| The original idea of How to Do Everything with Your iMac was a simple one. The iMac is a complete computer with a wonderful bundle of applications that enable you to do just about anything you need a computer to do. So, I wanted my book on the iMac to be as comprehensive as possible, teaching the reader how to be productive while enjoying this exciting little tool.
It was a risk, though, because the prevailing winds suggested that iMac owners might want thin books with only the basics to get up and running with their easy-to-use iMac. A 600-page book on the iMac? To some, it didn’t make sense. Would readers buy this book?
The results speak for themselves, with the first two editions of the book selling tens of thousands of copies in each edition—a bestseller in the computer-book business. The folks at Osborne/McGraw-Hill were tickled enough to create an entire series of How to Do Everything books.
Now, we’ve put together this third edition, largely to tackle all of the new software and capabilities that Apple continues to pile onto the iMac. Not the least of these is Mac OS X—arguably the first all-new Mac OS since the advent of the Macintosh. While Mac OS X is still a work in progress, many iMac users will no doubt be exploring Mac OS X, if not using it on a regular basis.
But the newness of Mac OS X necessitates covering both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X in this book. That way, you’re sure to get a sense of what both operating systems are capable of, as well as how they differ. As we go forward with Mac OS X, there will still be a lot of Mac OS 9 to contend with, in the form of the Classic environment and older applications. I hope you’ll enjoy the hybrid approach, which I feel will truly tell you “everything” you need to know about the modern iMac’s operating systems.
In How to Do Everything with Your iMac, Third Edition, we’ve extended the book’s focus to include coverage of Mac OS X, including some of the applications that come bundled with Mac OS X, such as the Apple Mail application. Likewise, it’s been updated to discuss new iMac capabilities, such as burning CD-RW media, and to cover the latest iMac models and application version numbers.
Coverage of the Internet is rearranged to get you up and running more quickly, starting with Chapter 6’s quick guide to the Internet. That’s in addition to Chapters 18–23, where you’ll find extensive coverage of e-mail (both Outlook Express and Mail), the World Wide Web and Apple’s iTools applications, which make it easy to transfer files online, create Web pages, and display images and movies on the Web. There you’ll also find coverage of America Online and some advice and instruction for using your iMac with a high-speed Internet connection. |
