Getting Started with Your Mac and Mac OS X Tiger

Getting Started with Your Mac and Mac OS X Tiger is truly for beginners. The proof? The book begins with Lesson 0, a quick chapter that covers moving and double-clicking the mouse and launching and quitting applications. This entry-level addition to the excellent Peachpit Learning Series aims to Leave No Mac User Behind, offering eleven simple, jargon-free lessons on tasks like setting up your calendar, using email and the internet, playing music, working with photos and (thank goodness) saving your work.

Each step in a lesson is illustrated with color screen shots, many with the important bits circled in red. The layout is visually pleasing, with one step to a page and plenty of white space. The text for each step tends to be in a single paragraph, which works for short steps but can make longer instructions somewhat hard to follow. Dividing these longer steps into paragraphs would make for better readability.

Author Scott Kelby sets aside his usual humor and adopts a gentle, reassuring tone that promises not to overwhelm the reader with unneeded information. The book is an appropriate starting point for someone who is new to the Mac or even new to computers. It will also help “lite” users of older operating systems make the transition to Mac OS X Tiger.