work, this book is a reference text in many ways. How can this book cover the scope of color management, of routing? In fact, it can't. That's why I characterize it more as a reference book. The book also contains an appendix entitled Where to Go From Here as an answer to more detailed questions/culture/information. I already know of two others to whom I'm going to recommend this.
|
