Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animals featured on the cover of Crossing Platforms: A Macintosh/Windows Phrasebook are a European edible frog (Rana esculenta) and an Eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus).

The European edible frog has been found all over Europe, with the exception of Spain, for many centuries, possibly as far back as the days of the cave man. This type of frog is mostly aquatic, leaving its pond only to travel to another source of water or sometimes to eat. Its diet consists of worms, beetles, various insects, and even butterflies. The male¹s unique mating call is a vociferous, rattle-like croak, amplified by two inflated sacs, one on either side of his face. One female can lay 5000­10,000 eggs per breeding season. Metamorphosis of the larvae into the frog takes a few months, and sexual maturity occurs at around two years. An adult frog is three inches in length. Because their legs are considered a delicacy, European edible frogs have been hunted by humans for centuries.

The Eastern cottontail rabbit is one of the most widely known small wild mammals in the United States, as well as one of the most prolific. Commonly found in the woods and undergrowth of the eastern half of the U.S., this rabbit grows to 14­17 inches, weighs about three pounds, and features its trademark two-inch snow-white cottony tail. Its diet includes virtually all grasses, vegetables, bark, and berries. Conversely, it is a source of food for almost every carnivorous animal as well as snakes and various larger birds. Although this type of rabbit can live up to eight years, every year two-thirds of the population dies, mostly from predators, leaving the remaining third to replenish the species in the following Spring. In one breeding season, a single rabbit can have up to five litters, with each litter producing up to seven babies. Clairemarie Fisher O¹Leary was the production editor and copyeditor for Crossing Platforms: A Macintosh/Windows Phrasebook. Nancy Wolfe Kotary was the production manager. Jane Ellin and Maureen Dempsey provided quality control. Mike Sierra provided FrameMaker technical support.

Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book, using a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. The cover layout was produced with QuarkXPress 3.32 using the ITC Garamond font. Whenever possible, our books use RepKover™, a durable and flexible lay-flat binding. If the page count exceeds RepKover™'s limit, perfect binding is used.

The inside layout was designed by Alicia Cech and implemented in FrameMaker 5.5 by Mike Sierra. The text fonts are ITC Garamond Light and Garamond Book and the heading fonts are Franklin Gothic Light and Franklin Gothic Book. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Rhon Porter using Macromedia FreeHand 8 and Adobe Photoshop 5. This colophon was written by Nicole Arigo.