Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good, But Padded
Review: This book is broken into two main sections-- the GUI, and Terminal. The GUI section is 5 stars-- very useful, well written, if dry.The Terminal section is the heart of the book, and the writers, who obviously know an enormous amount about Unix/OS X, swing maddingly between careful explanation suitable for newbies to Terminal, and much higher level discussions of Unix commands. My complaint is not with one or the other, but with never being quite sure who is in charge for that particular section (this problem may be the result of two writers). A second major criticism is that pages and pages are wasted simply re-printing the command arguments, long sections from the manual, and the actual output from example commands. All of this material is instantly available from within Terminal-- it's as though they are printing out the online Help. I'd guess that only 15% of the text in the Terminal section was actually written by the authors. Removing the other 85% would produce a more readable, more useful, cheaper, and lighter book, as well as saving some trees.
Rating: 
Summary: Heavy book, but light on the techno-geek-speak
Review: If you're looking for a book, a heavy book at that!, that covers Mac OS X from soups to nuts, look no further. This tome has everything, from Unix commands that underly Apple's entire new operating system, to AppleScript, to icons and drag and drop. I'm not kidding when I say that this book has it all. Even if you read one chapter (and they are written in a way that just about anybody can understand), you will come away with a newfound appreciation of the level technological achievements that went into this new OS. Other than that, it IS thick, clocking in at over 1500 pages. But each and every page is a jewel onto itself. Don't be afraid of it's depth and coverage (ok, maybe be a little afraid of hurting your back picking this thing up!), and don't be afraid to take on a few pages a day. This is one book where you will end up learning whether you wanted to or not. On the downside, and yes there are a few, it tends to regurgitate a lot of information about UNIX commands that you can easily find in the Terminal. What it needs are more everyday examples of how these commands can help the average user day in and day out. With nary a misspelling and a compelling tone throughout, you'll be quite happy with this purchase. So enjoy! And share with the Mac community what you've learned.
Rating:
Summary: THE OS X Book!
Review: If you are looking for a great book on OS X, this is it. Covers Jaguar. Covers all those advanced Unix apps like apache, mySQL, PHP, WebDEV, LDAP, and much more.
I am new to MACS (just trashed my PC), former PC Power user...this was the perfect book. I looked through some of the other popular choices at a local bookstore and then bought this book. It was an easy decision.
The type is crisp, clear, and easy to read. The author covers just enough detail to get you going without borring you to tears.
All the OS X Jaguar iApps are covered.
The guy who wrote this is truely a master of the computer world including PC, MAC, and Unix workstations. He knows his stuff and has been around the block.
Most importantly he has excellent computer intuition and can tell you the developmental history of not only just the MAC but parallel it to the PC and developments in UNIX workstations. He truely ties it all together to produce a very informative read.
Rating: 
Summary: Comprehensive Guide to the Powerful side of Mac OS X
Review: Mac OS X Unleashed is the essential guide for anyone who wants to (well...) unleash the power of Mac OS X. It is appropriate that most of the introductory texts to Mac OS X cover what a user can accomplish from the User Interface. This text, in contrast also lets you look behind the curtain at some of the UNIX-based machinery that the user interface drives and gives you the skills and confidence to tinker with that machinery when you want to... or need to. The book is by no means a comprehensive introduction to UNIX, nor is it a text for an individual who is content to work with Mac OS X without ever seeing a UNIX command line. For every other Mac OS X fan, however, this book will be an excellent tutorial and reference.
Rating: 
Summary: Lacking in many respects
Review: Coverage of the iApps is far less than it should be, and there isn't enough information for a novice user like myself. I thought the author spent far too much time on the UNIX and Terminal side of Jaguar and not enough on the real-world tips that I've found in other books. A disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: This is the best single reference you'll need for Mac OS X Jaguar - buy it! As with the previous edition, it covers both the Aqua environment as well as Darwin. With the rapidly changing face of Darwin/X11, there are bound to be some things that change by the time you get this book - for example it was published only a few weeks before Apple released the beta version of their own X11 server with aqua window manager - so you won't find that in this book - but that's no problem - you might choose to stick with XDarwin anyway and install it as described. You'll learn as you go and the authors' brilliant writing styles make exploring the Darwin side of OS X a pleasure and a thrill - the essay on why LaTeX is better that WYSISYG is a great example - you'll want to trash Office and start programming in TeX immediately! This is a really great book and we should pay homage to the authors for the books' mere existance.
Rating:
Summary: ACCURATE, VERSATILE, AND COMPLETE
Review: That amazing intuition that the predecessor of this "Mac OS X Uleashed" is famous for has been enhanced in this Second Edition. Here, extensive coverage on Mac's Jaguar OS X 10.2, has become an important dish on the menu list.
Whether you are a beginner or a power-user, you will find a comfortable accommodation in the contents of this book. Additional illustrations were made without altering its simplistic outlook. Among the best qualities of this book, is its unrivalled accuracy. Regardless of whether you read it every day, or just want to keep it handy for reference purposes, you will come to appreciate its authority. This book is voluminous and up-to-date. It is complete. You can always count on it.
Rating:
Summary: THIS IS NOT THE LATEST EDITION OF THIS BOOK!! DON'T BUY!
Review: This is a wonderful, amazing book for learning how to dig deep down into the guts of OS X. However, it does NOT cover Jaguar (aka OS X 10.2) and as of December 11, it is no longer the current edition. Be sure to purchase Mac OS X Unleashed (2nd Edition) instead! Either visit the following URL: , or else simply type in the ISBN/ASIN code 0672324652 into Amazon's search box.
Rating:
Summary: Checked it out first and then the best choice!
Review: ... I found that the book is perfect for my needs as it gave comprehensive information on OS X in easy explainations. Oh, yeah. It does get technical. SO, for those of you with some experience can skip couple of first chapters. Also, I found that the price is alot cheaper on Amazon.com, With free shipping and no tax, the book is 25% cheaper that any local bookstores. Bottom line is "Check it out at local bookstores, if you like the book like I do, then buy at Amazon.com"
Rating:
Summary: Too much fluff
Review: I have found this book helpful in many different ways but i feel that it could have been better, my background is mostly as an administrator of unix but I am responsible for a number of osx machines.
A few points:
1. Wherever there was a point of interest on topics such as netinfo and the printing system etc. I felt the sections mentioned were a bit too short and could be expanded.
2. I felt that some topics were irrelevant for a book of this title such as perl programming. The aforementioned topic is covered in many different books which provide a much more comprehensive guide to the perl language.
3. The book violated a BIG unix system documentation no-no: Printing out 'man' or manual pages to fill out the book.
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