Good OS X book for 60 year old mac (and computer) challenged

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the pie manthe pie man
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Looking for a good, introductory, step by step book on OS X for an in-law who isn't very competent with computers.



He has owned a mac before - a performa - and couldn't figure out how to use it so it basically sat and collected dust. He basically just wants to use email and do some word processing, web surfing... He ended up getting a net appliance and used that for a while, but didn't really understand that and had all kinds of problems so that went in the trash.



He just got an iBook, which he really loves, but he is looking for a book to help him (or a training CD would be better, but the one Apple sells in their online store seems to be only for companies?!?). Does anyone have any opinions on books which are good at a very introductory level (he can use the trackpad - so not THAT introductory!)? Something along the lines of OS X for dummies?



Thanks,



[ 02-28-2003: Message edited by: The Pie Man ]</p>

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    rodukroduk Posts: 706member
    Er, how about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0764507060/103-0230503-5967874?vi=glance"; target="_blank">OS X For Dummies</a> <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
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  • Reply 2 of 5
    the pie manthe pie man Posts: 425member
    [quote]Originally posted by RodUK:

    <strong>Er, how about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0764507060/103-0230503-5967874?vi=glance"; target="_blank">OS X For Dummies</a> <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>



    I am looking for someone who has experience with this book or others like it. I know it exists - is it a good book?
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  • Reply 3 of 5
    xionjaxionja Posts: 504member
    here is an ausome book for really slow people: The little Mac Os x Book by Robin Williams. Its for 10.1, but not that much is different. . . i think.



    I will sell you mine! cause i thought i was stupid, but not as much as this book expects. Its big, and it actually has a ton of information in it.
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  • Reply 4 of 5
    proxyproxy Posts: 232member
    Try David Pogue's 'Mac OS X - the missing manual' The second edition covers Jag as well. I've found the series really well written and informative. They always take you from the simplest stuff right upto the basics of messing about with unix commands, and it's all written in a humourous but informative way.



    Here's a link to the <a href="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/macosxmm2/"; target="_blank">OSX missing manual site</a>
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  • Reply 5 of 5
    the pie manthe pie man Posts: 425member
    I ended up going to Barnes and Nobles and checking out everything I could on OS X. It is pretty amazing how bad most books really are - they either assume a certain level of proficiency to begin with, or are so horribly organized that if you want any specific information it is impossible to find.



    I also am amazed at the number of OS X books which have no index. NO INDEX?!?! Are you kidding me?



    In the end I recommended Robin Williams Mac OS X book for Jaguar. It seemed to really start from square one (if this is the first time you have turned on your Mac) and went into pretty good and understandable detail for someone with a lack of computer understanding.



    Thanks for the offer Xionja, but I have to pass. There is a revised edition for 10.2, and the little differences between 10.1 and 10.2 add up. Once things don't agree with what is in the book, it can confuse a person more than it really should.
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