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You're never bored reading one of the "Missing Manuals" books.
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Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983
T e c h n o f i l e
Pogue's 'Missing Manuals' are great last-minute gifts
Dec. 18, 2005
By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, The Post-Standard
Last-minute gifts usually spring from last-minute thoughts. Choose wisely this season by selecting books that help explain the way computers work.
You can't go wrong by choosing one of the "Missing Manuals" books from Pogue Press, a division of longtime publisher O'Reilly Media. You can order any of them directly from www.missingmanuals.com, but shoppers in a hurry should try a local book store first. They're nearly always on display at the book retailers I shop at.
Many writers contribute to the "Missing Manuals" books -- there are more than 100 in the series -- but the best are the ones written by Pogue himself.
Pogue is a New York Times computer columnist and concert pianist, a combination that helps keep his geekiness in check. Unlike most of his colleagues in the technology press, Pogue writes with an adroit sense of humor; you're never bored reading one of the "Missing Manuals" books, and that can make all the difference when you're desperate to understand how something works.
Ideal choices for anyone who uses a modern Windows computer are two books on XP -- "Windows XP Home Edition: The Missing Manual" and "Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual" -- both currently in their second editions. If you're not sure which version of XP your recipient uses, choose the "Pro" book, which covers the "Home" subjects also.
I keep the "Pro" book handy even when I'm traveling. But I've added a second Pogue Press Windows book to the Mac OS X books in my travel bag. It's "Windows XP Power Hound," which provides tricks, tips and hints for getting more out of Windows XP than you probably thought possible.
Likewise, anyone who uses one of Apple's new OS X Macintosh computers would appreciate one of the OS X "Missing Manuals" books. My favorite is "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition" because it covers the new features in OS X 1.4 (called "Tiger") exceptionally well. If your recipient is still running the slightly older version of OS X called "Panther" -- Mac families tend to know these things more than Windows families do -- choose "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition."
OS X computers come with Apple's incomparable iPhoto software, but even iPhoto users could use a "Missing Manual." They have a good one in "iPhoto 5: The Missing Manual, Fourth Edition." Almost as good in its coverage of iPhoto is "iLife '05: The Missing Manual," which covers the other parts of the iLife suite, too. They're iTunes, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand.
If you know a Windows user who's thinking of moving up to OS X, get "Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition." It's the single best book on what Windows users need to know about what's different in OS X -- and what's more or less the same. This book also helps explain how to move documents and data from a Windows PC to a new OS X Macintosh.
Other great gift ideas in the "Missing Manuals" series:
"Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual" ($29.95), a guide for anyone who'd like to build a site.
"Excel for Starters: The Missing Manual" ($19.95), a how-to guide for those who don't use Excel regularly.
"Excel: The Missing Manual" ($39.95), an excellent book for those who DO use Excel regularly.
"Home Networking: The Missing Manual" ($24.95), a treasure for anyone tired of the geek-speak of home and or small office computer connections.
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