MacDirectory Magazine

Summer-Fall 2008 (#38)

MacDirectory magazine is the premiere creative lifestyle magazine for Apple enthusiasts featuring interviews, in-depth tech reviews, Apple news, insights, latest Apple patents, apps, market analysis, entertainment and more.

Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/838

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48 MacDirectory BOOK REVIEWS how the Apple iApp's can take over for their Windows counterparts, and options for replacing Windows-only programs (including a primer on Boot Camp and third-party virtualization options). One of the last sections of the book, "Putting Down Roots," provides an overview of user accounts, file sharing, networking and security on the Mac. Switching to the Mac has been compre- hensively updated to cover all of Leopard's newest features. Considering the level of detail Pogue and his crew have provided, this was no easy task. And, they didn't miss a trick. In fact, that could turn out to be one of the downsides of recommending this book to a friend. After they've read a few chapters, you may find them peeking over your shoulder and saying, "You know, there's an easier way to do that…" Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual by David Pogue 590 pages > $29.99 Pogue Press ISBN 978-0-596-51412-9 Take Control of Sharing FIles in Leopard File sharing in Leopard can be a major challenge, not so much because it's particularly difficult but because there are so many options. Also, as is the case of all forms of sharing, security is always an issue. As one of the of the recent additions to the series, Take Control of Sharing Files in Leopard by Glenn Fleishman offers a clear and exceptionally concise guide to sharing files easily and safely. Fleishman starts out with a chapter covering online file sharing, explaining the options (relatively few for Mac users) and warning of the potential security and financial pitfalls. With the wrong kind of contract, popularity can be very pricey, as the author discovered in one of his early electronic publishing ventures. File sharing has undergone some significant changes in Leopard and OS X finally has returned to a level of ease and flexibility that we haven't seen since the Classic days. Fleishman presents one of the best guides we've seen to these new capabilities, combining an overview of the theory and strategy with an effective step- by-step tutorial on how to set things up. The book also offers some useful extended coverage of techniques for specifically sharing iTunes and iPhoto libraries. The latter chapters cover the various methods used to connect to and access shared files and folders, and the author provides some very helpful tables that explain the similarities, differences, strengths and weaknesses of the different systems. You'll also find a number of warnings throughout the book. These are particularly useful, as a number of innocuous-sounding file sharing techniques can open up a number of vulnerabilities with consequences ranging from the merely disturbing to the unexpectedly dire. The entire Take Control series is sold and distributed as eBooks; we find this to be a particularly useful application of the technology. Each book in the series is comparatively short and tightly focused on a specific challenge. This highly granular approach to technology publishing helps control costs for readers and permits the distribution of works that may lack the bulk and broad appeal to make print distribution feasible. Take Control of Sharing Files and many of the newer books in this series are sold as PDF files, free of digital rights management (DRM) controls. They can be printed and you can have copies on any device that supports the format. The files are, however digitally watermarked, linking them to the purchaser. For us old-school types, electronic publishing may take a little getting used to (and frankly we're still looking forward to the day when Apple's design and engineering genius can produce the ultimate eBook reader). However, Peachpit's Take Control books are one of the best applications we've seen of the electronic publishing concept. Take Control of Sharing Files in Leopard by Glenn Fleishman 87 pages (eText) > $10 Peachpit Press ISBN-13: 978-0-321-55291-4

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