First Mac? SWITCHING ... is fundamental. It will help you to save a lot of time.
Highly recommended

I bought this book when I needed a laptop and was trying to decide between a pc and a macbook. The book explained the differences very well so I understood what I was getting and what I was giving up by purchasing a mac. I decided to buy a Macbook and since then, this book has been invaluable. I am not ignorant but I'm far from being a geek and this book is awesome for explaining how to do things in a straight forward manner, with explicit step by step directions. If you are buying a mac for the first time - this book is the best $20 you'll ever spend.

Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition (Missing Manual)

This manual does a much better job of pointing out the differences between Microsoft and Leopard but does little to help someone making the switch from one platform to the other. It's a good thing I paid for Apple support and not depended on being able to get a manual to help me implement the changes and processes I need to work on Apple.

Purchased this manual to make the transition from PC to Mac easier since NO written instructions come with computers anymore and wanted some insight as to different keystroke commands and translation of what Apple calls programs, files etc. in one source. All-in-all, the book did just what I expected, and as a bonus, it is a pretty good introduction to what comes with an iMac and how to get the most from it. I also had a couple of programs that could only run under Windows and book provided pros and cons of various options. Again, all info that is out on the Web someplace, but nice to have in hand. I think the index could be a little more comprehensive. I also don't mind the 'you just saved 5 bucks' ploy by including a web site URL instead of a CD in the back of the book. 4 out of 5 because the index is wanting and some topics could be explained in more depth than simply restating the obvious.

As a switcher, I really appreciate this book. It focuses on the needs and typical concerns of the PC to Mac switcher, both by way of basic Mac education as well as comparison, and packs in a tremendous amount of content.

I have to fault the book on its publishing flaws, however. While the approach and content hit the mark, it really does appear somewhat thrown together - not so much in layout or flow, but very much so in editing. Were the errors few they would be a nit. Unfortunately, there are enough to present a level of irritation, hence 4 stars instead of 5.

Still, currency is of the essence in computer technology titles. This book will require a refresh when Snow Leopard is out, for example. As best I can tell, the content is up-to-date for Leopard, and the book very nicely addresses the needs of the here and now in spite of its flaws.

Like an astronaut or a high wire circus artist, I leaped from my semi-secure base of PC where I lived for 26 years into Mac World. I always wanted to be snob . This book was as good as I can imagine lacking an inhouse patient, in-house tech person. The most horrible part of the move was and is the mail program which is hysterical, erratic and malicious...but that's not this good book's fault.

After using the Tiger version of Mac OS X (10.4) for a couple of months, I updated to the Leopard version (10.5) and obtained the Leopard edition of David Pogue's book from O'Reilly. Because of the new features in Leopard, this edition has expanded from 515 pages to 590 pages.

Although I expected to find a short section listing all of the new features introduced by Leopard, its absence is not a serious problem. These lists can be found on the Internet and then printed for reference.

This edition of the book follows the same chapter layout as the Tiger edition and includes all the very helpful features for anyone switching from a Windows-based PC to an iMac or MacBook. In addition to continually taking the PC-user's viewpoint in every section, there are chapters and sections especially designed to ease the transition. The most helpful for PC users are:

Chapter 1 - How the Mac is different

Chapters 5-7 - Transferring files, emails, contacts, etc. from your PC and also, Mac capabilities for replacing specific Windows programs

Appendix B - Where Did It Go? You'll find yourself referring to this useful appendix often to quickly find out how to do all the things that were second-nature on the PC, e.g., Ctl-Alt-Delete to `kill' stuck programs, shutdown, zipping/unzipping files, taskbar & system tray, favorites, and much more.

It you are switching from a PC to a Mac running Leopard, you'll love this book. But if you already have the Tiger edition and just want the Leopard content, then you will benefit more from purchasing the more comprehensive (almost 900 pages) Mac Leopard OS X: The Missing Manual, 2007, which is also by David Pogue.

I've been using Windows, DOS, and "PCs" for years. I had a brief exposure to Macs for about 4 years in the mid-1990's while in college, but that was with System 7, a horrendous OS so bad that I have avoided Macs since then. So with all the fuss over Vista and the aging XP, I decided to give Macs another chance. I needed a reference book to help with the switch over and this one turned out to be perfect for someone like myself experienced with Windows and technology but needing to know the basics of a new OS.

This book is not for people who are new to computers in general. Not really. It's intended for those of us with a working knowledge or better of Windows and takes a lot of material from Pogue's other more in depth books and packs it into a smaller, more easily digestible package. It's great as a reference as well as being easy to read straight through.

It focuses on the Mac equivalents to common Windows tasks, the different terminology for OS X, etc. It also covers a lot of information that I find even long-term Mac users don't typically know about. It's a perfect book to get for someone who is switching from Windows to OS X.

I still use this as a reference even after being on OS X almost a year now. I find it to be an excellent resource for others who have made the Mac plunge recently as well, as they have universally found it to be accessible, fast, and very helpful.

I am switching from PC to iMAC after tiring of continual crashes and bought this to aid me. This book is of only slight value to a novice. If the reader knew as much about iMACs as the author assumes, there would be little reason to purchase this book. Check it out yourself. Think of some simple operations that you perform on your PC. Then, peruse the index for this book in an attempt to learn how to perform the same functions on an iMAC. In the unlikely event that you find in the index what you are looking for, read the indicated pages. If you can get past the computer gibberish, you may finds something meaningful. I couldn't. And when I tried to carefully follow the instructions, the things that the books affirms will occur, did not occur. Fortunately, there seem to be several ways to perform any function on the iMAC. So by mindlessly clicking on things and wasting a lot of time I could learn myself what this book falsely promised to teach me.

Its best use is to just read it through and get some feel for what Leopard is. That's not why I bought it.

This is/was a great help to me a Windows/Linux user. The MAC is awesome and the OSX a welcome change to what I'm use to. OSX is different and similar and this text sorts out the quirks. I found it a quick read and full of help. The items this doesn't cover Google does. It made a good transition for me.

Fantastic book! It provided details and ideas that the staff at my local Mac reseller did not know. The switch from PC to Mac has not been easy, but it would have been much tougher without the help provided in this book. Communicating between old PCs and new Macs became simple. Moving all old emails and email boxes was a breeze.

Note: 'The Tornado' does NOT transfer data from your PC to your Mac. That is the most glaring error. There is very little usable info to assist in moving data. There is nothing listed for iTunes transfer. You're better off spending time and $0 reading the support sections of the Apple website.

I have recently moved from PC to a MacBook. After being a PC guy for the past 20 plus years, I found it very difficult to figure out how to do things with the MAC. Everything is different on the Mac OS. The first time I tried to change from PC to Mac I became frustrated and returned to the PC. A few months later, I decided to give it another try. This book has been a savior! This really is the book that should come with the MAC. It is very complete without being a "techie" manual. I can easily find the things I am looking for and they are easy to understand. There is even a section that describes what I use to do on a PC and how to do it on the Mac. If you are switching from a PC to Mac, definitely buy this book!
The Missing Manual also makes a similar book titled "Mac OS X Leopard". They both have a lot of the same stuff in them. "OS X Leopard" can get a little more into the weeds for a newbie. "Switching to the Mac" has the section that allows to to look up what you used to do on a PC and tells you how to do it on a Mac.

An excellent reference manual for those of us who are new to macs. After years of being personally programmed to 'think like a PC,' a manual like this makes it easier to begin to 'think like a mac.' Thanks for the help with this conversion :)

Very helpful resource to ease your pain during switching from PC to mac. Even mac users can earn me details.

With the advent of yet another Windows version, and the professed capability to have Windows and Mac OS on the same computer, I have made the switch (or more accurately, are in the process of divorcing Windows). This easy to read and well indexed reference has been just enough information to get me from my IBM Thinkpad with Windows XP to the MacBook Pro running Windows XP in a VMware Fusion virtual machine. It is amazing to have the Windows toolbar at the bottom of the screen and the Mac doc on the side.

It doesn't have all the answers, but with the documentation that accompanies the VMware Fusion I have all I've needed, and not too much fluff or technical verbage in the way. I stumbled into the book while traveling, but it is the one I needed to make the transition smooth, yet keep an understanding of how it works at the user level.

The perfect addition to the sparse (but necessary) manuals that accompany your new Mac, and a copy of VMware Fusion.

great reference book and step instructions for mac 10.5. makes using the new os. 10.5, a delightful experience with right on topics and shortcuts. should have been included by apple with the purchase of the duel core processor and upgraded os

Pogue, author/publisher of the spot-on "Missing Manuals" - a series well-regarded for consistently delivering what it promises - ought to be keel-hauled for producing such a sloppily cobbled and pitifully proofed reissue of his widely-lauded "Mac OS-X Leopard", all under the thin veneer of a smashing title (sure got this recent switcher's attention!).

Fortunately, the manual retains most of Pogue's inimitable touches of thorough attention to technical detail; by all rights it should have been a winner -- sad to say, it falls far short of that lofty target. This manual easily would have merited 4 stars for content, but instead turns out to be a second-best also-ran, flying under a false flag. Spend just a few more bucks to get the heavy-weight version of the author's authentic Leopard "Missing Manual"; while the switcher's tips appetizers are identical, the latter heaps more and fresher Leopard meat on your plate.

Section (even chapter) text seems to be blatantly copied-and-pasted verbatim from "Big Mac", including give-away wording lifted from that manual such as '(page 835)' on p. 570 in this 590-page book. Even the handy 5-page 'secret' master keystroke list (Appendix C) is exactly the same as the original's Appendix E. And, annoyingly, on and on. The 'new thin aluminum keyboard' (fig 1-5, p.21) shows four keys at bottom left (like the wireless keyboard), whereas the redesigned USB keyboard sports just three widened modifier keys [Ctrl, Alt (eh, Option), and Command], confining Fn to just one key near the top.

The Index -- an invaluable tool for transplants trying to come up to speed in the Mac world -- obviously hasn't been proofed, in that 'System Preferences' with 27 subentries is wedged between 'Sounds' and 'Spaces', to reappear (identically spelled, but with just one subentry) in its correct alpha position. I checked the Index in vain for 'Proxy Icon', a term foreign to Windows users; 'Formating' (a disk), that perennial Windows headache, likewise isn't referenced.

In brief: This is more of a 'Missed' [in the sense of opportunity lost, or failing the mark] than a 'Missing' Manual. By all means purchase this author's Mac OS-X 'Leopard' bible rather than this repackaged version, whose title may be its sole claim to originality.

For anyone that is not familiar with the wonderful, easy world that is the Apple Macintosh, consider yourself a poor, ignorant soul. Ever since the first Macintosh computer was launched in 1984, the Mac has been the most user-friendly computer available to the masses, and with the newest operating system X Leopard Edition, the same is true, only times X!!!

For existing Windows users who have decided to make the switch because they got their slick new iPod and loves the way it works or they just got a look at a Mac recently and decided it was for them this is the perfect manual for making the switch!!

Covering basics like getting e-mail up and running, importing bookmarks, listening to music, viewing digital pictures and all the other important parts of everyday personal computing is all contained in this book. Written by the amazing David Pogue, every topic is covered in an easy to read manner and this manual is chock full of images on nearly every page!!

For all recent Mac OS X users or people who have made the switch, this book truly SHOULD have been in the box with the OS. It's an incredibly well-written resource, and while it's full of hard data and examples, it's really fun at the same time!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I have to strongly disagree with the reviewer here who suggests buying the "Leopard Edition Missing Manual" instead. Yes, there is duplication of content here, but there is also content that is NOT in the other book, and I think a Windows Switcher is going to be much happier with this book than the other. In an ideal situation, I'd give them both and have them read this first.

Sure, it could have been done better, and maybe there really is no need for two thick books. Maybe all the "switcher" stuff should be taken out of the "regular" book and all the "this is the way a Mac" works stuff should be taken out of this - then the two could and should be sold as a set for those who need or want both. Certainly both these books could use some trimming; they are fat and hard to handle.

This is the book I'd give my wife if and when I can get her to give up her Windows PC (I hate that stupid thing and cannot wait for it to die!). She'll be much happier with this than she would be with the other book.

As a long-time Windows user I found myself annoyed at getting around my first Mac. Apple's site has some helpful tutorials and videos -- but this book is even better. OS X is a great operating system and Mr. Pogue's explanation and organization bring it to light. I'm still not as fast with Mac as with Windows (especially the shortcut keys) but this book got me close. I recommend it.

The author explains himself clearly and cleverly. Easy to follow when instructions are explained and pleasant to read. Clever and smart at full!