How This Book Is Organized
This book consists of 14 chapters along with two appendixes.
- Chapter 1, Where It All Came From
Mac OS X is the successful hybrid of technologies from Unix and the original Mac OS. On its own, the history would be interesting enough. But the impact of Apple’s decisions while fusing these two systems together affects how the system operates to this day.
- Chapter 2, Installing the System and Software
Whether you’re upgrading from a previous version of Mac OS X or doing a fresh install, this chapter helps you get going with Tiger and helps Tiger get going on your Mac. OS installation is covered, in addition to Aqua and Unix software installation.
- Chapter 3, Lay of the Land
Mac OS X is composed of many different technologies with several different lineages. This chapter starts by examining these diverse tools and how they work together to form Apple’s next-gen OS.
The layout of the Mac OS X filesystem is different from that of most other operating systems. It shares history with traditional Unix filesystem layouts, but introduces several concepts that make it easier for the system to keep its data separate from yours. This chapter looks beneath the Finder’s presentation of the filesystem and explains how the filesystem is laid out, with details on what is located where.
- Chapter 4, The Terminal and Shell
The Terminal gives you access to the Unix core of Mac OS X. While it is possible to become a decent user without ever using the Terminal, you’ll need a good understanding ...