Comments about oreilly AppleWorks 6: the Missing Manual:

Appleworks does not handle the printing, the Operating System does (with the help from the printer driver) so you'd likely have found your answer in that area.

there are workarounds, like printing the odd pages first 1,3,5,7,9 etc... then flipping the pages over, and printing all of the even pages.

and maybe that could have been included in a small area of the book, but overall, most things people want from the missing manual are there (and many times more information then is in the Help menu, plus easier to find)

Comments about oreilly AppleWorks 6: the Missing Manual:

As someone who bought his first computer in 1986 it's been a long strange trip from there to here. And things have not exactly been gettin better all the time!

QUE published the first computer manual I ever bought. It cost $29.95, contained over 1,000 pages and covered every conceivable aspect of WordPerfect 5.0. It wasn't always easy to understand (Where do they get the people who write these books? And how many IQ tests are they required to fail to prove themselves worthy of computer manual authorship?) But if you were patient and willing to put in the time you could usually find an answer to your question.

That happy sort of situation ceased to exist some years ago when computer programs began to become as bloated as a dead cow in fly time and things only got worse with the publication of Apple Works 6 the Missing Manual!

"If Only it were missing!" I've found myself thinking to myself time after time after time as I have struggled futilely to find the simplest answer to the simplest question with no luck whatever.

Today, for instance, I crafted a letter to an old friend that was quite long. Though I usually am satisfied with one sided printing, this opus was soooo long that two sided printing was more than clearly called for. Soooo, fear rising like the Red Sea in my throat I grit my teeth and plunged headfirst into yet another frustratingly complex search for the infamous "simple answer" to the question:

"How do you print on both sides of the page?"

First, I turned to the almost nonexistent index in hopes that some mention might be made there of printing. Although printing problems are legendary in the world of computing there was a mere 10 items listed under the heading of Printing in the index. And, you guessed it, none of them seemed to point in the direction of two-sided printing.

Oh, I gave it a try. Flipped through page after page of indexed references, but I came up empty handed.

So next, off to the Table of Contents. Where, under Advanced Word Processing I found - can you believe this - not a single mention of printing, let alone two-sided printing.

I would continue but I fear that what tottering remains of sanity I still manage to cling to with desperation might not survive the test so I will bring this rambling and time wasting rant to a close with three suggestions for O'Reilly Publishing:

1) Burn this book before the word gets out that you published it. Failure to do so might mark the beginning of the end for your company.

2) Raise the failing score of the IQ exam your computer manual authors must fail to get the job by at least 60 points! Perhaps then the candidates will at least have to be able to read before being allowed to write.

3) See what you can do to arrange a long relaxing trip to some Gulag for Elferdink and Reynolds. Believe me, they need a vacation and so do WE!

Comments about oreilly AppleWorks 6: the Missing Manual:

As a user of Macintosh since 1984 (when I was 14), but a totally new user to AppleWorks — (finally grew up enough to start doing some real work), I sincerely appreciated the clear, concise writing style, subtle humor and intelligent layout of this Missing Manual. It is suitable for beginners and the grizzled mac user alike, and I couldn't be happier. I'm constantly catching myself applying techniques from the book in all areas of my computing, and grinning like a bandit at what I can do. Thanks David and Jim!

Comments about oreilly AppleWorks 6: the Missing Manual:

Readable, thorough, useful, clear, and wow, inspiring, this manual will work for beginning and experienced users, and be useful for anyone trying to decide whether to go for the upgrade.

This is a book you can take to a coffeehouse to read even without the computer program in front of you for reference. The writing style is relaxed, clearly laid out, and substantive. It isn't laugh-out-loud funny like David Pogue's writing (the creator of this series), but it has moments of humor and,, most important, has that perspective of taking all things with some humor. It covers everything you want it to cover - all the nuts and bolts how-tos of all the areas of Appleworks. Additionally, the authors anticipate what our problems are likely to be....and answer them so I can understand. (Right off, I found the answer to a problem I've had printing out spreadsheets; thank you, thank you). I found the layout to be easy on the eyes and on the mind - I could find what I needed easily. There is a thorough section on installation and upgrade scenarios - which I find most valuable. And there is an excellent troubleshooting section. The authors deal honestly with the problems that Appleworks6 frist presented - its strengths and weaknesses, what was flawed and what was fixed, what was lost, and what is gained. Their honesty, which makes them credible, coupled with their knowledge gave me the info I needed to decide whether this was the right application for my needs. Here is the advantage of buying a manual not written by the manufacturer.

Finally, a womderful dimension to this book, which truly delightes me, is how strongly the vision of possibilities comes across, of how to take this application beyond how I've previously used word processing and spreadsheets programs, to be more creative, more time efficient, more cost efficent, to ways I hadn't thought of or known of...this is exciting stuff and makes the book feel like a two parter - first the part where you master the how-to-use-this-program part and then the mind-expanding-fun-part of "wow, what you can do with this you are only just beginning to know." This is one good manual!

Comments about oreilly AppleWorks 6: the Missing Manual:

The 65 page manual shipped with AppleWorks 6 is inadequate, and the Help system is not a replacement for a manual. Easy as it is to use, to get real value out of AppleWorks 6 you need a manual.

AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual is a complete manual that is well written and is never a chore to read. Since it is not an Apple book, it can and does call a bug a bug, and tells you how to fix it. It tells you how the program works, and includes step by step tutorials to help you do it. Reading The Missing Manual, I learned how to do things that I was not able to figure out by myself.

The Missing Manual books, like AppleWorks 6, are designed to enhance working with them. AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual opens flat and stays open so you can read it while working on your Macintosh.

The authors, Jim Elferdink & David Reynolds, credit David Pogue as being the greatest editor a first time author could hope for. My expectations were high when I saw the name Pogue on the cover. I was not disappointed. I have read and used The Missing Manual, and I recommend it.