Product Description

With the release of version 10.1 of Mac OS X in the fall of 2001, the new operating system was finally stable enough for mass distribution on all shipping Macintosh computers. Yet underneath the new colorful interface was a powerful, complicated operating system based on BSD Unix. An Mac users of all kinds needed help both in figuring out how to run OS X and in understanding how OS X worked underneath the covers and how to get the most out of it.

In late summer 2002 Apple is expected to release a new version of OS X-code-named "Jaguar"-that will add some end user featurs (like iChat), that will increase OS X's stability, and that will further extend the capabilities of the underlying Unix-based subsystem.

The second edition of Mac OS X Unleashed takes the same approach as the best-selling first edition, helping the reader deal with the most trouble-prone aspects of the user interface-including the new features in the latest version-but focusing to a much greater extent on the BSD environment and how the user or administrator can get the most out of both the current operating system as well as the new components expected in the latest version.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1291250 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1560 pages

From the Back Cover

With the release of version 10.1 of Mac OS X in the fall of 2001, the new operating system was finally stable enough for mass distribution on all shipping Macintosh computers. Yet underneath the new colorful interface was a powerful, complicated operating system based on BSD Unix. An Mac users of all kinds needed help both in figuring out how to run OS X and in understanding how OS X worked underneath the covers and how to get the most out of it.

In late summer 2002 Apple is expected to release a new version of OS X-code-named "Jaguar"-that will add some end user featurs (like iChat), that will increase OS X's stability, and that will further extend the capabilities of the underlying Unix-based subsystem.

The second edition of Mac OS X Unleashed takes the same approach as the best-selling first edition, helping the reader deal with the most trouble-prone aspects of the user interface-including the new features in the latest version-but focusing to a much greater extent on the BSD environment and how the user or administrator can get the most out of both the current operating system as well as the new components expected in the latest version.

About the Author

John Ray currently serves as the Director of Engineering/IT Services at Blue Cosmos Design, Inc. An award-winning developer, he provides customized TCP/IP programming solutions to clients nationwide, including The Ohio State University. In the past three years, he has authored or co-authored several books including Special Edition Using TCP/IP, and Maximum Linux Security.

William C. Ray is a Unix system administrator, programmer, and trainer. He was responsible for developing a computer-graphics center for The Ohio State University's College of Biological Sciences, where he performed such roles as the center's system administrator, Webmaster, and acting Director. He also has provided user support and Unix training for studentss and faculty members.

Customer Reviews

The real deal
This book arrived this morning and it is now 8pm and I have just put it down. There are many Mac OSX books out there but they all seem to focus on the front end rather than the real core of the OS. This book is for those that want to fully understand how to unleash the power of the underlying layer of Mac OSX.

The book contains information on installing the operating system, use of all front end applications, internet connectivity, then you get to the good stuff... Intro to BSD, the Unix shell, command line concepts. It was great to see Apache, Tripwire, PortSentry and Secure Shell setup and configuration in there. There is even a section on connectivity to Windoze machines. (Yuck)

There was a very comprehensive section on Xfree86 or XonX as most people call it. From here on the book just got better and better. Setting up an FTP server, Secure Shell, web server config, server maintenance. There is even a great section on vi (apart from the R flag missing). This book has it all apart from a hard back cover.

I am in the process of setting up Sendmail in the office and I have moved from the oreilly sendmail second edition book to this one. This book is well written and gives very clear technical explanations.

A very well written book that gives a clear insight to the full operating system and not just the bit you can see.

Five stars. Its about time the Mac was unleashed!

Excellent introduction to the OSX GUI and UNIX underpinnings
Just received my copy last week and it's exactly what I wanted. 400 pages on the front end and 1000+ on the Unix underpinnings. I'd recommend it to anyone with more than a passing interest in migrating to OSX from OS7, 8, 9 (and from Windows).

The text is concise, accurate, and informative - I've been using OSX for over a year and it still managed to surprise me within the first few pages. Nothing wasted and the correct number of illustrations.

It's actually a 'good read', too - not fawning but enthusiastic. With books of this calibre there's a lot of hope for our favourite platform.