Rating: 
Summary: Wynne Stevens MyMac.com Book Review
Review: The Switchers' Guide is an unabashed endorsement of Mac over PC -- and rightly so, in my opinion. If you work in creative applications on a PC (as I do, I'm ashamed to say) you will feel woefully inadequate and be convinced that life has passed you by. Perhaps this is a slight exaggeration. However, David Coursey presents many compelling reasons for making the switch in this well written and entertaining book targeted to disgruntled Microsoft captives.Interspersed throughout the book are interviews with individuals, many of whom were in the recent Mac switcher ads, who describe their various reasons for migrating to Macs (including some PC horror stories). The testimonials are quite convincing and, I believe a clever way for Mr. Coursey to shield himself from the heat which Microsoft would surely direct his way otherwise. They are real world experiences and probably completely biased, but present all the good reasons to make the switch. Early chapters describe why people switch and how relatively easy it is to do. There is a brief description of the Mac GUI and corresponding hardware components such as USB and FireWire ports, modems, memory and the like. The author describes how to move files from one OS to the other and includes a rebate for Move2Mac, a program that does all the hard work. The chapter on the Mac desktop and its comparison with the Windows equivalent is particularly good. The Internet and email on the Mac are also covered extensively. Later chapters deal primarily with software applications: iApps that come with the machine and other Windows-type programs that have Mac equivalents. There's even a description on how to run Windows and/or MS Office on a Mac, although why anyone would want to is beyond me. If there's a weakness in the book, it's here. While we can run spreadsheet and word processing on the Mac, that's no real reason to switch. I'm led to believe it's with the creative applications that the Mac really shines, and there's little in Mac OS X for Windows Users: A Switchers' Guide that addresses how or why these programs work better on the Mac. In my case, I got entrenched in the PC world of DOS with AutoCAD and, later, 3D Studio, for which there was no acceptable Mac alternative at the time. These can be highly creative programs that are still the software of choice for the architects that I know. In order to be on that wagon, I had to have a PC and went through all the machinations (no pun intended) from one version to the next of both software and operating system. Along the way I added Photoshop, Illustrator, PageMaker, AfterEffects, Painter, Dreamweaver and other PC programs. Now, in order to switch, I have to buy all these programs over again in Mac mode. Nowhere in the book is there an answer or discussion on this dilemma. Nevertheless, for the price, this is a great book for those with only recent PC history or limited Adobe PC applications to evaluate what is really an easy choice. It sure convinced me and I may just spring for the Mac Photoshop software anyway. MacMice Rating: 4 out of 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wynne Stevens
[local website]
Rating:
Summary: Love it, but it is mistitled
Review: The title of this book should be: Mac OS X: The Alter-Ego Experiences
This is an ego boosting book for mac users, especially for the switchers.
This book, if read as a guidebook, might only give preliminary information.
But I enjoy the book, not for its purpose as a switcher's guide. But more toward in learning the experiences of the author (and some switchers that are being interviewed) answering his problems/questions during the conversion period. Treat it as a light book for your leisure time, turn on the iPod then read this book, and smile.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice guide for a switch
Review: This book has been very useful in guiding me along for my switch from PC to my Mac. All the pictures and information provide the right amount of information without making me feel like a total computer dufus.
Rating:
Summary: A Must read for a Switcher (PC to Mac)
Review: This book is a must read for anyone who has switched recently from the PC to
the Mac or is simply thinking about switching. If for nothing more, one
needs to read the introductory chapter. I recently switched from a perfectly good Thinkpad T22, after it went through yet another hardware
failure, and went a bought a Powerbook G4 Titanium. Of course, after I did,
I felt a tremendous sense of guilt. Did I really need this and what about
all those apps that I have built on the PC which just aren't that portable
to the Mac. David's book put my mind at ease and I realized I bought the Mac as I just
wanted a machine that works and works well. As with David, the Thinkpad
won't be going anywhere too fast, as there are still things I can only do in
that environment. But now, as the XP computer needs yet another new restart
for yet another XP patch, or simply because something has caused it to become
unstable, I easily continue to work away on the Mac. David goes into excellent elaboration on just what the benefits are of using
a Mac but he gets at some of the pitfalls and problems you'll run into
(something Apple in their advertising won't point out) and suggests sound
solutions to get around these problems. If for no other reason if you read this book you will have a better sense of what
is and is not possible and certainly feel much relieved in your decision to
make the switch. In the end, I tend to agree wholeheartedly with David that initially you
cannot retire your PC overnight and depending on the work you do, you might
not ever be able to retire it but, you just might if you can stand the
slowness of something like Virtual PC. Yet, as he clearly outlines and I have found, working on the Mac allows you
just to concentrate on what you're doing rather than fighting fearlessly
with your PC only to forget what it was you were trying to do. Excellent book and a must read for a switcher.
Rating:
Summary: A nice book that prepares you for the switch
Review: This is a nice book that answers all your immediate questions that you may have when you are confronted with a mac for the first time. Good and clear explanations with the right amount of graphics around it. I would highly recomend a copy of this book to help you out when you move your stuff from your PC to a Mac.
Rating: 
Summary: A re-print of Apple ads, Apple help pages and all..
Review: This not worth the paper it is printed on, you can get all of this and much more by simple putting in the appropiate search terms in Google. That will give you in-depth info on the pros and cons, from people lacking an agenda. And if you want an Apple shot, for gods sake, just turn your browser to www.apple.com. Furthermore, Mr. Coursey is an evangelist, this is a feel good book for those who never understood Windows, and never will. Too bad that your wallet and computing future will ache instead.
Rating: 
Summary: A lame and lazy effort
Review: Wow, what a phoned-in effort. This slim volume includes 25 pages of reprints of Apple "Switch" ads; 10 pages that paraphrase the user guide from Detto's Move2Mac software; and 27 pages of reprints from the author's Web site. Worse, the author consistently backs off from providing anything more than skin-deep instructions. What other computer-book author would dare publish lines like these? "This is complex, so I will quote extensively from Apple's switching guide [on the Web]." Or this: "I have not tried this, but I don't see any obvious reason why this technique wouldn't work." Or this: "I haven't tried this myself, but I hear it's fairly slow." Isn't it the author's job to try these things out before writing about them? Or even this: "If my explanation has confused you, please accept my apologies and check out the help system already on your Mac."
Why did we buy a computer book, if it's just an exhortation to use the online help? He concludes the book like this: "I am sorry for all the things I did not put in this book." You'll be sorry, too.
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