Switching to the Mac

It's little wonder that longtime Windows users are migrating in droves to the new Mac. They're fed up with the virus-prone Windows way of life, and they're lured by Apple's well-deserved reputation for producing great all-around computers that are reliable, user-friendly, well designed, and now--with the $500 Mac mini--extremely affordable, too. Whether you're drawn to the Mac's stability, its stunning digital media suite, or the fact that a whole computer can look and feel as slick as your iPod, you can quickly and easily become a Mac convert. But consider yourself warned: a Mac isn't just a Windows machine in a prettier box; it's a whole different animal and a whole new computing experience. If you're contemplating--or have already made--the switch from a Windows PC to a Mac, you need Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition. This incomparable guide delivers what Apple doesn't: everything you need to know to successfully and painlessly move to a Mac. The latest reprint of this book has been updated to reflect the new generation of Mac models that run on Intel chips. There's even a new appendix that guides you through the installation of Windows XP on your Macintosh (using adapter software like Boot Camp or Parallels), so that you have the best of all worlds: a single, beautiful machine that can run 100 percent of the world's desktop software. Missing Manual series creator and bestselling author David Pogue teams up with 17-year-old whiz kid and founder of GoldfishSoft (www.goldfishsoft.com) Adam Goldstein to cover every aspect of switching to a Mac--things like transferring email, files, and addresses from a PC to a Mac; getting acquainted with the Mac's interface; adapting to Mac versions of familiar programs (including Microsoft Office); setting up a network to share files with PCs and Macs; and using the printers, scanners, and other peripherals you already own. Covering the latest in Mac OS X v.10.4 "Tiger," Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition explains the hundreds of innovative new features to the Mac OS and how you can understand and make the very most of each. Whether you're a novice or a power user, Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition, teaches you how to smoothly and seamlessly replace (or supplement) your Windows machine--in a refreshingly funny and down-to-earth style--with a mighty Mac.

David Pogue, Yale '85, is the personal-technology columnist for the New York Times. With nearly 3 million books in print, he is also one of the world's bestselling how-to authors, having written or co-written seven books in the "for Dummies" series (including Macs, Magic, Opera, and Classical Music), along with several computer-humor books and a technothriller, "Hard Drive" (a New York Times "notable book of the year"). Pogue is also the creator and primary author of the Missing Manual series of complete, funny computer books, a joint venture with O'Reilly & Associates. Titles in the series include Mac OS X, Windows XP, iPod, Microsoft Office, iPhoto, Dreamweaver, iMovie 2, and many others. His Web page is www.davidpogue.com, and his email address is david@pogueman.com. Adam Goldstein got his programming start in Kindergarten, when he first played around with Logo on an old Apple II. Through middle school, Adam wrote useless but amusing HyperCard programs. Nowadays, he runs GoldfishSoft, a shareware company that makes games and utilities for Mac OS X. Adam was a technical editor for O'Reilly's best-selling Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, and an editor for Mac OS X Panther Power User. When he's not writing books or code, Adam attends high school in New Jersey, where he is captain of the Debate and Quizbowl teams and an editor of the school paper.