MacBook : the indispensable guide to Macintosh hardware and software

324 Pages·1985·57.029 MB·English

by  Naiman, Arthur

;~
MacB ook
The Indispensible Guide to
Macintosh™ Software and Hardware
Arthur Naiman
[J]
Hayden Book Company
A DIVISION OF HAYDEN PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.
HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY I BERKELEY. CALIFORNIA
Acquisitions Editor: Michael McGrath
Composition and Production: TechArt, San Francisco
Printed and bound by: Command Web Offset, Inc.
Cover Design: Jim Bernard
Cover Photo: Lou Odor
Because a major purpose of this book is to comment on and criticize
hardware and software products, many such products are identified by their
tradenames. In most-if not all--<:ases, these designations are claimed as
legally protected trademarks by the companies which make the products. It
is not our intent to use any of these names generically, and the reader is
cautioned to investigate a claimed trademark before using it for any purpose
except to refer to the product to which it is attached.
Copyright © 1985 by Arthur Naiman.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced, or utilized in any form
or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
strorage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publisher.
Macintosh is a trademark of Macintosh Labratory, Inc., licensed to Apple
Computer, Inc., neither of which is affiliated with Hayden Book Company.
MacW rite and Macpaint are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data
Naiman, Arthur.
Macbook: the indispensable guide to Macintosh hardware and
software.
Includes index.
1. Macintosh (Computer) I. Title.
QA76.8.M3N35 1985 004.165 85-16834
ISBN 0-8104-6560-4
Printed in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Printing
85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 Year
For
Ira Rosenberg
who is kind and brave
Acknowledgements
In the interest of keeping the dedication short and sweet, I
only mentioned two of Ira Rosenberg's many virtues. Here I
have more room, so I'll tell you that in addition to being kind
and brave, he's incredibly bright, astonishingly perceptive,
extraordinarily loyal, delightfully witty, preternaturally
articulate, enormously well read, and plays a mean jazz piano.
He's also one of the few people I've met who I'd call wise.
Ira's help was invaluable in writing this (and other) books,
and in many other ways as well. I consider myself lucky to
have him as a friend.
Gloria Zarifa played a major role in keeping me sane-or
some approximation thereof- during what was a very difficult
project. Esther W anning worked harder than she should have
had to, and maintained her usual good judgment and insight
throughout. Lila (a.k.a. Xenia) Lisanevich performed
innumerable tasks with maximum efficiency.
I relied heavily on Steve Michel's extensive knowledge of
Macintosh products (not to mention his exquisite taste in thriller
writers). He read the manuscript and made a number of very
useful suggestions, as did Don Briggs, Gloria Zarifa and Brad
Bunnin. I also want to thank Brad for what I've described
elsewhere as his "crystal-clear, perfectly balanced advice" (why
look for a new phrase when you've got one that fits the bill as
precisely as that?).
Jon Naumann and Burt Ferguson kept my Mac running
(quite a chore, as it turned out) while I was writing this book,
and gave me the kind of prompt, skilled service I'd always
dreamed of. Eric Alderman, Kevin Layer, Scot Kamins and
particularly Paul Hoffman and Steve Rosenthal answered a
slew of technical questions. I also learned a lot about the Mac
from articles by Lon Poole, Andy Hertzfeld, Andrew
Fluegelman, Doug Clapp, Pat Ryall, Rick Barron, Daniel
Farber and other writers in Macworld, St. Mac and Club
Mac News.
Guy Kawasaki made writing this book a great deal easier;
I'm grateful to him, Cary Clark, Steve Hoyt, Carol Ballard and
particularly Mark Baumwell for their help.
For services too various to specify, I also want to thank
Steve Warner, Rita Gibian, Albert and Nettie Naiman, Victor
Fischer, Meg Holmberg, Ron Lichty, Mary Picklum, Michael
Bradley, Tony Bove, Cheryl Rhodes, Pete Lundstrom,
Jonathan Sachs, Yvette Manson, Nancy Shine, Hank Roberts,
Gar Smith, Nancy Ragle, Esther Travis, Cheryl Nichols, Gerri
Bradley, Rudy Langer, Eric Angress, Terra Candage, Nevin
Pfaltzgraff, Sherrin Farley, Eva Walen, Heidi Mitchell, Eric
J ungerman, Carol Pladsen, Linda Spangler, Jack Twiller and
Vida Asch.
Introduction
M
acBook has two uses:
• if you're thinking about buying a Mac, it will give you the
· facts you need to make an intelligent decision.
• if you already own a Mac, it will help you get the most out of
it.
When I first decided to do this book, I planned it as a
somewhat detached look at a rather interesting computer. But
by the time I actually began writing it, I'd had a Mac for six
months and was more enthusiastic about it than about any other
computer I've ever used.
Because I like the Mac so much, I've tried to learn all I can
about it; as a result, there isn't a chapter in this book that
doesn't beg to be expanded into a book of its own. In deciding
what to include and what to leave out, my guiding principle has
been to make MacBook as useful as possible, with a
particular emphasis on information that's hard to find
elsewhere.
For example, I don't see any point in duplicating the
step-by-step guide to using the Mac's basic software that's
already in the Mac's own manual-though I do present a very
thorough overview of how that software works and what's
special about it.
To keep this book as up-to-date as possible, I've tried to
stay away from information that changes rapidly, like prices.
When I do mention prices, it's just to give you a rough idea of
how much a particular kind of product costs. Prices are as of
early 1985 and are rounded off. (Like any honest, red-blooded
American, I despise $95, $.95 and similar nonsense at the end
of prices.)
Designed to Be a Handbook
Leaving out relatively useless stuff gives me room to discuss
the vast multitude of things that haven't been adequately
covered in any other book or manual I've seen. There are
dozens of little tricks and shortcuts that can make the difference
between frustration and ecstasy on the Mac; they're all in here,
systematically organized to make them as accessible as
possible.
For example, the Mac provides a whole slew of symbols
and other special characters. Most books and magazines show
you a keyboard with these symbols printed on the keys, as if
you were going to learn to touch-type them. You can spend
forever trying to find the one you're looking for; after all, if
you knew where it was on the keyboard, you wouldn't need
the chart in the first place.
Instead, I group special characters into logical
categories-foreign letters, accent marks and punctuation
marks; legal symbols; monetary symbols; mathematical
symbols; and so on. This makes it easy to find the information
you need. I know, because I've got Reference Card #5 (from
Appendix A) up on my wall, and I refer to it all the time.
In addition to organizing things logically, I've made a real
effort to digest information, to give it to you in its most usable
form-in tables, lists, charts and the like. Appendix A provides
the most important of these, one to a page, so you can
photocopy them and put them near your computer for easy
reference.
I've also provided six little symbols ("icons") that appear in
the margins; they make it easier to skim back over the text and
find the information you're looking for. (I'll describe these
margin icons in a moment.)
In other words, I've worked very hard to make sure
everything in this book is genuinely useful. MacBook is very
much a handbook, a reference you can come back to again and
again.
Written Like a Real Book, Not a Computer Book
That all may sound pretty obsessive and dull, but I don't think
you'll find MacBook boring. I'm a writer first and a
computer expert second. As far as I'm concerned, it's no fun to
write a book that isn't fun to read.
One thing that makes most computer books so bland is the
total absence of negative comments. As the author of a regular
column called The Sleaze Patrol (whose mission is to
"expose to the searing light of day those who seek to dishonor
and debase our beloved microcomputer community"), I
obviously take a different approach. I have a lot of opinions
and I express them-how shall I put it?-vividly. When Apple
(or anybody else) screws up, I tell you about it
The Mac Is Visual and So Is MacBook
MacBook contains many photographs, pictures of the screen,
and other illustrations. And in the margins are icons that key in
to the text and highlight interesting and important points.
The six margin icons used in M acB oak are:
• Bargains (the software and hardware that give you the most
w~
value for your money)
BARGAIH
111
• Important warnings
IMPORTANT
WARNING
• Very good features (of hardware and software, whether from
Apple or from other companies)
VERY GOOD
FEATURE
• Very bad features
VERY BAD
FEATURE
• Hot tips (tricks that make using the Mac easier, other than
~
warnings)
~&ill
HOT TIP
• Gossip/trivia (not useful, but fun)
GOSSIP/
TRIVIA
A Special Emphasis on Fonts and Typography
Although the ability to see hundreds of different fonts
(typefaces) on the screen, each in hundreds of size and style
combinations, is one of the Mac's most exciting and useful
features, it isn't normally given the attention it deserves. In this
book, it is.