The Robin Williams Mac OS X Book, Panther Edition

Rating:
Summary: Annoying Guide
Review: I am new to Macs, and rusty with computers. I needed a good basic book, but even I found this book baby talks way too much. As I work through it, I'm finding it to be very annoying that there are endless instructions to go to another page for continued information. She has me flitting around from beginning to back to middle to beginning, etc. With writing like that, of course there is going to be constant repetition of information. Besides putting you to sleep, it makes you wonder if you've already read that section. You'd need a map and a highlighter to know. I don't have time for this.

Rating:
Summary: Useless paperweight of a Book
Review: I remember a critic once said of a John Updike book, "One, don't buy this book. And two, if you do buy it, don't drop it on your foot." Though Robin Williams gigantic OS X book is quite large, and the table of contents goes on for more than a dozen pages, there seems to be a stunning lack of information. For example, I spent 45 minutes leafing through the book, trying to find out how to restart my Mac without loading any of the startup items. In case you're wondering how, you simply hold down the "shift button," but try as you may, you will not find that very simple --but possibly vital-- bit of information in this book. Strangely enough, you will find sections on how to "shift-click" (as though the phrase "shift-click" is not enough instruction), a section on "When to Use the Return key", and a section called "What your Fonts look like." Now, maybe I missed the whole point. Maybe you are the sort of person who has never ever seen a Macintosh computer before, maybe this will help you. But if you are looking for a book full of nuts and bolts info on how to use your system more fully, this is not the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Useless paperweight of a Book
Review: I remember a critic once said of a John Updike book, "One, don't buy this book. And two, if you do buy it, don't drop it on your foot." Though Robin Williams gigantic OS X book is quite large, and the table of contents goes on for more than a dozen pages, there seems to be a stunning lack of information. For example, I spent 45 minutes leafing through the book, trying to find out how to restart my Mac without loading any of the startup items. In case you're wondering how, you simply hold down the "shift button," but try as you may, you will not find that very simple --but possibly vital-- bit of information in this book. Strangely enough, you will find sections on how to "shift-click" (as though the phrase "shift-click" is not enough instruction), a section on "When to Use the Return key", and a section called "What your Fonts look like." Now, maybe I missed the whole point. Maybe you are the sort of person who has never ever seen a Macintosh computer before, maybe this will help you. But if you are looking for a book full of nuts and bolts info on how to use your system more fully, this is not the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Correction to review
Review: I'm the reviewer who wrote the first review of this book listed above and my review contains an error: Scott Kelby's group is the National Association of Photoshop PROFESSIONALS (not USERS as I wrote in the review). The association is indeed dedicated to Photoshop professionals. I don't know where "USERS" came from -- Sorry Scott.

Rating:
Summary: Another Wonderful Robin Williams book
Review: If you remember the golden age of Macs, when a IIci was the hottest thing on the planet, you'll undoubtedly remember Robin Williams' early books on Pagemaker and the Mac. They were trend-setting, and best-selling, books with a user-friendly layout and design, written in a conversational tone that made the geekiest topics easily digested and learned.
Happily, Robin is still at it, and this latest effort was worth waiting for -- her (nearly) complete guide to OS 10.3.3 Panther. With her partner, John Tollett, she has delivered more than 700 pages of clean, crisp instruction on this latest Mac OS. As a noted design professional, she brings a practiced eye to the niceties of Panther, and the book is as helpful for an experienced artist like myself as it will be to a newcomer. Much Macintosh water has flowed under the bridge since her early books (my-oh-my just look at how daughter Scarlett and son Ryan have grown up!!), and what used to be a small field of professional computer writers has exploded -- but Robin is still #1 in my book for her book! I highly recommend any and all of her books on design, Macs, fonts, web design, etc. They are the best. This volume should be a freebie with every Panther OS sold -- it's the missing manual we have all longed for (take note Amazon!).
The only shortcoming is that she has apparently fallen victim to the raging disease that nearly every other computer book author has given into -- the "I'm going to leave out some juicy sections of the book and resell them in the guise of a different book -- so run right out and buy my book on ...." disease. Robin leaves out some of the more colorful apps included with Panther with the explanation that "this book is big enough as it is, so I've put together a separate volume on these topics." Sure. At 736 pages, this book could have easily stood a few extra pages to get you into iPhoto, etc. without breaking the bank (or your back). Even though complete coverage of the missing apps does indeed require a full volume, a complete guide should be just that -- complete, even if abreviated.
Seems like every computer author now loads up each of their books and magazine articles with references to his or her other publications currently for sale -- the king of 'em all is Scott Kelby, who has created a virtual empire (pun intended) with the National Association of Photoshop Users and Mac Design Magazine -- both of which contain an overdose of self promotion and advertising for their stable of writers and conference speakers. Enough already. (Despite my reservations about the incessant hypermarketing, all of Kelby's enterprises are always first class efforts and very worthwhile for professionals, although pricey.)
My only other criticism of Robin's book is the Keychain section -- but my critique is probably aimed more at Apple's app than her explanation. Try as I might, I could not totally unravel the depths of all of the mysteries of Keychain by using only her book -- much of it simply gets bogged down in lingo. But that's small potatoes compared to the breadth of the rest of the book.
This is the one book to get with Panther -- the definitive Panther book for a beginner or intermediate Mac user -- it's been well worth the wait and is well worth the money.
Now I can't wait for her tome on OS 10.4 (Aardvark?).

Rating:
Summary: Helpful to Me
Review: This is a huge book, but I won't be using it as a doorstop as it has been so useful to me for looking up problems and finding answers.
I'm new to Mac and this book puts an end to the Mac mystique. Mac IS easier to use than PC, but it seems confusing to new users. This book uses everyday language to
help with problems and gives a good overview of "how to".
Mac, like MS, now has it's user's guides online. If you aren't online while working, or if you find it tedious to take notes or print the manuals, this book will handle all your inquiries. It doesn't include specific application manuals, but then what computing how to book does? But there is enough contained within to get you going.