Crossing Platforms : A Macintosh/Windows Phrasebook

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Summary: BettyMD
Review: I do cross platform support for a living, and knowing both platforms' jargon has been the basis for my success. I've also read Pogue's and Engst's independent work -- and am extremely happy at their collaboration. This is very objective and will help those who must positively speak on both the Win and Mac side.

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Summary: Crossing Platforms comment
Review: I enjoy using a computer and begin with a Mac. I eventually starting using Windows to gain an understanding of that platform. I wish such a text as Crossing Platforms would have been available three years ago. It would have reduced my learning curve time a considerable amount. I currently use both platforms but prefer the Mac. I especially like the cross index approach. This is a text most any computer user should find useful.

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Summary: Still Useful!
Review: If you are learning the Mac or Windows OS as a second language then this book is the best investment you could make. Terms are translated between the two environments by quick, simple look-up in a translation dictionary. More important, the translations are actually useful. The concepts are translated, not just the words. Look up a term and you get an explanation of the equivalent idea and jargon, even if the terms have no exact match. This is the book to have in your hands while you talk to foreign tech support. I've purchased a couple of copies of this book each year since it came out, mainly because other people borrow mine and then beg to keep it. I was buying another couple of copies today in Jan 2003 (one for me, one for my new tech support person) and I realized that there are very few computer reference books that are still so useful 4 years after publication. This is one computer reference book that will get dog-eared.

Rating:
Summary: Still Useful!
Review: If you are learning the Mac or Windows OS as a second language then this book is the best investment you could make. Terms are translated between the two environments by quick, simple look-up in a translation dictionary. More important, the translations are actually useful. The concepts are translated, not just the words. Look up a term and you get an explanation of the equivalent idea and jargon, even if the terms have no exact match. This is the book to have in your hands while you talk to foreign tech support. I've purchased a couple of copies of this book each year since it came out, mainly because other people borrow mine and then beg to keep it. I was buying another couple of copies today in Jan 2003 (one for me, one for my new tech support person) and I realized that there are very few computer reference books that are still so useful 4 years after publication. This is one computer reference book that will get dog-eared.

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Summary: Helps you switch between the Mac and Windows or vice versa.
Review: Let's face it, we live in a cross-platform world. You may use a Windows-based PC at work and a Mac at home. Or your parents have a PC at home but you have to use Macs at school. Whatever the details, the fact remains: we're switching between Macs and PCs more and more these days. That's why David Pogue and I wrote this book. We wanted to provide a resource that would help people make that transition. Nothing revolutionary there.

However, here's what's unusual about this book. First, we assume that you're neither a novice or a dummy. You don't need RAM and hard disk space explained to you. You know how to insert a floppy disk. No, you're the sort who merely needs to know how to get your work done on the unfamiliar operating system. So instead of lengthy explanations of how things work on the Mac, or the details about how Microsoft implemented something in Windows, we designed the book like a translation dictionary. Simply look up a familiar term, and a concise entry tells you all about the equivalent on the other platform. If you're a Mac user, look up "alias" and you'll learn about shortcuts. If you're a Windows user, look up "shortcut" to learn about aliases. It's that simple.

Second, and you may have already figured this out, the book works in both directions. The first half helps Mac users trying to figure out Windows, and the second half looks at the Mac OS through the eyes of a Windows user. Frankly, it was a difficult book to write, because we had to keep switching mindsets back and forth, but we're extremely happy with the results.

So maybe you've just bought an iMac after using Windows for years, or your office just standardized everyone on Windows after you'd been using the Mac for a long time. Perhaps you're a Windows expert who must also support the few Macs in the graphics department. Or you're a Mac consultant who has found an increasing number of your clients have a few Windows machines sprinkled in with their Macs. No matter what, I'm confident you'll find useful information in "Crossing Platforms: A Macintosh/Windows Phrasebook."

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Summary: The opposite of a "Dummies" book
Review: Recently I took a job which required me to work in an office that was mostly Windows-driven. Knowing Adam's and David's reputation, I decided that their book was a good choice.

After skimming through "Crossing Platforms," I was able to tell the Information Support guy how to do something under Windows that he wasn't aware of. Four days after I was hired! Within two weeks I was completely comfortable using Windows (except for that silly mouse design and other poor UI choices, but that's another matter). Now I have a reputation as a computer genius. I just hope it's reflected in my paycheck.

"Crossing Platforms" is, as the title of this review hints, as far from a "Dummies" book as you can get. It starts by assuming that you're an intelligent person who simply doesn't have the experience on one of the world's two major computer operating systems.

Much of what you want to do on a computer is possible under either Mac OS or Windows-- after all, they were built to manipulate files, send and modify information, etc.-- but there are different terms and some different ways of treating the information. In other words, you know the music, but not the words. "Crossing Platforms" will allow you to make the paradigm shift and use what you've spent years learning. It helps you avoid the pitfalls and gotchas, and is laid out in a manner which makes it easy to reference. In short, twenty-four of the best dollars I've spent recently.