[.ca] Switching to the Mac (ISBN 0596004524)

Can't recommend enough:
If you're a PC user and you're buying a Mac, for whatever reason, do yourself a favor and buy this book. I've been a PC user for most of my life, and all of my previous Mac experience had been with OS 9 or earlier. When I decided to buy a 12" Powerbook (also very highly recommended) I went out and picked up this book. Despite its size I had it read in less than a week. It's very well written, informative but still fun to read, and, a rarity in computer books, even not having the computer right in front of me didn't keep me from understanding and learning from this book. In short, it covers everything you'll need to know to get started, and it does it from the point of view of a PC user, making the transition a quick and relatively painless one. One word of caution though, if you pick up this book too far in advance you'll be sorry, it'll make the wait until your new Mac arrives almost unbearable.

A SWITCHER'S CLASSIC:
"Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual" provides a smooth adjustment path for anyone who intends to explore Mac's new environment. This book is a portable classic, whose pages manifested all those qualities found in the 'Missing Manual' series. Apart from the detailed explanations on how to settle-down in the new Mac environment, this book provided comprehensive coverage: as it concerned all the supportive Mac staples. These extensive discussions include: Quicken for Mac, Mac's Microsoft Office, Filemaker for Mac, Photoshop, and so on. Also discussed were all the important facts (and features) regarding networking and peripheral configurations. This text is by every means, a reliable introductory to the Mac arena. Traditional Windows users, who seek a Mac adventure, would have a lot to gain from it. But, complementing its efforts with that of an established Mac text would yield better result. In this case, I would suggest either "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual" or "Mac OS X: In A Nutshell".

Not good for most of us:
I switched from Mac OS to Windows XP, after getting really sick of not having Mac versions of the software I wanted for finance, medicine, programming, games, etc. This book does nothing for me, except to convince me that I made the right move by using a platform used by 98+% of personal computer users.

Good for all:
Even if you aren't switching, this book provides accurate information on Mac OS X and the technical help for transferring documents to a Windows computer. David Pogue, my favorite mac writer, known for his vivid style, won't let you down. Highly recommended.

Don't Switch, Mac is Smoke and Mirrors:
I read Mr Pogue's Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, and am about to finish reading his Switching to the Mac; BUT let me tell you, I own an imac 17" LCD on a Pedestal with extra ram, extra speakers (candlesticks) and a .Mac account for their lousy mail service and I also own a DELL 2.66 GigaHertz and a 20" LCD Monitor and identical graphics software and Microsoft Office on each Machine and I would choose the Dell hands down for being more dependable, faster and more fun to operate. The Mac also gives me troubles, freeze ups, bad drivers, stupid tech support, phone calls which take 2 hours fix a problem to get to a real specialist. I have had no problems with my XP Professional. They run together on a cable modem with a router and The PC wins. The MAc needs work. I have owned 14 Macs since 1984 and they are superior in Itunes and ipod but the rest, I have to give thumbs down.