WITHOUT THIS BOOK I WOULD BE LOST. I'M INEXPERIENCED, BUT THIS BOOK HAS ALLOWED ME TO COMMUNICATE, AND MAKE ME LESS IGNORANT.

My order arrived ahead of schedule, and the book was just as it was described.

If you own a Mac with tiger, you need this book. This should come with every mac. Easy to read and follow.

Reviewer: Chuck Thomas, Bowling Green Area Microcomputer Users Group

Having recently switched from PC-only to being a Mac and PC user, I was anxious to see if this 514-page book would ease my transition and continue to be helpful for some time. It far exceeded my expectations and has proven to be invaluable.

The introduction begins with a clear list of the advantages of switching to Mac: `What the Mac OS Gives You' and "What it Takes Away." (The latter section actually lists advantages like the lack of viruses!) In the first chapter entitled, "How the Mac is Different," the authors describe each feature of the Mac OS and, wherever possible, relate that difference to the windows action, command, or location.

The second chapter provides a thorough description of windows and icons, the third acquaints the user with the Dock, Desktop, and Toolbars, while the fourth chapter completes the introductory material with extensive coverage of Programs and Documents, including different OS views, running older programs, and installing new programs.

The rest of the book is devoted to clear and extensive descriptions of four areas: 1) A chapter on each of the software products that ships with OS X 10.4 (Tiger), 2) Hardware on the Mac, including disks, memory, monitors (including dual monitors), printers, modem, etc., 3) Other topics like networking with PCs & other Macs, utilities that ship with Tiger, the firewall, etc., and 4) Installation & Troubleshooting, which is a short chapter due to the reliability of the Mac and the simple procedures for installing software in OS X.

Following these chapters is a very helpful appendix entitled "The Where Did It Go? Dictionary," which describes how each feature of Windows can be accomplished with Tiger. The second appendix describes the procedures for running Windows on a Mac in either dual-boot or parallel mode.

The writing style is informal, clear, and consistently focused on describing the Mac's features from the viewpoint of a Windows user. The book uses a logical format, bold sub-headings, and occasional, gray textboxes containing useful tips. There are frequent, screen shots to illustrate OS X features under discussion, but they are not overdone. Finally, the Index is very complete, thus allowing the reader to use the book as a reference tool. As a result, I found it remarkably enjoyable and easy to skim the book, reading in depth the things that were new, skimming the familiar parts, and saving some topics for a later time--when I'm ready to network, to tackle them.

Being a novice Mac owner, this book was a great tool for me to learn why I chose my iMac over a new PC. There is a wide range of audiences that will love this manual as well, from novice to expert. It answers all the questions you may have and provides explanations when necessary. I recommend David Pogue's work for any Mac manual purchases.

With the flimsy manuals you get with the Mac, I thought it was going to be a much smaller book. Very thorough and informative, even if you thought Mac interface was intuitive. I really like the tip and note sections with all the nice,juicy information about little obscure functions that will save time and give access to places you had to burrow for. Definitely a book to recommend.

This man is great Love my Mac and I couldn't do a fraction of it's potential with out the book.

This book is for someone new to the MAC world. Please understand this before purchasing.

This is a great reference guide to have on the shelf. I find I have reached for it quite often. Now that I switched to Leopard, I will be picking up the Missing Manual for that!

The book is well written and presented. It is valuable as a reference book when an explanation is needed or when the way to do something is unclear. It puts computing issues in context and is useful to have alongside Mac OS X Tiger for Dummies.I am glad that I purchased it.

As a "switcher" to Mac, I bought this book hoping to fill in the gaps as I stumbled through learning a new operating system. I am very pleased with the depth of the discussions, looking at past versions of Mac OS-X and tips and tricks to get the most out of your computer. There isn't as much detail for those of us completely oblivious of the vast differences between Macs and PCs as I might be able to use, but as I see now, there is a book that may be better designed for people like me by the same author. All in all, I am very pleased with the purchase and would not be where I am today without it's guidance.

Having not used a Mac in over 20 years, I chose this book to update me with all the latest info to use OSX Tiger. Not one to like reading off a computer screen (yes, kill a tree for me), I prefer to have a good, solid manual I can wrap my hands around and I'm really glad I chose this hefty tome. It has become the go-to source for all things OSX for me! Highly recommended!

I recently switched from an old Dell PIII 500MHz with upgraded hardware, running Windows 2000 Pro, to a Mac G4 Quicksilver 2x1GHz, running OS X Tiger with iLife '06. Although I toyed briefly with Debian GNU/Linux and FreeBSD between moving from Windows 98 to 2000 Pro, and so have a very elementary acquaintance with Unix, the underlying force of Apple's OS X, I had no experience with the Macintosh way of doing things. David Pogue's book on OS X v10.4 is an excellent introduction, and I'm happy to have chosen it for my first look at Tiger.

Whenever I get a new Mac operating system, I always look for David Pogue's book about it. I know there will be one out there already, and I know it will have the answers to my questions written in a way I can understand. I've depended on his books since my first MAC FAQs, years ago.

This is a very valuable manual for Mac OSX 10.4.10 as it has everything a user who is transitioning from an older OSx to 10.4.10. It answered all my questions in a clear and proper manner. And the keystrokes to accomplished the desired action worked as described. I recommend this Manual.

The problem with Pogue is that he talks too much and says too little.

All that wordiness pads the book hugely, so it makes for an impressive tome on your bookshelf. But it slows you down. Way, way down!

If you value your time, find as OSX reference work from an author that values your time as much as you do.

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK UNTIL YOU HAVE SCANNED IT.

This is a great book! I switched from a PC and this book helped me get to really enjoy my new Mac. I feel like an expert now! I'm even giving lessons and tips to friends and relatives! One of my "students" who didn't really like her new Mac BEFORE, loves it NOW!
The book is quite long, but it has a good index and is not the type of book that has to be read cover to cover anyway.

Obviously the most helpful resource for those of us whose tech expertise is just one foot out of the sandbox!!
They provide the basic information without making one feel like an idiot!
I hope I live long enough to read it all.....

Although I haven't read through the whole book yet. What I did read I really liked. It is simple to understand with humor on top. Makes a great read apart from all the tips. Highly recommendable.

This Manul along with Mac for Dummies and "Switchig to the Mac" is all I have available to learn how to use a MAC. My MacBook Pro Laptop came with not one ioata of information as to how to use it, even to turn it on and off. It is much different from the Microsoft Operating System computers that I have used in the past. Without these books it would have been much more difficult as to how things work on a Mac, and to be able to use them. The Manual for the Leapord Operating system is now out, which is what my machine has in it and I currently have a copy of the Leapord Manual on order. With the verious items I now have, and the new Leapord Operating System on hand, I feel it is just a matter of time until I can easily operate my new Mac.

I am a disabled person in many ways. I have cerebral problems that leave me with a very short attention span, and short term memory loss. I had a hard time getting started with the manual. Even when using a book mark, I would forget what I read up until I marked my place. If the manual was on CD or DVD, I could browse through it more easily. My biggest problem is that after years of using machines with Microsoft OS, I bought an iMac G4\G3 Desktop (the one with the half melon shaped base and the wide flat screen on a stalk) and I can't figure out how to do anything except turn it on and off, and navigate slightly. The manual shows nor tells no way to open the CD tray. I tried to use the added Air Port Extreme wireless device to connect to my existing wireless enabled router. I know I entered the proper settings, but it would not connect. The manual covers that but not so far as to tell you what to do if you can't make a connection. I can't even find instructions on how to check what hardware is present. Like Windows Hardware Devices.

I bought the book as the reviews were pretty good and I wanted a quick way to learn features in OS X that were not obvious for a computer-savvy chap like myself.

I recommend that you go to the nearest bookstore and try reading a few pages or a chapter before deciding to purchase this book instead of an alternative.

The author takes 822 pages to communicate what could likely be presented in less than 300 pages. The dialog is overly "chatty" and the author worked to stretch the text to 822 pages.

Here are a few excerpts.

"Apple has a name for the animation you see when you minimize, open, or close a window: the genie effect, because it so closely resembles the way Barbara Eden, Robin Williams, and other TV and move genies entered and exited their magic lamps and bottles."

"Here and there--in System Preferences, TextEdit, Microsoft Office, and many other programs--Mac OS X offers you the opportunity to choose a color for some element: for your desktop, background, a window, and so on."

"Address Book is Mac OS X's little-black-book-program--an electronic Rolodex where you can stash the names, job titles, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and Internet chat screen names of all the people in your life..."

That's 822 pages of long run-on sentences with happy, cute, and chatty dialog to describe everything. That's every single screen, feature, option, mouse click, everything in Mac OS X. The examples cited above were randomly picked by opening three arbitrary pages.

If your preference is for concise communication of howto's and features this is not the book for you.

I bought the book as the reviews were pretty good and I wanted a quick way to learn features in OS X that were not obvious for a computer-savvy chap like myself.

I recommend that you go to the nearest bookstore and try reading a few pages or a chapter before deciding to purchase this book instead of an alternative.

The author takes 822 pages to communicate what could likely be presented in less than 300 pages. The dialog is overly "chatty" and the author worked to stretch the text to 822 pages.

Here are a few excerpts.

"Apple has a name for the animation you see when you minimize, open, or close a window: the genie effect, because it so closely resembles the way Barbara Eden, Robin Williams, and other TV and move genies entered and exited their magic lamps and bottles."

"Here and there--in System Preferences, TextEdit, Microsoft Office, and many other programs--Mac OS X offers you the opportunity to choose a color for some element: for your desktop, background, a window, and so on."

"Address Book is Mac OS X's little-black-book-program--an electronic Rolodex where you can stash the names, job titles, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and Internet chat screen names of all the people in your life..."

That's 822 pages of long run-on sentences with happy, cute, and chatty dialog to describe everything. That's every single screen, feature, option, mouse click, everything in Mac OS X. The examples cited above were randomly picked by opening three arbitrary pages.

If your preference is for concise communication of howto's and features this is not the book for you.

I'm a long time windows user, first time Apple. This book is a must.

It is amazing how much my computer can do that Apple never told me! David Pogue gives new presents with each chapter. Well worth the price. I also have Mac OS X for Dummies - each has its own attributes, e.g. Dummies has more about using the terminal; MM has more tricks and references to free programs. It is well worth it to have both books.

Pogue's on to something here---every one of his manuals (I've read a few) are spot-on, with plenty of solid information written in a pleasant tone. I used this to get up to speed with my home Mac. Great stuff. Looking forward to Leopard.

This book is wonderful. I don't see why Mac does not give it with the computer. It would save them hours of answering our pathetic calls.

This is the best how-to book for Mac OS X. It is simple enough for beginners (although they may be intimidated by the amount of information presented) but is full of useful information for users at any level of expertise. It focuses on information that will be useful every day, and does not get into the less frequently used topics. For example, its treatment of Unix is brief, and there's not much Macintosh troubleshooting or configuration information. For a good treatment of this more esoteric information see Ted Landau's Mac OS X Help Line, Tiger Edition.

Pogue covers all the free programs included with the OS as well as the OS itself. Even if you know these programs well you will be surprised at some of their hidden features that are revealed here. This book is a great source for shortcut key combinations (there's even a master list in an appendix).

Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4) is not drastically different from Panther (10.3), and their Missing Manuals are not that different either. The main innovations in Tiger are Automator, Spotlight, and Dashboard, and this book has extensive coverage of all. O'Reilly makes minor updates to their books in new printings. This one was published in 2005, but I'm reviewing the eighth printing (December 2006) which has some information on Intel Macs that did not exist in 2005.

The Missing Manual series has a very clever innovation, namely the "Missing CD-ROM". There's no CD-ROM bound with the book (they claim this saves you $5 off the cover price), but each book has a page on the publisher's web site with all the freeware you would normally find on a CD-ROM. The publisher page has links to other pages where the software is available (usually it refers you to Version Tracker), so the publisher doesn't have to license the software for distribution or even pay for the server space to store the software.

The writing in this book is much livelier than in the average computer book, probably because the author is not the average computer author. David Pogue is a self-described music/theatre geek and has a bachelor's degree in Music from Yale. He wrote the Desktop Critic column for Macworld magazine from 1988 to 2000 and has gone on to bigger and better things as the Technology columnist for the New York Times.

Good product. It has gotten me out of a jam twice. I am glad that I purchased it

I purchased my first mac 8 months ago, and in the meantime was using only the most basic functions, using the online help. However, buying this book has opened up a whole new world of what the mac can do. I can see now why mac users are so hooked on macs, beyond the obvious virus-minimisation benefits. This book is easy to read and follow, covers the subject matter most comprehensively and, as the title of the series says, should have been in the box. Buying this guide is the best decision, as now I can get the most out of owning the mac. Well done David Pogue!!

Well worth the investment for those new to the OS. As a recently-converted Windows user, this has helped me find some pretty slick tricks in Tiger (though most of this can be found out just by browsing the web). The current version (at my local bookstore) however, is a May 2007 printing. If this is indeed the 2005 version, you will be missing out on a significant chunk of information, inluding up-to-date "how to's" for using most of the included software. Just a heads up (though it could just be that Amazon has been too lazy to update the edition in the site text).

The book is comprehensive but not sufficiently selective. Much space is devoted to self-evident information, contributing to a heavy bulging tome that belies the hype about Apple building a user-friendly computer. (Experienced Apple users laugh at me when they see me consulting this.) Instead of telling me how to reinstall the OS (the on-screen instructions do the same), why not a page or two on what to do when a CD, DVD, or Tiger OS disk fails to appear on the screen? I've looked through the book and index twice to no avail. Perhaps an index item list: what to do if a disk doesn't appear on the screen; what do to if a blank disk cannot be burned in iTunes, Toast, or any other program; what to do when you have two iDiscs on your screen; what to do when your finder is overrun with empty, useless icons, beginning with a "." , which can't be ejected, trashed or removed.

If you require knowing the theory (of Unix, for example) as opposed to strictly pragmatical use (with occasional reference to the Help menu), this book is for you. Otherwise, I'd recommend a fix-it book like Trouble-Shooting Mac OS X.

The book is comprehensive but not sufficiently selective. Much space is wasted on self-evident information, contributing to a heavy bulging tome that belies the hype about Apple building a user-friendly computer. Instead of telling me how to reinstall the OS (the on-screen instructions do the same), why not a page or two on what to do when a CD, DVD, or Tiger OS disk fails to appear on the screen? I've looked through the book and index twice to no avail. Perhaps an index item list: what to do if a disk doesn't appear on the screen; what do to if a blank disk cannot be burned in iTunes, Toast, or any other program; what to do when you have two iDiscs on your screen; what to do when your finder is overrun with empty, useless icons, beginning with a "." , which can't be ejected, trashed or removed. The book has cost me money, time, and patience but has yet to pay me back. In fact, I'd be better off without it, especially if the problems are treatment resistant to non-professionals.

I wish I had purchased this manual a year ago. Great information regarding the MAC and Microsoft interface ideas and problems.

Fantastic information regarding the operation and what can be done with the Intel MAC.

This book is a boring technical manual and not what it was advertised to be. I would not recommend this book for purchase.

I found the book 'Mac OS X Tiger: Missing Manual', by David Pogue, to be very informative and detailed, but yet not difficult to read. This large book covers many areas of Mac OS X, and includes sidebar tips & hints, and suggested software downloads. Overall, I found the book to be excellent.

This is an excellent book for somebody new to this or any operating system. It could provide more details for those with some operating systems experience. If you're totally new to the Mac OS X, it's a great reference. It has too many anecdotes. It would be nice to remove the journalism and focus on the topic. Removing the extraneous asides might cut somewhere between 1 of 6 pages or more from the book length.

Don't get the book if you want to understand how the command line, tweak the firewall or do something non-standard. There really isn't any meaningful command line coverage in the book.

Like I said - this is just the book I was looking for! Firm expedition!

This book is packed with useful, detailed information, presented in a highly readable (even entertaining) form. It is easy to find exactly the help one needs. The author cleverly anticipates reader confusion and clears it up before it arises. Indispensibe for anyone using OS X 10.4.

This book is a must have. Great reference material to have on hand. Covers all of Tiger. Compared to what Apple gives you, this is an indispensable tool.

This is an amazingly useful book. If you aren't a mac person but have a mac, you really should buy this. It's straightforward and very revealing. Truly a masterful manual.

Quite informative, the book is almost worn out.

I got this book and the OS X Bible and this is definately the book you want to have over the OSX Bible. It is very easy to understand and he throws in tips and hints, for things you never thought about. I love this book!

I'm not a poweruser but I do like to understand how things work and how to do some things without a lot of trial and error actions. This book fills my needs and then some. Macs are pretty simple and intuitive but I had no idea how easy it is to do so many things - and the many different ways to do each of them. For example, backing up info is so important to me and yet Mac doesn't come with an apparent backup program. I've tried a number of simple programs and have been dissatisfied. Right there on Pg. 75 the author explains how to label (color code) your files, use Find to locate all that I've labelled a particular way, and burn them to a CD or DVD. That alone was worth the price of the book to me and there are so many other topics that he explained to me that I've become a Mac disciple rather than a switcher! David Pogue writes in such a clear manner that even a subject as dry as an operating system becomes fun to read. My next adventure with him will be to learn how to make iPhoto really work for me.

I recently switched to a Mac (a MacBook Pro) after 20+ years as a PC user. I primarily use my laptop as a mobile Office suite and I have loaded it with Music programs for composing (Finale & Sibelius) and recording/editing (Ableton Live) but it was OS X that I needed the help with. While there are a lot of similarities between PC and Mac, I knew I was going to have to adjust a lot of my thinking to take advantage of the speed and efficiency of this new machine.

My brother-in-law suggested this book series saying that it was written clearly, thorough and light on pretension or industry talk, but not insultingly simple like the Dummies series or the other "made easy" books. I couldn't be much happier with the book. It's deep, clearly written and full of advice, tips and step-by-step that assumes you've already figured out how to turn it on.

My only complaint, and it's relatively small given the size of the text, is that many of the page number references in the text are wrong. The first chapter had at least two or three references to other chapters that were off by a page or more. It's nothing that a little hunting couldn't fix, but it still caused some minor confusion. The book's introduction refers you to the errata page on their site where most of these fixes are listed, but that's one more step in what could've been fixed with a simple keystroke had it been caught before press...a minor nuisance but a nuisance never-the-less.

As an average user with a solid background in computers (though nowhere near as deep as a programmer or Mac guru), this book fit my needs exactly and with great detail. All in all, it's a great book for the average user seeking to become familiar with all the power Macs can bring to your control.

Although I started reading this book online through my Safari Bookstore subscription I had to purchase it because it was a keeper. This is the easiest and most comprehensive source of information about OS X I've across in my 6 months as a recent switcher from Windows/Linux. I read a lot of Mac blogs and listen to Mac related podcasts, and a lot of the tips and tricks presented there as something new, I've already read in this book.

The language is very easy to read, it's even entertaining at times unlike the monotonous tones of most computer books. It's laid out very well, and information is easy to find using the TOC or the Index. I read about the first half of it straight through, and the rest I read on an as needed basis. Please note though that this book is quite big and detailed. It's geared more towards power users and admins. If you just need something to bring you up to speed on using your new Mac, I'd recommend Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition by the same author. I got this for my brother, and recommended it to a friend, and they both loved it.

The whole series is great actually. I also purchased the iPhoto and iMovie HD Missing Manuals.

This book was perfect for me who just switched from Windows to Mac OS X. It explaines in detail everything you need to know to get started, and you will have enough to read and learn for a long time. I guess that this book will stay next to my new Mac for a long time. Don't hesitate to buy this book!

A wonderful book! I was new to the mac world and was floundering. "Mac OS X Tiger" was perhaps the best buy I have ever made. I am now much more at home with my laptop and the book is always near at hand. Can't praise it enough. I intend buying one for my son who had just bought a new mac.

This book is an essential item on your desk if you are new to Tiger. Very comprehensive and easy to understand for the layman. I recently switched to Mac after years of M$ and this guide has been really helpful in my explorations of this elegant operating system. I highly recommend it; I've gotten a lot of use out of it!
(PS: it also seems good for the techie as well; there's a whole chapter on scripts and stuff that I don't understand!)

Since I switched from Windows to iMac I was looking for a book the gives me an overview over the system. This book does an excellent job in doing so. It covers everything you need to know goes into some detail, but not too deep (which also would not be possible in a book like this, otherwise it would be thousands of pages long).

I can really recommend this book for people who switch or beginners.