By Alan Webster

When Apple comes out with a new version of their operating system, the first thing I think is "I hope David Pogue gets out his book soon". "His book" is the Missing Manual series he has created to fill the void that Apple has created by not including a manual in the box OS X Panther comes in. Even if Apple had a manual, I doubt it would be as good or complete as this one is.

You can run Panther without a reference, but you only scratch the surface of what it can do. I consider Pogue's book a reference book, because at 740 pages of small type, I don't think you are going to read it cover to cover and remember much of it. I remember when the first "MacBible" came out (I think it was for System 6) I could read all of it, but times have changed. Apple's OS X is not just for running Word Processors, MacPaint & MacDraw. Now we have the Internet, e-mail, digital photos and movies. Things we did not even think of just 10 years ago. Who would have thought that we would have music and photo files on our Macs? Whole collections of them. The biggest sound file I had in OS 6 was a clip of Homer Simpson saying "Computers can do that?" and "Doh".

With all these new capabilities "under the hood" of Panther, "Mac OSX: The Missing Manual , Panther Edition" has to be large. It starts with the very basics of using Panther, continues on with mini-manuals on how to use iMovie, Mail, iTunes, Safari, iPhoto, iDVD, iChat, iCal, and any other "i" you can come up with. Then you can move up to the more advanced- how to make Applescripts, share files, and even dabble in UNIX. It is fun to thumb through the book and try out different things too.

David Pogue doesn't just tell you how things work, he also tells you how well they work in Panther. This can save you from the maddening "why isn't this working?". When you know someone else has run into the same problem, you won't keep trying to make it work.

I recommend all David Pogue's books. I consider this one essential. You can get it at most book stores or order it online at http://www.missingmanuals.com. The price is US $30.

(c) 2004 WAMUG Alan Webster President Whittier Area Macintosh User Group http://www.geocities.com/wamug

MACinations March 04