Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, El Capitan Edition

A good starter edition for those of us switching to the Mac. I wish it had more information on the Mac Terminal since I am moving from a linux mint laptop to a Mac. As I always expect from David Pogue his material is excellent. I can recommend this book to all wanting to switch but who are mystified by the Mac Operating System.

I really find this book invaluable and had no hesitation at all about forking out the $25 because we already own the "Windows 7 the missing manual" book by David Pogue and used it over and over and over again so when I saw that there was one for the Mac, I scooped it up.My husband and I switched our home computer to a Mac because our phones are Apple Phones and we both have ipods and ipads and Apple TV so it just seemed like the most sensible thing to do. We didn't realize how much different the Mac was going to be compared to our Windows computer and found ourselves VERY frustrated on even the most simplest tasks. i.e. How to save photos, how to make a presentation, how to forward a picture, etc. etc. etc. Just the most basic things were driving us crazy trying to figure out and I believe our kids got really sick and tired of our daily phone calls for tech help. This book has solved that problem entirely for us and we have been able to find the instructions for every single issue we have had since we received he book.If you are a computer wiz you probably don't need this book but if you are like us and struggle with new technology then this will really make your life much easier. I recommend the book highly.

The book is full of things - some really helpful, however I am not a computer degree so had some difficulty trying to use what I needed. Getting better

After reading 100 pages, I've grown to hate this book, not because it isn't good but because it failed to live up to its name. As a certified PC specialist, I expected what most folks I think would expect from a book of this title, to learn how to do what you already know how to do on a PC, on a Mac, but that is NOT how the book is laid out. "Switching to the Mac"... from what? We all presume from Windows but it's more like Switching to the Mac from nothing. In other words, it's more of a course on how to operate the Mac as opposed to how to do what you normally do on a PC. You might expect topics like, "How to Create Folders: the Windows way vs. the Mac way" but this book has no such type of format. I had to stop reading because it was giving me a headache, teaching me things that were commonplace on a PC. So it seems like this book was not written for an experienced PC user, but a computer NOVICE who decided to Switch his LIFE from being without a computer to using a Mac. One of the most important lessons ANY PC user knows is how to react to an unresponsive program i.e., a program that has frozen. PC users know they must press the FAMOUS Control-Alt-Delete keys to bring up the Task Manager in which you can choose which program you wish to stop. But believe it or not, this book doesn't even MENTION this procedure! Instead, a two line "tip" on page 95 mentions as an aside that if you want to close an unresponsive program, you press the Command key while right clicking the Dock, then select the program to end, but my point is that information isn't even mentioned as being the Cntrl+ Alt+Del key equivalent! And if you search in the Index for How to Create a Folder, you'll see that isn't even listed except to say to create a folder, you would first need to have unorganized icons (what a Mac calls both files AND folders) on your desktop, then you can right-click and select an option to add the selected icons to a "New Folder" which you can rename afterwards! In other words, there isn't a lesson on how to create a new EMPTY folder which you can later fill as desired. There are very many examples of lessons like this. Nowhere will you find: "If this is what you want to do with Windows, this is how it's done on a Mac:" This book is a lesson on how to learn how to use computers, a Mac in particular. It has little to do with listing the Mac equivalents to PC commands. I'll keep the book because it was inexpensive and somewhat useful if I want to dig for information but it certainly doesn't live up to its IMPLIED name, "Learning how to Switch to the Mac from Windows". It took this guy 100 pages of text to finally say that Macs call both files and folders, "Icons." I think this book is best served as a hunt and peck type book, whereby you look for what you're interested in knowing as opposed to reading the entire contents which will give an experienced PC user a headache from reading instructions on how to do things he's been doing for years. If anyone can recommend an alternate publication, I'd be thankful. Meanwhile, I'm hoping subsequent chapters will be more helpful as I'm writing this review after reading 100 pages.

Very clear and comprehensive. The index is well laid out so it is pretty easy to find what you are looking for. The writing style is very readable and does not seem like "a manual". I got the el captain version even though I have Sierra but they are pretty close and I had no issues with an instruction being wrong.

A wonderful resource to have! My wife and I made the switch to Apple after many years of Windows. This book has tons of helpful information to help with the switch plus gobs to get a person started with Apple. Clearly written and well organized. Even more information is available on the publisher's website. Worth every penny.-Dave R.

I found the answer to two questions the day I received the book! I'm relieved to see that it is easy to find information in the book, and there is a great amount of information included. The conversational tone is welcome too.

This thick tome probably has every last detail on the MAC, but it's clumsy to use and difficult to navigate

Several weeks after buying 'Switching to the Mac - The Missing Manual', I am still wading through it. I purchased my first MacBook Pro a couple of months ago, after having been a Windows user since 1992, and it really is a new ball game. As to be expected, there is a learning curve to overcome, but this book is proving to be the perfect manual for this novice Mac user. It is well thought out; it is well laid out, and it is written in easy-to-understand terms. If you have switched to a Mac from Windows, or are thinking about doing so, don't try to go it alone without purchasing this book. It'll save you all that swearing...

Simple to read - clear and concise.

As advertised, happy with purchase.

It's quite good but not as well index as other 'Missing Manual' books I have had.

Very good but with a volume this thick I am still digesting it. Most comprehensive and David Pogue obviously knows what he is writing about. Good value.