Mac To Windows/Windows To Mac Phrasebook Published

Crossing Platforms: A Macintosh/Windows Phrasebook by two of the computer industry's most popular authors, Adam Engst and David Pogue, is a complete translation dictionary-like (A-Z) reference book. The book's first half provides a "bilingual" education for Macintosh users learning Windows; the second half of the book is designed for Windows users learning Macintosh. Crossing Platforms provides a simple solution for everyone who has been confused and frustrated by the arbitrary and sometimes capricious differences between the Macintosh and Windows operating systems. This book bridges the Mac-PC knowledge gap many users are faced with when work or preference demands the use of both a PC and Mac.

Three Important Windows Differences
(taken from "The Ten Most Important Windows Differences" in Crossing Platforms)

• Turning the machine on and off. There's no keyboard on/off button on the PC, as there is on every Macintosh. Instead, your PC probably has a power button on the front panel; push it to start the computer. To shut down, chose Shut Down form the Start menu at the lower-left corner of the Windows screen.

• Mouse buttons and contextual menus. The Windows mouse has two buttons instead of one. Use the left button for everyday clicking. Use the right mouse button where you would control-click something on the Macintosh-that is, to bring up contextual pop-up menus.

• Menu bars. In Windows, a separate menu bar appears at the top of every single window. There's no single menu bar at the top of the screen, as on the Macintosh.

• Emptying the trash. The Mac OS never removes files from the trash automatically, as Windows does with files in the recycling bin. To remove files from the Trash manually, chose Special-Empty Trash.

• Mouse buttons. The Macintosh mouse's single button corresponds to the left mouse button on a Windows PC. To summon the pop-up contextual menus-the right mouse button's traditional job-you Control-click something on the Macintosh.

• Keyboard shortcuts. Most keyboard shortcuts are the same on the Macintosh as in Windows-except that you should substitute the Command key (which has a clover leaf and apple logos on it) for the Ctrl key, and the Option key for the Alt key.

Adam C. Engst is the editor and publisher of TidBITS, one of the oldest and largest Internet-based newsletters, distributed in five languages every week to hundreds of thousands of readers. He is the author or coauthor on numerous books and magazine articles, including Eudora 4.2 for Windows & Macintosh, The Official AT&T WorldNet Web Discovery Guide, and the best-selling Internet Starter Kit series of books.

David Pogue, a Yale grad and former Broadway conductor, writes the back-page column for Macworld magazine. He's the author or coauthor of 15 computer, humor, and music books, including PalmPilot: The Ultimate Guide, Macs for Dummies, Opera for Dummies, Classical Music for Dummies, Magic for Dummies, Macworld Mac Secrets, Hard Drive (a novel), The Microsloth Joke Book, and Tales from the Tech Line.

Online Resources

• More information about the book, including Table of Contents, index, author bios, and samples

• Cover graphic in jpeg format

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