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Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Snow Leopard Edition
By David Pogue
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Final Release Date: December 2009
Pages: 652

Is Windows giving you pause? Ready to make the leap to the Mac instead? There has never been a better time to switch from Windows to Mac, and this incomparable guide will help you make a smooth transition. New York Times columnist and Missing Manuals creator David Pogue gets you past three challenges: transferring your stuff, assembling Mac programs so you can do what you did with Windows, and learning your way around Mac OS X.

Learning to use a Mac is not a piece of cake, but once you do, the rewards are oh-so-much better. No viruses, worms, or spyware. No questionable firewalls, inefficient permissions, or other strange features. Just a beautiful machine with a thoroughly reliable system. Whether you're using Windows XP or Vista, we've got you covered.

If you're ready to take on Mac OS X Snow Leopard, the latest edition of this bestselling guide tells you everything you need to know:

  • Transferring your stuff -- Moving photos, MP3s, and Microsoft Office documents is the easy part. This book gets you through the tricky things: extracting your email, address book, calendar, Web bookmarks, buddy list, desktop pictures, and MP3 files.


    • Re-creating your software suite -- Big-name programs (Word, Photoshop, Firefox, Dreamweaver, and so on) are available in both Mac and Windows versions, but hundreds of other programs are available only for Windows. This guide identifies the Mac equivalents and explains how to move your data to them.

  • Learning Snow Leopard -- Once you've moved into the Mac, a final task awaits: Learning your way around. Fortunately, you're in good hands with the author of Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, the #1 bestselling guide to the Macintosh.

Moving from Windows to a Mac successfully and painlessly is the one thing Apple does not deliver. Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Snow Leopard Edition is your ticket to a new computing experience.

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Customer Reviews

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oreillySwitching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Snow Leopard Edition
 
4.3

(based on 3 reviews)

Ratings Distribution

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Reviewed by 3 customers

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3/15/2011

(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

 
5.0

Switching to Mac : My experience

By Andre Cajolais

from Canada

Verified Reviewer

Pros

  • Accurate
  • Concise
  • Helpful examples
  • Well-written

Cons

    Best Uses

      Comments about oreilly Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Snow Leopard Edition:

      After nearly 25 years with Windows, I decided to switch to Mac. My iPad convinced me that the Apple environment was a good choice. I wanted to reduce maintenance time of my PC and get performance. iMac was the machine to choose.

      I knew though that the transition could pose some difficulties : a new environment and years of behaviors with the PC platform. I knew also that I had to find the right information to get familiar with my iMac and easily transfer years of accumulated data from my PC to Mac.

      I decided to buy the digital version of Switching to Mac : The Missing Manual. A very good choice in my opinion. With my iPad next to the new Mac, I could follow the steps to make the transfer easily. Just wonderful!

      This book is an incredible source of information on OS X, the transfer from PC to Mac, and it is filled with tips and shortcuts that helped me make the most of my new iMac. The transition went smoothly, everything went just fine. My next step will be to install Windows on my Mac for those rare softwares that are PC only… The book will guide for that also…

      David Pogue is a well respected author. His book is clear, well organize, concise, easy to read. It's now my reference when I want to know what to do or how to do a specific task on my Mac. I recommend it to anyone making the move from PC to Mac. You will not regret it ...

      Bottom Line Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

      (1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

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      2/5/2011

      (1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

       
      4.0

      A Very Valuable Book

      By Jane

      from Sequim, WA

      Comments about oreilly Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Snow Leopard Edition:

      Overall, I think this is a very valuable book, and I'll be able to learn many things from it as I gain familiarity with the manual's approach and language.
      From the view of a rank beginner in the switch to a Mac, the book was a bit perplexing in places. My sister and I were able to accomplished some of the desired maneuvers, however, there were times we weren't able to get the desired results.
      When I was about to try to move all my stuff from the PC to my Mac, a PC computer savvy friend came by and he was able to move everything over to my Mac, by using the "Switching to the Mac" manual. He was able to sort through all the info and was able to quickly find the information he needed to make the switch.

      (1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

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      1/6/2010

      (11 of 11 customers found this review helpful)

       
      4.0

      Switching to Mac

      By Aspaguy

      from San Diego, Ca

      About Me Educator

      Pros

      • Accurate
      • Concise
      • Easy to understand
      • Helpful examples
      • Well-written

      Cons

        Best Uses

        • Novice
        • Student

        Comments about oreilly Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Snow Leopard Edition:

        As a new Mac user I needed a little help to familiarize myself with my Mac operation. Switching to Mac is a very useful tool to aid in using Mac. The book is easy to read, easy to understand, covers almost all topics, and provides excellent examples. This book brought me up to speed on Mac usage in just a couple days. I am more confident using my MacBook and my frustration level was kept to a minimum. I would recommend this book to any new Mac user. The only area lacking is some areas in the book directs you to the missing manual website for additional information. I guess you cant put all the info into one book, but the website is useful. You can actually follow the book instructions right on the MacBook.

        Bottom Line Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

        (11 of 11 customers found this review helpful)

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