macOS Catalina: The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

I have used several books in the Missing Manual series in the past and always found them very useful both when upgrading to a new OS and as a general reference when I needed to know how to do something I'd never done before. The author is clear but also funny, explaining what you need to know in an accessible way. I bought this book for a friend who just switched from a Windows laptop to a refurbished MacBook running the Catalina OS. As a new Mac user she says the book gives her confidence to try things as she learns her way around her new device. I'm just sorry the author has stopped producing this series. When I got my AppleWatch last summer I had to settle for a much less well-written alternative manual. I highly recommend any of the manuals he has published.

Large book, easy to read, easy to find where you need to look something up.For someone like myself, who has skipped several OS upgrade manuals, this was an essential update on so many of the elements.Good job.

If you are new to Mac, this book is a must-have. The writing is clear, concise and humorous. The descriptions are well-presented and thorough. There are some errors, which will be obvious to those who have used Macs before. For example, Disk Warrior is not yet compatible with APFS volumes, although the author recommends it. The developer has not been able to update this essential (IMHO) utility because Apple has not given them the source code. Overall, however, I highly recommend it.

If you're still using Catalina, this is your bible.

The idea of adapting to this new and improved MacOS without a guide to features and changes would be intimidating even for a software guy like me. You would also miss out on many improvements. Well written and comprehensive. Well indexed and comes with the Missing CD link to tips and software downloads. Great value.

I have a lot to learn but to my surprise I'm finding it very useful. Just finding the time to sit down at my iMac and try what I learn so I will will remember. Very well written for this long time iMac user

I am a long time Windows user and when it came time for a new computer i decided to get a Mac - mostly to see what all the who-ha was about. Much to my surprise, i found a much larger learning curve than expected. I bought this manual and found it to be an incredibly useful resource that has answered every question I have come across. Additionally, between table of contents and the index i have quickly been able to find any topic or question I have sought. I'm still learning but this manual has been an awesome resource!

The book does cover a LOT of information and it is somewhat readable. Those are the good points. If you are totally unfamiliar with MacOS of any sort you can learn a lot from the book. Presuming you can find it in the mess of organization. Exploring the basics of the desktop at the start is not unreasonable but waiting to discuss Account setups and types of networks until the last half of the book while spending an entire chapter on the Spotlight function is bound to cause problems when setting up a new system.Meanwhile if you are a long time user of Mac and simply need something for the newer OS, there isn't going to be as much value in it. The first several of these books were good because they focused on helping people to use what was there or get around specific problems. Later versions have read more like advertising, telling you all the wonderful features without really explaining how to use them. Also comments like "who would want to do . . ." are extremely judgemental and honestly quite useless. Obviously if you are looking up how to do something you want to do it so why not just tell us how to do it? And learning that the software is capable of doing something without clear instructions on how to do it is extremely frustrating.Again, you find the organization of the book is against you. Like software programmers themselves, the author is clearly just cutting and pasting from his previous versions and updating only specific sections. His raving about "new features" which have actually been available to the OS since before OSX but have had a facelift leaves you wondering just how much he really knows about the system. A lot of the book is given over to things that anyone who has used a Mac in the last 10-20 years will know without being told while more intricate and difficult operations are glanced over or treated as unnecessary.Lastly the author is obviously very impressed with AI functions and Siri. In fact I have wondered if the other problems in the book might not be because he has forgotten how to do things himself instead of just "asking Siri". While I understand many people value Siri and have no interest in doing without it, personally I am not interested in it. I have tried it in several versions now and each time find that it takes more time to get Siri to do what I want than simply to go through the steps of doing it myself. That a "missing manual" would rely so much on letting automatic and AI/Siri functions to do everything rather than demonstrating how to do it yourself is pathetic.

Always recommend this series. I have the complete collection almost. Highly recommended unlike his NEW approach series.

Ich schätze David Pogues Werke sehr, denn sie ersetzen das seit Jahren nichtvorhandene Buch des Systemherstellers! Dazu gute Tips und Hinweise zum Gebrauch der zusätzlichen Software. Warum diese Bücher nicht mehr übersetzt werden, ist mir schleierhaft! Dennoch ein guter Begleiter zum Einarbeiten ins neue System.

This is the most comprehensive manual for an operating system that I have ever used.So far I can reference anything I want.Pity it is all in black and white

Ho letto diversi manuali sul Mac scritti da David Pogue, sono sempre molto completi. Molto comoda la tabella riassuntiva contenuta nelle ultime pagine del manuale con tutte le combinazioni da tastiera.Consiglio infine di leggere con molta attenzione la sezione relativa ad IMessage ( un programma che sottovalutavo, contiene una funzione molto comoda... 😀😀).Ho avuto qualche difficoltà con l’inglese perché c’é un po’ di slang, ma é un GRAN BEL MANUALE.

Comme toujours, bien fait et plein d'humour.