For those who want to cut to the chase
Doing exactly what it set out to do, the Mac OS X Leopard Pocket Guide is something you can carry along with you and read whenever you have any burning questions about working with Leopard. I find myself picking up this book first before going to the much bigger and more comprehensive Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual for further reading. Especially helpful are the keyboard shortcut keys (I use those a lot) that accompany their instructions and tips.
The language is very basic, but that's to be expected in a quick reference format. Overall, I'd recommend this book for those new to Macs.
mac os x leopard
the best "in hand" tool for the switcher, simple yet direct to the point in assisting you in dealing with MAC BOOK. Highly recommend this for the beginner and the long-term user.
Good Enough But...
The 'Mac OS X Leopard Pocket Guide' is a good enough resource for those looking for a quick guide to useful Mac OS X abilities and ways to do things, but honestly I feel that this book is a bit light. I think a heavy base of users would be Windows switchers who have come to the Mac and want to learn more about how to do things in this environment versus where they came from. While this 200 page book does as advertised, it is very light on content and no color. With such a vibrant operating system and one that is very dense, I feel that this book is useful but readers will quickly hit a brick wall and be yearning for something more. If all you want is a quick reference this is good to have in your back pocket, but to get more from Mac OS X, make sure to add the 'Missing Manual' book to your collection as well.
****
Buy something else, anything
This book is a waste of time. I bought it on the basis of O'Reilly's reputation. Won't do that again. Essentially, its someone going through all the menu and telling you what they are. You can figure that out without a manual. It doesn't cover things not apparent in the menus e.g. how program installation works on osx. I'm trying a David Pogue book next, based on the good Palm manuals he did a few years back. Lets hope that's better. Geez O'Reilly, what were you thinking?
Great primer
This book is really good for anyone with a Mac. You can learn the basics if you are a new Mac user, and you can learn the important functions of the new Leopard operating system without all of the unnecessary technical details.
