Welcome to Mac OS X

Mac OS X has been called many things, from revolutionary to evolutionary to being so innovative that it threatens the very existence of the Mac as we have come to know and love it. And all of those descriptions are appropriate.

Mac OS X is a giant leap forward for the Mac platform. Its innovations in basic architecture, the way it works, and even its user interface make Mac OS X the most significant event for Mac users since the first Mac was introduced back in the Jurassic period, circa 1984. Mac OS X is more stable, more powerful, and even more beautiful than any previous version.

However, this progress comes with a price. And the price is that Mac users must make an equivalent jump in their knowledge base to be able to effectively use the new OS. Mac OS X is complex, and the number of features is staggering; in fact, it is better to think of Mac OS X as a completely new OS because, in reality, that is what it is. Many of the old tricks of the Mac trade are gone; learning new ways of using a Mac running Mac OS X is required.

And that is where this book comes in.