How This Book Is Organized


This book consists of 14 chapters along with two appendixes.


Chapter 1, Where It All Came From

Mac OS X is the successful hybrid of technologies from Unix and the original Mac OS. On its own, the history would be interesting enough. But the impact of Apple's decisions while fusing these two systems together affects how the system operates to this day.


Chapter 2, Installing the System and Software

Whether you're upgrading from a previous version of Mac OS X or doing a fresh install, this chapter helps you get going with Tiger and helps Tiger get going on your Mac. OS installation is covered, in addition to Aqua and Unix software installation.


Chapter 3, Lay of the Land

Mac OS X is composed of many different technologies with several different lineages. This chapter starts by examining these diverse tools and how they work together to form Apple's next-gen OS.

The layout of the Mac OS X filesystem is different from that of most other operating systems. It shares history with traditional Unix filesystem layouts, but introduces several concepts that make it easier for the system to keep its data separate from yours. This chapter looks beneath the Finder's presentation of the filesystem and explains how the filesystem is laid out, with details on what is located where.


Chapter 4, The Terminal and Shell

The Terminal gives you access to the Unix core of Mac OS X. While it is possible to become a decent user without ever using the Terminal, you'll need a good understanding of it to become a guru and unleash the full potential of the system. This chapter shows how to use the Terminal and how to configure the various shells on the system.


Chapter 5, System Startup and Login

Quite a bit happens behind the simple gray Apple logo and spinner that appear when Mac OS X starts up. This chapter looks at what gets executed when and what the various boot options are. In addition, it takes a look at the process by which events happen when you log in and out of the system.


Chapter 6, Users and Groups

Thanks to its Unix heritage, Mac OS X is a multiuser operating system through and through. This chapter dives into the question of why there are multiple users on the system and why they are gathered into groups. It also explains how to add users from both the Accounts preference panel and the command line, how user security works, and how to access the functionality of the root user.


Chapter 7, Open Directory

Open Directory stores the most important data about your systemthe list of users, groups, printers, and so forth. Based on LDAP, it works with NetInfo, flat files, other LDAP servers, and Microsoft's Active Directory. This chapter shows you how this system works and how to modify data contained within it.


Chapter 8, Files and Permissions

Most administration tasks that you perform will involve working with files in one capacity or another. This chapter explains the various attributes and permissions that a file can have and how to work with them. It also takes a look at how to effectively find files on the system and how Tiger's new Spotlight makes it a whole lot easier.


Chapter 9, Disks and Filesystems

Mac OS X supports many different kinds of disks including: hard drives, removable USB and FireWire drives, floppy drives, CDs, DVDs, and virtual disk images. This chapter gives you the lowdown on the different kinds of filesystems you can use and the pros and cons of each. It also goes into the various network filesystems Mac OS X supports, both as a client and a server.


Chapter 10, Printing

The printing architecture that Mac OS X uses is very flexible and supports both local and network printers. This chapter gives you a detailed look at how printing works, how to use print servers, how to connect with Windows-hosted printers, and even how to share your ink jet printer with Windows users. It also offers a look at the Common Unix Print System (CUPS), which serves as the foundation for the rest of the printing system.


Chapter 11, Networking

Mac OS X lives to be connected to other machines. This chapter shows you how the networking system works including wireless, spontaneous networking (Rendezvous), and Internet Connection Sharing. It also covers how to connect to corporate VPN networks.


Chapter 12, Monitoring the System

The first step to keeping your system in tip-top shape is to know where to go to get information about how the system is running. This chapter covers the Console, System Profiler, Activity Monitor, and many other tools as well as gives you the skinny on what to look for in your system's logfiles.


Chapter 13, Automating Tasks

Mac OS X has had a rich toolkit for automating both the Terminal and the GUI. With Tiger's Automator, that automation is coming to a whole new audience. This chapter dives into using Automator and other tools for automating your Mac.


Chapter 14, Preferences and Defaults

All user configuration data on Mac OS X is stored in the defaults system. This system is structured, in a way similar to the filesystem, to keep your data separate from the system's data, allowing you to migrate it between machines easily. In addition to discussing how the defaults system works, this chapter shows you how to modify preferences stored in the system in a variety of ways.


Appendix A, Boot Command Keys

While your Mac boots up, you can give it all sorts of commands, and they all involve somewhat cryptic key combinations. This appendix gives you the full reference to all the commands.


Appendix B, Other Sources of Information

There are a wide variety of good resources containing more information about Mac OS X. This appendix serves as a list of resources that will help you develop knowledge about Mac OS X.




Running Mac OS X Tiger
Running Mac OS X Tiger: A No-Compromise Power Users Guide to the Mac (Animal Guide)
ISBN: 0596009135
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 166

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net