The Mac OS X Lion Bible – Book Mystique Review
Aside from their addressing the same subject matter, Galen Gruman’s Mac OS X Lion Bible is in some respects the polar opposite of Bob LeVitus’s Mac OS X Lion For Dummies that I reviewed here several weeks ago. While both books are also from the same publisher, they represent sort of yin and yang approaches to the topic. “Dummies” is breezy and oriented mainly toward the beginner or Mac OS newbie user (although with Lion, to a certain degree we are all newbies), while the Lion Bible is a thoroughgoing and comprehensive manual covering OS X 10.7 Lion in considerable depth, taking a doorstop-worthy 819 pages to do it.
That’s not to say that the Lion Bible’s prose is dull or turgid. As a veteran tech journalist and magazine editor, Galen Gruman is a skilled writer who knows how to keep the narrative flowing in a way that engages readers. Nor does he ignore the needs and interests of neophyte users. The first several chapters (of 30) in particular will be of interest to beginners, addressing Mac basics before moving along to more complex matters. This book is much more a “one-size-fits-all” solution than Mac OS X Lion For Dummies. It really is, as it claims on the cover, “your complete guide to OS X 10.7 Lion.”
The Mac OS X Lion Bible is structured in seven parts divided into 30 chapters, plus four appendices, a glossary, and an index. The parts somewhat discretely cover different aspects of using the operating system, so most likely you’ll read them in the order of interest to you rather than consecutively front to back. The author suggests that everyone read Part One first, however, to get the basic lay of the land how Mac OS X LIon operates, and even if you’re in even if you’re a Mac OS veteran, because of the somewhat radical changes in the way OS X 10.7 Lion addresses certain features, functions, and user interface matters, it’s probably good advice to follow.
Part One is logically entitled “Getting Started With Mac Os X 10.7 Lion.” It walks you through basic Finder interface navigation tools, there’s a brief chapter on how to start up your Mac if you’re a complete newbie, and how to shut it down. There is also a discussion of the Finder’s basic interface functions, the Menu Bar, Dock, Desktop, and the new Mission Control, Exposé, and Spaces functions in version 10.7 for switching among applications and windows. Also explained are the Mac’s special keys compared with Windows key mapping, how to use the mouse, and how to use gestures on a touchpad. Moving along, other fundamental aspects of the Finder are explained: how to use Finder windows, and how to use the Finder to manipulate files folders and disks. The rest of Part One covers specialty aspects of the Finder, including the Spotlight search utility, the Help system, Disk Utility for formatting and repairing discs, and the Universal Access extensions to the Finder that help people with disabilities use Mac OS X.
Part Two is entitled “Using Applications And Documents,” and of course working with applications and documents is the central function of any computer operating system. Mac OS X provides a common set of capabilities to address this function, and this part of the book explains how to run applications, how to work with them, how to save, and how to safeguard them via backup. The chapters in this part explain each of these aspects of using standard application documents. They also show how to work with the special application helpers that come with Mac OS X (called Services in Apple parlance), and how to use AppleScripting and the Automator to create your own applications and utilities.
Part three is called “Working With Mac OS’s Applications,” which might seem a little redundant after the previous chapter, but it takes a different tack, addressing in particular the bundle of applications that come with Mac OS X, and which are capable of performing pretty much the entire suite of functions that most people use a computer for without ever buying another piece of software. They include both a amazingly capable mini wordprocessor/text editor called Text Edit, and a better than decent image editor and PDF reader in the Preview utility for starters. There’s also the Mac OS X Mail email client program the Safari browser of course, the Address Book and Calendar, and a Dictionary/Glossary function. And that’s just for starters. The chapters in this section also show you how to work with special application functions. Chapter 14 profiles the entire suite of bundled applications and utilities, while chapter 16 focuses on the media applications that come with Mac OS X: iTunes and QuickTime Player. Other chapters take a look at third-party utilities you might also want to consider using in addition to the Mac OS X bundled inventory. There are also instructions on how to run Windows applications on your Mac and connect to Windows machines elsewhere, and how you will be using Apples iCloud service when it comes on stream next month, as well as other cloud computing services.
Part Four is about using the Internet and collaboration services. Virtually everyone’s computer is online these days unless they’re located completely in the back of beyond, using the Internet for communicating, collaborating, processing services, getting information, or for some of us it’s our work environment venue as well. This section focuses on using Mac OS X applications that help you with Internet activities including the Safari Web browser, the Mail email client, the iChat messaging tool, the FaceTime video conferencing utility, the Address Book contact manager, and the iCal calendar. It also explains how to use Mac OS X with Microsoft’s popular corporate email server, Exchange.
Part five segues into “Setting Up And Using Networks.” The author notes that many Mac users connect to each other via networks, and not just via the Internet, but even at home, where it’s very common to have multiple computers and other devices such as printers, TiVos, an Apple TVs connected via a wired (e.g.Ethernet) and/or wireless (Wi-Fi) networks. Some of us connect to the Internet via a network as well using a home Wi-Fi router, or share a DSL modem cable modem, or connect to an office network. Consequently this part is one of the most important parts of the book, explaining how to connect to various networks, as well as how to share files over a network and even access data on or control other Macs, your own or belonging to other users, over a network.
Part Six is about “Securing Your Mac And Your Users.” Once again, because Macs are usually connected to the Internet, share files, and/or have multiple users, there’s a pretty good chance that your confidential personal information would get exposed if you didn’t exercise some crucial security precautions. There’s also the nascent threat at least of getting a computer virus on your Mac. Most Mac users I know don’t bother much with virus detection software, firewalls, or that sort of thing, but it’s entirely possible the day will come when we will be obliged to, and in the meantime, particularly if you keep sensitive information on your computer, it’s probably a good idea to preemptively put up some fences. This part of the book explains how to protect your data and your Mac, how to manage multiple user accounts on a Mac, and how to manage the information that a Mac collects on your current location. It also shows how parents can set up and manage their kids’ Macs to keep them safe from Internet hazards, as well as to be sure they don’t spend all night up Web surfing.
Part Seven is about “Configuring Mac Preferences And Services. Because everyone is different, an operating system must accommodate differing individual preferences and working styles. This is accomplished using the System Preferences application, which sets controls and parameters for many aspects of Mac OS X from choosing a background picture for your Desktop to how your data is secured. Mac OS X also provides tools to manage the fonts used on the Mac (for formatted documents mainly), and there are also chapters on connecting to printers, fax modems, scanners, and such.
Part Eight includes four appendices, which in this case offer much more than afterthoughts, Appendix A is on installing Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, which is a substantially different process and it has been for previous versions on Mac OS X.
Appendix B is about What’s New in Mac OS X Lion, and there’s quite a lot, so this one will very likely come in handy even if you’re a Mac OS X veteran. Points addressed include changes in application window navigation, use of gestures, changes to the Dock, new features in Spotlight, using System Preferences, and the Help system, changes in working with applications and documents, working with discs and much more.
Appendix C is more technical, being focused on Mac OS X Lion’s key technologies that hum along under the graphical user interface surface and rarely seen by the vast majority of users. These include Darwin, BX NU Kernel, the 64-bit kernel, Grand Central Dispatch, symmetric multiprocessing, preemptive multitasking, OpenCL, protected memory and advanced memory management, Quartz, OpenGL, QuickTime, pack will plus some notes on the Mac OS X application environments, Cocoa, Carbon, Frameworks, Java, core location, BSD, and X11.
Appendix D continues with the UNIX aspect of OS X, with chapters on working with the Terminal, using basic UNIX commands, and using X11. There is also a 36 page index, and a 33 page Glossary.
Mac OS X Lion Bible is a big book, and a relatively expensive one, with a cover price of $39.99 US or $47.99 Canadian. It is printed on decent quality stock but not glossy or highly calendared paper, and the many illustrations, mostly screenshots, appear in grayscale rather than full color as with, say, Mac OS X LIon For Dummies. There are frequent sidebars with more in-depth treatments on certain matters than appears the main text, as well as Notes interpolated in the main text to also call attention to particularly important points, or new features in version 10.7 of the operating system, Tips on how to do things more efficiently and quickly than might bee obvious, Cross-References to more information on topics that can be found in other places in the book, and Cautions about issues that the author judges merit particular warnings about.As I noted in the preamble, if you’re looking for a book that really is a complete guide to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, this is one you should definitely check out. The advertised reader level is “Beginning To Advanced,” and that’s not an extravagant claim.
Mac OS X Lion Bible
Galen Gruman
ISBN: 978-1-1180-2376-1
Paperback
864 pages
August 2011
For more information, visit:
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118023765.html
Amazon.com
List Price: $39.99
Amazon Price: $26.09
Kindle Edition $21.99
For more information, visit:
http://www.amazon.com/Mac-OS-X-Lion-Bible/dp/1118023765
Barnes & Noble
List Price: $39.99
BN.com Price: $26.09
Pick up in Store: $23.38
$39.99 List Price
For more information, visit:
http://bit.ly/q1SL1O
