We’re very lucky here at Macworld . Both in print and on the Web, we’ve got an amazingly diverse readership. Among our readers are some incredibly geeky, tech-savvy people who could code a perl script in their head or disassemble a MacBook Pro with the power of their mind. And also, some people who are relatively novice Mac users, who avidly read what we write in order to flex and improve their Mac skills.
The latest book in our Superguide series, The Macworld Mac Basics Superguide, is for both kinds of readers. If you’re someone who’s struggling with the basics of operating a Mac, or someone who’s a new user of Mac OS X — whether you upgraded from OS 9 recently or you’ve made the switch from Windows — this new 78-page book will get you up to speed.
Written in an easy question-and-answer format, the Mac Basics Superguide will give you detailed tips and information about using the Finder and the Dock, switching between programs, using Apple’s Spotlight search tool, opening and saving your files, and setting up system preferences and user accounts. We’ve tossed in some basic security and troubleshooting advice to keep your Mac up and running smoothly. And our own Dan Frakes, who pens our Mac Gems blog and magazine column, has assembled a list of 17 great low-cost programs that will enhance your Mac experience.
But what about you Mac experts out there? How in the world can a book with the phrase “Mac Basics” in the title be right for you? The answer is simple: it’s not for you. It’s for all those people in your family, all of your friends, who look to you as the solution to all their Mac problems. Not that you don’t want to help them, but it sure can take up a lot of time. This book — available as a $12.95 PDF download (with no digital rights management of any kind — just read it using Adobe Reader or Apple’s Preview application!), or a $15 PDF on CD-ROM, or a $24.99 full-color paperback — can help them help themselves. (I know I’ll be sending my mom a copy of this book, that’s for sure.)
You Mac experts out there might also appreciate the writers we commissioned to contribute to this book: Mark H. Anbinder, Christopher Breen, Dan Frakes, Glenn Fleishman, Adam Goldstein, Rob Griffiths, Joe Kissell, Ted Landau, and Kirk McElhearn.
Want to see more before you shell out for this book? We’ve created a downloadable sample (684K) that includes the book’s complete table of contents as well as sample pages.
This marks the third book in our Superguide series, following the iPod and iTunes Superguide and the Digital Photography Superguide. We think they’re really great books, and we hope you do, too.
Click here to get more information about how to buy the book.