Why switch to a Mac? From the Introduction to Macintosh Basics: Have you ever wondered why lots of Macintosh people seem so passionate about their computer? After all, it’s just another box full of electronic components. Well, not exactly. Macs are different. Very different, in some interesting and fun ways. That’s why thousands of Macintosh users rush to get their hands on a major new system upgrade like the recently released Leopard. What’s a Leopard? It’s the current generation of the Macintosh operating system, the user-friendly computer environment that Windows® developers keep trying to emulate with Vista, etc. Trying is the key word there. But Macintosh users know there is nothing that runs as easily and reliably as Mac OS X. And if intangibles like “market share” are any indicator, 2008 is a year that lots of folks have considered moving to an Apple computer. Okay next question: what’s OS X, a non-Mac person might ask? OS X is the system, the user interface if you will, that Apple introduced at the beginning of this decade. The new Leopard (OS X 10.5.x) combines all the convenient and nimble aspects of previous versions (Panther, Tiger, etc), plus lots of practical, clever and cool innovations. Although this book is primarily directed at getting the most out of Leopard, it’s also a book that explains the things that make Mac users fervent supporters of the Apple computing concept.

Why switch to a Mac?

From the Introduction to

Macintosh Basics:

Have you ever wondered why lots of Macintosh people seem so passionate about their computer? After all, it’s just another box full of electronic components. Well, not exactly. Macs are different. Very different, in some interesting and fun ways. That’s why thousands of Macintosh users rush to get their hands on a major new system upgrade like the recently released Leopard.

What’s a Leopard? It’s the current generation of the Macintosh operating system, the user-friendly computer environment that Windows® developers keep trying to emulate with Vista, etc. Trying is the key word there. But Macintosh users know there is nothing that runs as easily and reliably as Mac OS X. And if intangibles like “market share” are any indicator, 2008 is a year that lots of folks have considered moving to an Apple computer.

Okay next question: what’s OS X, a non-Mac person

might ask? OS X is the system, the user interface if you will, that Apple introduced at the beginning of this decade. The new Leopard (OS X 10.5.x) combines all the convenient and nimble aspects of previous versions (Panther, Tiger, etc), plus lots of practical, clever and cool innovations.

Although this book is primarily directed at getting the most out of Leopard, it’s also a book that explains the things that make Mac users fervent supporters of the Apple computing concept.

What do you want from a computer?

The vast majority of people who boot up and wait for the computer to get itself organized, connect to the internet, or whatever, want something pretty basic from that box full of circuits and stuff: they want the thing to work. Simple as that. Turn it on, do what you need to do with a minimum of hassle.

There exists today an ardent collection of people, this writer included, who believe that a Macintosh computer is hands down the personal computer that comes closest to meeting that objective. It works. Believe it. Macs work; simply, automatically and even, some think, elegantly.

That’s what this book, Macintosh Basics, is all about: minimizing the hassles and doing what you want to do on a computer, whether it’s playing a complex game of strategy, entering data on an boring spreadsheet or chatting with a cyber friend on the other side of the planet.

This guide is not an endeavor to convert massive numbers of people to Macintosh, nor is it promotion for products that issue forth from the Apple think tank.

But:

•If you’re considering the purchase of a Macintosh, this guide will aid you in making that decision. This book can help a person decide that it’s time to jump from a Windows® operating system to something different. (Afterward, you’ll wonder why you waited so long.)
•For people who already have a Mac at home or at the office, these pages will guide you into the new Mac world of Leopard OS X to improve the way you work and/or play.

Continued >>>>

Macintosh Basics • Why switch to a Mac • Why switch Part 2 • Order the book