Apple says that Mac OS X 10.3 introduces 150 new features--but that's not really true. In fact, "Panther" includes many more than that. It's faster, more polished, and much more efficient. But it still comes without a manual. With 300,000 copies in print, the first two versions of this book became industry bestsellers. Now David Pogue brings his humor and expertise to this completely rewritten, greatly expanded edition. It covers:

• Getting started. The early chapters demystify the Dock, windows, and the unfamiliar Mac OS X folder structure--an ideal introduction.
• New technologies. Mac OS X 10.3 brings breakthroughs in window management (Expose, the Sidebar); security (File Vault, Secure Empty Trash); and productivity (faxing, Fast User Switching).
• Bonus software. Panther comes with over 50 free programs--and this book gives you expertise in all of them. This beefed-up edition includes all-new mini-manuals on iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto, iChat AV, and Safari.
• Basics of Unix. You can completely ignore Panther's Unix core. But if the command line intrigues you, this book offers a gentle introduction.
• Finding familiar features. Two "Where'd It Go?" Dictionaries make it easy for Mac OS 9 and Windows refugees to look up a traditional feature--and find out where it went in Mac OS X 10.3.

As always, Mac OS X: The Missing Manual offers warm, witty writing, and bursts with the shortcuts, surprises, and design touches that make the Mac the most passionately championed computer in the world.

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Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition Review,  January 04 2004
Submitted by steve lockwood, Alaska Apple Users Group   [Respond | View]

If you have read any of the Missing Manual book series, particularly ones by David Pogue (on OSX 10.1&2, iMovie, iPhoto, Switching to the Mac), you might expect this OS X Panther Edition to cover all aspects of Apple's newest operating system in depth, to offer plenty of tips not only about what the system and its programs do but why you might want to use them, to provide tips about undocumented features, to suggest additional resources including books, web sites, and news groups, and to employ a writing style that is clear and humorous without being condescending or smug. That's a lot to ask of any book, let alone a computer manual. Pogue delivers all of it. Maybe that's why he's "the #1 bestselling Macintosh author" (back cover). In fact, if all you want to know is whether to buy this book--and you do need a manual if you expect to learn how best to use your Mac--, here's the answer: yes.

And now, a short list of reasons why you'll want this book. Apple claims that Panther has 150 new features, but Pogue says this is actually an undercount (2), and says about his book there's not "a single page that hasn't changed since the last edition" (7), which covered 10.1 and 10.2. While reading the book, I marked over 50 new features that are important to my workstyle, but in the interests of brevity, these are the ones most likely to appeal to all users. Panther has a new sidebar to complement the dock (18-20); Filevault can encrypt and decrypt your account transparently (363-66); window management is much easier with Exposé (124-28); servers and shared folders--even from PCs--appear automatically in the sidebar (18, 22, 397); Safari is improved and installed as the default browser (640-51); Text Edit can open and save Microsoft Word format, though not footnotes, unfortunately (311); Image Capture can work over a network, and can control scanners and web cams (275-76); Preview works much faster and can search and copy text from PDF files AND can open raw Postscript files, which means they can be saved as PDFs that can be printed at clear resolutions on cheapo inkjet printers--no need for a Postscript laser printer to see clean output (297, 435); in fact, print dialog boxes now offer saving as pure Postscript (427); color labels for files/folders are back from OS 9 (74); the built-in Help program now works contextually, producing results only for the program you're using (53); all menus, dialog boxes, and the dock now can be controlled from the keyboard (18, 138); Activity Viewer offers another way to force quit misbehaving programs (119, 312); Digital Color Meter can grab color values from images and web pages (316); Font Book organizes fonts by families and allows you to form sets that you can turn on and off as needed (436-42); the calculator finally acquires scientific capabilities, a "paper" tape, and performs conversions (263, 331); the Chess game is updated with new 3-D looks and can be rotated in space (264); Disk Utility now offers the option to clone a hard drive--good news for people in charge of Mac labs (317-18), and it can burn multiple sessions on a CD (340); faxing is now built in (431-35); GIMP-Print is included, a Unix collection of print drivers for scads of older printers (421); Virtual Private Networking to connect to corporate networks (666) and Firewire networking (390) are much improved; Mail has at least nine major improvements, including much better threading and filtering (574-615) and seamless cooperation with Microsoft's Exchange Server; iChatAV is free, and although the iSight camera isn't, a free iChatAV account at .Mac is (615-16).

Oh, and the default volume format for hard drives is journaled (692) for better troubleshooting, and for security Panther redoes group designations for user accounts (407, 511) and adds a master password that sits between administrator privileges and root (365, 376). If anything in that last sentence is foreign to you, that's another reason to buy this book. Also, Panther permits scheduling of print jobs (427)--a big boon on networks--and of unattended startup and shutdown (241). It even includes the ability to Zip and unZip files (94), and to clone your .Mac iDisk on your hard drive (564) for greater speed. Overall, it's also faster than previous versions.

The book now contains mini-manuals for iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto, and iTunes, even though the Missing Manual series has book treatments of each. Of course, the Panther book skips all the tips, tricks, and resources for these programs, but it has enough to get you going successfully. It covers much more, such as ways to import address books from Entourage and Outlook, an AppleScript tutorial, a Unix tutorial, an OS 9 tutorial with tips for speeding up Classic, how and why to use web sharing and Secure Shell, and ways to change the interface colors, icons, and information labels (change "Trash" to "Rubbish," for example). And the appendixes include installation (A), troubleshooting (B), and "secret keystroke list" (F).

Despite having to dictate the book "due to a wrist ailment you really don't want to hear about" (764), Pogue maintains his good humor, which means the book is fun to read. His style faintly resembles that of Miami Herald columnist Dave Barry. For example, in his discussion of AppleScript Studio (216), his aside is "ASS for short--how did that one get past Marketing?" Or when explaining how to activate iTunes visual displays, he says of the light show (345), "The effect is hypnotic and wild. (For real party fun, invite some people who grew up in the Sixties to your house to watch.)"

All is not perfect, however. I found eight grammar snafus (about one per 100 pages!) and five factual errors, only one of which (583) is really confusing because it refers to a picture that doesn't exist in the text (although what you're supposed to see has just been explained clearly). And two discussions confused me: about Firewire networks (390ff) and about command-line (Unix) file searching (518). But another benefit of the Missing Manual series is that once I've reported these miscues to Pogue, they'll be incorporated into subsequent printings of the book. Pogue pledges (9) to keep the book current with Apple's continuing updates of 10.3 (this printing [11] covers through 10.3.2), and to keep errata lists--along with much of the software mentioned in the book--on the website (www.missingmanuals.com). My previous experience with six other books in this series suggests that Pogue will indeed keep book and web site updated.

You'll definitely get your money's worth from this book. But beware--you'll probably be enticed to buy others in the Missing Manual series.


Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition Review,  January 03 2004
Submitted by Michael Bean   [Respond | View]

Upgrading to Panther?

I upgraded to Panther and wanted to learn more about Mac OS X 10.3.2. As there is no manual that comes with Panther I decided a book was in order. I have read several outstanding Pogue books in the past and thought his "Mac OS X Panther Edition" might be a good place to start.

What Will You Learn?

Reading this manual you will learn a lot of information about new Panther features, changes in the way some items work and lots of tips and tricks. Some of the items discussed in the first two chapters are working with folders, different views, labels, icons, aliases, new trash features, Get Info, search bar, the find command, keyboard shortcuts, right click menus, creating a zip archive and a lot more. Did you know you can customize the toolbar on the top of your Folders? Did you know you can use the toolbar as a dock substitute? Page 110 shows you how.

Applications in Mac OS X

Chapters 4-7 deal with using Apple applications in Panther. You will learn the basics of using an application in Mac OS X and about Expose. Learn what F9, F10, and F11 do for your arrangement of desktop folders on page 127. You will also learn several useful finder shortcuts and navigation tips. Another nice book feature is a web site setup at http://www.missingmanuals.com/cds/ that provides links to all of the shareware tools discussed in this useful Panther manual. You will learn how to setup, launch and use programs in Classic. Next, you can install the Apple Script menu and learn what scripts come with Panther and how to make your own.

The Components of Mac OS X

In this section you will learn about system preferences. On page 235 you can learn how to take pictures out of a screen saver to use as a desktop picture. Page 246 shows you how to use the Character Palette. Page 258 will show you how to access system preferences from the sidebar or the dock. Page 340 teaches you how to burn a multisession CD on a CD-R disk using Disk Utility. Page 352 shows you secret keystrokes for using Apples DVD Player effectively including fast forward.

Technologies of Panther

Chapters 11 through 17 cover security, networking, printing, faxing, sound, unix and hacks. Page 372 explains how to use an iPod as your home directory. Page 375 shows you how to establish an open firmware password, for those that need tight security. Page 376 tells you what to do if you forget your password. Page 385 shows you how to enable a Root user. Page 390 explains how to setup a FireWire network. Page 410 shows you how Macs and PCs can both show up in the MSHOME network folder. Page 414 shows you how to create and setup groups. Page 418 teaches you how to lock the keychain, manage it and use it effectively. Page 422 shows you how to setup your printer and share it in a variety of ways. Page 468 explains Macintosh Speech Recognition and how you might use it. Page 483-531 discusses the unix Terminal and teaches you navigation using unix along with several useful unix commands.

If you are looking for a book that will help you learn about the many features in Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, this book will do it. It may take you a few days to get through this 700 page wonder, but you will know Mac OS X Panther much better than when you started.

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