Take Control of Tiger

Take Control of Tiger is really four titles in one. The book brings together print versions of Take Control of Upgrading to Tiger, Take Control of Customizing Tiger, Take Control of Users and Accounts, and Take Control of Sharing Files in Tiger, each of which is also available in electronic book format at www.takecontrolbooks.com. Together, these titles give users at all levels of experience the information they need to install, customize – and most important – understand OS 10.4 Tiger.

Take Control of Upgrading to Tiger does far more than walk the user through the installer. Joe Kissell details the essential steps to take before you upgrade, how to choose an upgrade method, and what to do after the upgrade is complete, including how to restore missing files. He also covers how to troubleshoot upgrade problems, from installers that refuse to to install to printers that refuse to print. Finally, he describes how to downgrade from Tiger, just in case. A robust appendix gives links for drivers, firmware updates and system enhancements.

Take Control of Customizing Tiger by Matt Neuburg guides the reader through more than 150 ways to customize OS 10.4. He suggests a three step process: first perform customizations to improve your Desktop and interface experience, then learn about Tiger’s new technologies and their attendant customizations, and finally tackle remaining customizations (especially those for which you need to know more about how you work best) when time permits.

You’ll learn basic customizations like choosing where and when your Dock appears and tweaking the Finder window’s Sidebar and Toolbar, useful tricks like creating Smart Folders of saved searches, and more sophisticated enhancements like creating keyboard shortcuts and Automator workflows and streamlining your font collection. You can even learn how to kill the Caps Lock key (I can hear the cheers from the back of the room).

Take Control of Users & Accounts in Tiger details how to leverage the full power of OS 10.4’s multi-user environment. Kirk McElhearn explains what user accounts are, describes the five different kinds of accounts, and shows how to set up accounts for guests or troubleshooting as well as for multi-user Macs at home, in offices and in schools. You’ll learn the advantages and shortcomings of Fast User Switching, how to set parental controls, customize and troubleshoot log-in and startup items, and share files among users including your iTunes and iPhoto libraries.

Take Control of Sharing Files in Tiger covers choices for sharing files on a single Mac, from computer to computer, on a network and on the internet. Glenn Fleischman helps you consider the hardware and software you need to serve files (you may already have everything you need), choose the right technique for your particular situation, and implement file sharing using various methods. He also covers avoiding risks and managing security.

Each title has its own distinctive color coded page border, making the book easy to navigate, and the index covers all four titles. Buying the print book entitles you to download the electronic versions of all four titles, and their updates, for free.
As the wise writer of Take Control of Tiger’s back cover blurb (that would be me) put it so well, Take Control books get straight A’s - they’re authoritative, accessible, and affordable.

Most highly recommended.