Crossing Platforms : A Macintosh/Windows Phrasebook (ISBN 1565925394)

Amazon.com Review:
Say what you like about the farmer and the cowman, but the Windows user and the Macintosh jockey likely will never enjoy much more than a grudging coexistence. That's why it can be so traumatic when a job or other tragic circumstance requires a devotee of one environment to switch to the other. Crossing Platforms: A Macintosh/Windows Phrasebook helps ease the shock by translating the terms and conventions of each platform into the other's equivalent. It's organized like a translating dictionary, with two distinct sections: one for translating "Macintosh" into "Windows," the other for going the opposite way. Someone who is familiar with Windows and wants to know the equivalent of booting into Safe Mode can look up that term in the Windows-to-Mac section and read all about holding down the Shift key to boot Mac OS without extensions. A Mac user can look up Finder in the Mac-to-Windows section and learn how to use the functionally equivalent Windows Explorer. Each section opens with a handy "10 Most Important Differences" section, which explains such things as the operating systems' differences in window anatomy and that whole single- versus multiple-button mouse debacle. There's a certain amount of nyah-nyah sniping about which operating system's features are better, but it's all in fun. This is an honestly useful book. --David Wall Topics covered: Differences between modern Microsoft Windows (Windows 95 and 98) and Apple Mac OS (Mac OS 8 and beyond) operating systems, organized in dictionary format for people looking for the "other" system's equivalents of interface features they know.

The opposite of a "Dummies" book:
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.

Good reference for dual-platform users:
Adam Engst and David Pogue are longstanding and prolific writers in the Mac community. Both have also made the transition to working with Windows as well. Their book is a good reference work for any dual-platform user. It literally is organized like a Spanish-to-English/English-to-Spanish dictionary: One half of the book gives Windows equivalents to various MacOS features such as Preferences, Extensions and Control Panels. The other half does the converse, explaining the Mac equivalents to Windows features. Differences in each case are spelled out. In some cases, there is no real equivalent and the particulars are explained (for instance, there is no Mac equivalent for the mysterious Windows "Registry" -- similar functions are handled very differently by "Preferences" on a Mac.) This book has no real beginning or end and is mainly a reference book. Mac users wanting more of a start-at-the-beginning explanation of Windows should check out "Windows for Mac Users" by Robin Williams -- one of the most well-written computer books on the market.

Still Useful!:
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.

Only book of its kind .. .found it invaluable!!:
As a 15 year PC user & tech support person, I am struggling to learn the MAC environment. Using this guide made my life much simpler, and I have personally recommended it to several users here in our company who are going PC->MAC and MAC->PC. If you've ever tried to learn a "foreign language" and used a translating dictionary ... you'll immediately know how to use this book. This is one tech book that won't sit on your bookshelf collecting dust!

doesn't cover OSX:
I bought this to recommend to friends who are shifting to Mac. While it has lots of good and still relevant information, it was written before OSX so many things are changed. Despite that, t's handy for those who are familiar with Windows to find the equivalents in the Mac.