Author: Mark L. Chambers
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Publication Date: September 2011
ISBN: 978-1-1180-2206-1
Pages: 864
Price: $34.95 print, $22.95 e-book
What's this? Another Mac OS X Lion For Dummies book? Yup.
Last month I reviewed Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus's Mac OS X Lion For Dummies, and it also has a namesake stablemate: Mark L. Chambers' Mac OS X Lion All In One For Dummies, which is accurately subtitled "Eight Books In One."
The Chambers book is the heftier of the two, both physically and content-wise. Chambers says that even if you've never laid hands on a Mac before, this book will get you up to speed, unlike Bob LeVitus's Mac OS X Lion For Dummies (in what I will mostly refer to henceforth as Lion AIO) which is targeted at readers spanning the experience level spectrum, rather than mostly beginner to intermediate or new switcher users.
Chambers shares my favorite one-word evaluation of the Mac OS X user experience—"Elegant"—with elegance in computing being the perspective that informs this book's approach. However, I disagree with Chambers' contention that Mac OS 9 Classic didn't deserve the description of elegance, which has in my estimation characterized all Mac OS versions back at least when I came on board in 1992 with a used Mac running System 6.0.1. In many respects, System 6 still represents the paradigm of computing elegance for me, but I digress. l'll happily concur with Chambers' observation that Mac OS X performs like a Ferrari, and looks as good, too.
Another thing I like about this book is that it manages to cover a vast amount of subject matter without feeling ponderous (except perhaps in physical bulk). Chambers provides step-by-step instruction on every major feature of Mac OS X Lion. All the new features of version 10.7 are covered, including improvements to Apple Mail, Mission Control, and the Launchpad, the new FaceTime application, and the latest versions of all the iLife 11 applications. Everything is explained from the ground up for the reader who may have never touched an Apple computer before, but as Chambers notes, "By the time you reach the final pages, you will have covered advanced topics, such as networking, AppleScript, Internet security, and yes even an introduction to the powerful world of UNIX that exists underneath."
As noted, LionAIO is an omnibus of eight distinct topic mini-book user manuals and references, in order of appearance:
- Introducing Mac OS X
- Customizing And Sharing
- The Digital Hub
- Using iWork
- The Typical Internet Stuff
- Networking in Mac OS X
- Expanding Your System
- Advanced Mac OS X
Here are brief profiles of each of the eight books:
Book I: Introducing Mac OS X begins with a chapter outlining the pleasures and advantages of Mac OS X usership, moving on to an introduction of the basic tasks that you'll perform with the operating system such as copying files, running programs, and so forth. There is also a primer on using Lion's Spotlight search engine, a guide to routine Mac OS X maintenance and troubleshooting, instructions on using the Mac OS X Help system, and a chapter devoted to installing Windows on your Mac using OS X's Boot Camp emulator feature.
Book II: Customizing and Sharing walks you through what you need to know in order to customize Mac OS X to your specific needs and tastes—everything from choosing a Desktop picture or screensaver to explanation of how to set up and administer multiple accounts on a single Macintosh. You'll also find information on tweaking settings you can change in System Preferences to help you tailor Mac OS X to your preferences and particular needs.
Book III: The Digital Hub covers iTunes, iPhoto, iDVD, iMovie, iWeb, and also Garageband, Quick Time Player and DVD Player, which for some reason don't have "i" prefixing their names. In other words, the iLife '11 suite. These bundled programs, which are a big bonus you get with the Mac OS, allow you to connect to and use various electronic gadgets such as digital cameras, digital video (DV) camcorders, and MP3 players. Plus, you can edit and create your own DVDs, audio CDs and movies.
Book IV: Using iWork is about using Apple's eponymous office productivity suite that competes for the same space as Microsoft's industry-standard Office. iWork is not included with Mac OS X, alas, the way AppleWorks used to be with Mac OS Classic back in days of yore, but Chambers makes a case for using Apple's Pages, Numbers and Keynote instead of Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Book V: The Typical Internet Stuff contains, as its title suggests, user manual information about using Apple Mail and OS X's iChat instant messaging application, configuring one on one video conversations with FaceTime, and what's new in the latest iteration of Apple's Safari browser. There are also instructions on using Mac OS X Lion's built in Internet firewall, which can help safeguard your Mac from Internet lowlifes and predators.
Book VI: Networking In Mac OS X explores the world of connectivity using Ethernet, Bluetooth, and Bonjour, as well as good old garden-variety Wi-Fi. Chambers explains the use of each of these technologies step-by-step in language non tech-heads can understand. There is information on using wireless networks like Apple's Airport Extreme, as well as how to share an Internet connection with other computers over a local area network.
Book VII: Expanding Your System kicks things up a notch, with Chambers addressing hardware and software you can add to Mac OS X, and why you might or might not need these peripherals. Memory upgrades (RAM), hard drives, printers, USB, Apple's new Thunderbolt ultra high-speed I/O technology, and tried and true FireWire 800 are all discussed in detail.
Book VIII: Advanced Mac OS X is where we advance to a geekier level of OS technology and proficiency, with coverage of using UNIX, the industrial grade code platform Mac OS X is based on, using Automator and AppleScript to build your own custom script applications to automate and streamline repetitive tasks, and also using alternate input technologies like voice, and handwriting recognition.
Format wise, LionAIO adheres to the familiar "For Dummies" model, with the same appearance and layout conventions most readers will be familiar with from encounters with other "For Dummies" editions.
The book is a trade paperback printed on decent-quality but not highly calendared glossy paper stock. All illustrations—almost exclusively screenshots—are rendered in grayscale rather than in the color you'll find in the smaller LeVitus Lion book. There is a The 5th Wave cartoon by Rich Tennant on the title page on each of the first five book sections (the final three, being about more advanced stuff, have screenshots on theirs).
Familiar margin icons call particular attention to various points in the text going to need emphasis, in this instance labeled "Mark's Maxim" (described as something "big time" important being said that could affect your life in the near future), Tips, Technical Stuff, Warning!, Remember, and New In Lion.
While the author recommends (tongue-in-cheek, I reckon) reading Lion AIO from front to back, I expect most readers will treat this big book more as a reference manual, but whatever floats your boat.
Lion AIO strikes a balance between addressing the needs of experienced users migrating from earlier Mac OS X versions as well as switchers from the Windows world, and beginning Mac users looking for a more comprehensive reference than Macs for Dummies. At $34.95, it's not inexpensive until you consider the amount of content in this big book, and it's also available for a more modest $22.95 in ebook format, if that medium suits.
Mac OS X Lion All-in-One For Dummies will also make a great Christmas gift for someone on your list who has a new Mac or will be finding one under the tree.
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