For the increasing numbers of Windows users who are switching over to the Mac, there lies a different way of working. They need help with that transition and this book provides it.
Switching to the Mac – Tiger Edition
The Missing Manual
By David Pogue & Adam Goldstein
O’Reilly Media, 2005
ISBN: 0-596-00660-8
With so many people making the switch to Macs from Windows, accelerated by the ability to run Windows via BootCamp and Parallels. Now this book does not cover BootCamp and Parallels, I’d expect that in the next edition I would guess, but it does cover everything else a Windows person needs to know.
Organised into fifteen chapters, the book walks you through not only the system differences but also the user interface and issues with common Windows software. Chapters include:
* How the Mac is Different
* Windows and Icons
* The Dock, Desktop, Toolbar and Sidebar
* Programs and Documents
* Five Ways to Transfer Your Files
* Transferring Email and Contacts
* Special Software, Special Problems
* Hardware on the Mac
* Getting Online
* Mail and Address Book
* Safari, iChat and Sherlock
* Accounts and Security
* System Preferences
* The Freebie Programs
* Installation and Troubleshooting
This is a great book. It is the sort of thing I wish I had when I made the Windows to Mac transition, but of course that was back on OS 9 days. Even just the chapter on moving your email and contacts is, in practice, worth the asking price of the book. Also surprisingly helpful for the switcher is the Special Software, Special Problems chapter. The authors take you through a wide range of the software people use on Windows and discuss whether these are available for the Mac or, if not, what are suitable equivalents. They are honest where there are no satisfactory equivalents.
There’s good coverage of moving files across, networking, configuring the system and using the free applications that come with the Mac. There are screengrabs where you need them and good, insightful information.
A good book for those doing the switch.