By James Duncan Davidson
First Edition
December 2003
Pages: 332
ISBN 10: 0-596-00500-8 |
ISBN 13: 9780596005009
(Average of 2 Customer Reviews)
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Running Mac OS X Panther is the ultimate Swiss Army Knife™ for power users who want to customize, tweak, and generally rev up their Mac. This book takes readers deep inside Mac OS X's core, revealing the inner workings of Panther for those who want to get the most out of their system. You may not be a Mac guru when you start this book, but once you've read it, you'll be well on your way.
Full Description
Apple® has shown no mercy to the Macintosh® power user---that dedicated individual who knows their Mac® inside and out: what makes it tick, and what makes it tick better. In the rapid evolution of Mac OS® X, there have been three major releases, and each new release challenges the power user to once more stay ahead of the learning curve. Mac OS X Panther is no exception to that rule. With more than 100 new features, including a new Finder, Expos , FileVault, and an improved BSD Unix core, there's plenty here to master. Fortunately, power users have a secret weapon in Running Mac OS X Panther. This book takes readers deep inside Mac OS X's core, revealing the inner workings of Panther for those who want to get the most out of their system.
Running Mac OS X Panther is the ultimate Swiss Army Knife™ for power users who want to customize, tweak, and generally rev up their Mac. The easy-to-follow format is organized into three primary parts:
Browse within this book
- Getting Started introduces you to Mac OS X--where it came from, how it's put together, and how it works
- Administration Essentials gives you the tools you need to examine how your system is running and adjust all the knobs behind its operation
- Networking and Network Services covers all the ways Mac OS X interfaces with the world around it, including wireless and spontaneous networking
Cover | Table of Contents | Colophon
Featured customer reviews
Excellent Book full of Gems of Information, April 30 2004
Rating:
Submitted by
Bryan
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This book is an excellent source of technical information for Mac OS X 10.3 for beginning to intermediate level support technicians. Information is presented very clearly and gets to the point without a lot of extra discussion.
I hope the author considers publishing a book covering the technical aspects of Mac OS X Server 10.3.
Running Mac OS X Panther Review, March 03 2004
Rating:
Submitted by John Suda
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Book Review: “Running MacOSX Panther”
by John Suda
Most Mac users are perfectly happy that the Mac user interface shields them from the intricacies and complexities of the Unix-based “plumbing” beneath the surface of their machines. Others, however, like motorheads who compulsively tune, torque, and tinker with their souped-up cars, love to open up their Mac, so to speak, to get at the innards. This book is for them.
“Running MacOSX Panther” is a systematic guide to the core of OSX written, not just for power users, but for those with a compulsive need to know how the Mac works inside-out. It is for those who want master-level knowledge of how the Mac operates inside.
After a short history of the developmentof the Mac operating system, the book describes all the essentials: what happens during the startup and login process; how files organized and permissions set up; how preferences are maintained and edited; how users and groups are set up and administered, and more. The emphasis is on the Unix underpinnings and use of the command line to view, customize, and control the Mac. There is discussion on how to see and edit hidden files and directories, how to use the Unix “shell” and text editors, and how to edit Open Firmware - the Mac version of the PC’s “BIOS”. You can learn to create a user account for non-human users (not including your kitty!)
The advanced sections discuss the Open Directory, a type of database which stores information about the system and its components, and advanced networking information and options. Journaling is explained and an argument is made why disk defragmentation is not necessary on OSX. It convinced me.
An appendix providing guidance on installing Panther has sections for ordinary users as well as for Mac “motorheads”. The motorheads will enjoy reviewing the list of Boot Command key combinations.
Media reviews "[Running Mac OS X Panther] is written well, and if you happen to be sitting next to your computer while reading it, you'll be constantly torn between the two. There are lots of things you'll want to try right away...Check out this book if you want to learn the gory details of Mac OS X's core. It's short on gimmicks but long on information."
--Matthew Leingang, Slashdot.org, November 2004
"...well written, well edited, tight and crammed full of information pitched at just the right level. Davidson has done an excellent job with this book."
--Tony Williams, Slashdot.org, April 2004
http://books.slashdot.org/books/04/04/22/157218.shtml?%20tid=107&tid=185&tid=187&tid=190
"Last year I came back to the Macintosh platform after a 10 year absence. I couldn’t ask for a better companion for my return journey than 'Running Mac OS X Panther,' by James Duncan Davidson. Most of the GUI programs built into Panther (like Mail, iTunes, and iCal) are intuitive, but if you want to explore Panther’s internals you may need a guide...The book is full of useful tips on how to interact with or enhance GUI programs from the command line."
--Marc Garrett, Since1968.com, June 2004
http://since1968.com/article/43/review-two-new-macintosh-books-from-oreilly
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