Introduction

Whom This Book is For
What's New in the Fourth Edition
What's New on the CD
How this Book is Organized
Section I: Using the Mac
Section II: Mastering the Mac
Section III: Expanding the Mac
The Rest of the Story
Keep Those Cards and E-mails Coming!

Table of Contents

Introduction

I am one lucky nerd. For the past eleven years, I've been paid to play with hundreds--maybe thousands--of Mac software and hardware products in the course of writing columns, features, and reviews for Macworld magazine. I've been fortunate enough to work with and write about everything from time-billing software to bar code readers, from mailing list management packages to high-performance disk arrays, from word processing programs to video editing programs.

In this book, I've tried to take this decade-and-then-some of Mac experience and put it between two covers--and on a CD.

Whom This Book is For
Is it stating the obvious to say that this book is for anyone who's into the Mac? I thought so. Specifically, then, this book is intended for:
What's New in the Fourth Edition
As the cover and the title indicate, this is the fourth edition of this book. The first edition came out in 1991; the second edition was launched in 1993; and the third appeared in 1994. The third, I'm proud to say, won an award: the Berkeley Macintosh User Group's BMUG Choice award for best general Mac book.

How is this edition different from previous ones? Let me list the ways:

It's bigger - a hundred or so pages bigger at that. I've added scores of new tips and expanded many chapters to provide more in-depth details on Mac issues and products.

It's up-to-date. I've revised every single chapter to reflect System 7.5 as well as the latest products and latest Mac models--including Mac clones and the second-generation Power Macs, which were announced on the very same day that this edition shipped (August 8, 1995). I've also added more technical illustrations by Macworld's award-winning illustrator, Arne Hurty. As with the first three editions, I've aimed for the best of both worlds - magazine-style layout and graphics along with the depth and scope that only a book can provide.

It's more technical. As the Mac world matures, Macintosh users are becoming more sophisticated. This edition reflects this trend. It contains more technical details on how the Mac works and on how you can customize and fine-tune your system. (If you're a Mac newcomer, don't worry; you'll still find overviews and primers that will get you up to speed in a hurry.)

It's more authoritative. You can find plenty of books that are filled with little tips and tricks and hidden keyboard shortcuts. (For that matter, this book is filled with them.) But this is the only mega-page Macintosh book that authoritatively covers the very latest technical issues in the Mac world - the transition to a RISC architecture, the evolution of the Mac's system software, the technicalities behind digital video, and even the world of virtual reality.

What's New on the CD
The second edition of this book was the first general Mac book to include a CD-ROM, which was primarily a vehicle for transporting far more software than a few floppies could contain. The third edition was the first general Mac book to include an interactive CD, which contained not only a ton of software but also a multimedia companion to the book.

This edition continues the tradition of firsts--it's the first general Mac book to include an interactive companion that you can update via the World Wide Web. You'll find periodic updates to the book and CD right here on my Web site.

This edition's CD uses QuickTime movies, color graphics, 3-D animation, and digital sound to illustrate the concepts described in many chapters. You can also read and search hundreds of capsule reviews from Macworld, and you can watch interviews I conducted with the product managers of many of Apple's latest products--and with one of the most interesting (and certainly the most famous) Macintosh users I've ever met: Grammy- and Oscar-winning musician Herbie Hancock, who uses the Mac in his composing, recording, and performing endeavors.

The new CD also contains new tutorials in which I walk you through the Mac's system software and hardware. You can also read selected sections from the book and search for text. In keeping with this new tutorial perspective, I've called the new CD Macworld Power User Clinic. (Appendix A contains full details on using the CD.)

Most CD-ROM titles are developed by a staff of writers, videographers, programmers, and graphic designers. Macworld Power User Clinic was entirely my own doing (okay, my wife helped me with the on-location video shoots). I wanted to descend into the trenches of the Mac multimedia world in order to do a better job of writing about it. If you've read previous editions of this book, you'll find that this edition's coverage of multimedia, digital imaging, QuickTime, and CD-ROMs is greatly expanded.

Did the CD's increasingly interactive slant come at the expense of software? Yes and no. This time around, I did not include demonstration software from commercial developers--you won't trial versions of programs such as Adobe Photoshop or WordPerfect or ClarisWorks. One reason is, frankly, space: I wanted to have more space for tutorials and QuickTime movies. (600MB doesn't go as far as it used to!) Another reason is that you may already have many of the demo programs I used to include; if your Mac came with a CD-ROM drive, chances are you got a demo applications CD. It didn't make much sense for me to include software you might already have.

At the same time, though, I just had to make room for a fabulous collection of free software, shareware, and fonts. In fact, there's even more of it this time around: an incredible 100MB worth of great shareware and free software compiled by the Mac world's biggest and best user group, the Berkeley Macintosh Users Group (BMUG). The Best of BMUG collection on the CD was compiled exclusively for this book. You'll also find some terrific utilities and resources that I hand-picked; check out Appendix A and each chapter's "On the CD" box for more information.

How This Book is Organized
Most computer books begin with chapter after chapter of technical background on bits and bytes and how computers work. But in my experience, the first questions people ask about the Mac aren't "how does it work and what do all those weird words mean?" but "which machine should I buy and what can I do with it?" That only makes sense: whether you're shopping for a car, a house, or a computer, your first priorities are making an informed purchase and then applying that purchase to your daily life. Learning the technical details usually comes later.

For this reason, this book is organized a bit differently than the rest.

Section I: Using the Mac
In this section, I get right down to business, examining issues you will want to investigate when shopping for a Mac system, and looking at the many ways you can put a Mac to work. I explore the worlds of word processing, desktop publishing, spreadsheets, database management, animation, music, computer-aided design, and more. Each chapter in this section describes the concepts behind an application category and spotlights the leading products in the field. Most chapters have step-by-step boxes that provide detailed instructions for performing various tasks using the most popular programs in that category. You will also find tips for using your programs more effectively, and some shopper's guidelines that will help you choose programs that meet your needs.

As you read this section, check out the "On the CD" boxes that many chapters contain. These boxes list relevant portions of the Macworld Power User Clinic CD. When you've finished a given chapter, you might want to explore those parts of the CD to approach the concepts you've read about from a different angle.

Section II: Mastering the Mac
In this section, I take a closer look at what makes the Mac tick and show how to master System 7's most powerful features. This section looks at more more advanced topics such as protecting your Mac from computer viruses, customizing your Mac, backing up, exchanging data between programs and computers, troubleshooting, and getting the most out of your printer. (Did you know your laser printer can print iron-on T-shirt transfers?)

The Macworld Power User Clinic CD will come in handy as you read this section, too. The CD is packed with free or nearly free software--utility software for customizing and enhancing your Mac and virus protection programs to safeguard it. You'll also find a lot of great games, useful utilities, fun fonts, and more.

Section III: Expanding the Mac
In this section, I look at the kinds of add-ons you might buy to round out your Mac system. Memory, monitors, printers, high-capacity disks, trackballs, and expansion cards are among the hardware vying for your hard-earned money. You will learn what each type of add-on has to offer and what to look for when shopping.

The Rest of the Story
Finally, several appendices describe the contents of the Macworld Complete Mac CD and provide detailed information on Mac memory configuration options. And the quick reference card in the front of the book lists essential System 7 tips and techniques and provides a quick roadmap to the CD.

Conventions Used in This Book
This book contains several types of sidebars, each of which presents a certain type of information.

If a particular chapter has corresponding software on the CD, the software is listed in this box. To quickly locate a program mentioned here, use the Finder's Find command. (See Appendix A for more tips on locating things on the CD.)

The Background boxes provide additional insights into the subject at hand--the kind of information you might not need if you're just skimming a chapter, but that might be valuable when you need more details on a given topic.

Quick Tips boxes provide, well, quick tips--short, to-the-point time-savers. If you've picked up the book on a rainy day, you might just enjoy browsing the Quick Tips boxes to find shortcuts for your favorite programs or peripherals.

The Step-by-Step boxes provide detailed, stepwise instructions that show how to perform a specific task using a specific program. Even if you don't use all of the programs covered in these boxes, reading the steps will give you a feel for how Mac programs approach various tasks.

These boxes contain tips or background information specific to the PowerBook and PowerBook Duo computers.

Keep those cards and e-mails coming!
In the back of this book, you'll find a pull-out reader response card. Please take a moment to fill it out and mail it. IDG Books really does read these things--even more amazing, they photocopy them and send them on to me. Many of the changes in this edition--more technical meat, more shareware, more product reviews--are my direct response to the feedback on these cards.

If you just can't face communicating the old fashioned way, send me an electronic mail message (if you don't know what that is, don't worry-it's covered here). I'll respond to any and all comments and questions as time permits. Send your emails to jimheid@mcn.org.

Let's get started!

Jim Heid

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