Books

For a couple of months, I’ve been on the cusp of producing an update to Take Control of Mac OS X Backups. I updated the manuscript quite some time ago to cover things like using USB 2.0 drives with Intel Macs and backing up Windows data from Boot Camp or Parallels Desktop, but then, every time I thought we were just about ready to publish, some backup app or another got a significant update, and I’d have to go in and rearrange things again. There are just so many backup programs, and they’re in such a constant state of flux, that it’s difficult to keep up with them all—even in an ebook. But we’ve finally drawn the line and finished version 1.3; it should be available later today as a free update.

This latest version of Backups, along with Take Control of Maintaining Your Mac, will (with some modifications) be rolled into a new print book from Peachpit: Real World Mac Maintenance and Backups, due on bookstore shelves in late September or early October.

Meanwhile, even though it’s only July, my attention has been focused on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce—I’m working on my next Take Control ebook, which (no kidding) will be about Thanksgiving. This fall, nothing will be left to chance, as you’ll be able to follow my simple instructions for a delicious yet stress-free Thanksgiving dinner. It’s our first foray into a food-related topic; if it’s successful, there may be more, but we’re mainly doing it for fun.

And does this have anything to do with backups? Yes indeed. Just as things can go wrong with your computer, they can (and do) go wrong when cooking. So the Thanksgiving ebook will feature a number of troubleshooting, backup, and shortcut tips to enable you to salvage the meal if something doesn’t turn out right.

Update (7/13/06): The updated version of Backups came out today—a bit later than I’d expected, but I’m delighted to report that it’s finally available.

Two and a half weeks ago, TidBITS published a preview version of Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac. Folks who pre-ordered it and reviewed the preliminary manuscript on the Web made more than 100 comments. I incorporated most of their suggestions into the final version, and made numerous other edits and additions. The final (version 1.0) result went on sale today.

This is my tenth Take Control ebook, and despite the fact that writing it required installing Windows numerous times, it has turned out to be one of my favorites. It took me a long time to collect and test all the information in this ebook, and I think its usefulness-to-cost ratio is extremely high.

The 104-page ebook costs $10, but it includes a coupon for $10 off Parallels Desktop, which I cover in some detail and recommend highly. It also has a $5 off coupon for Small Dog Electronics, so we’re basically paying you to $5 buy it!

As usual, I’ll update this ebook as the relevant facts change. For example, if Microsoft ships Windows Vista during my lifetime, I’ll add installation and upgrade instructions. And if Apple changes the nature of Boot Camp dramatically with the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard (as most people expect they will), I’ll cover that as well. Minor updates to the ebook will be free.

I know it’s extremely bad form to go two months without posting a blog entry, but in my defense, I’ve been working hard on a bunch of new and interesting things that should please regular readers.

First is Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac, a new $10 ebook that’s available for pre-order today. By “pre-order,” we mean that the ebook has been written, edited, and reviewed for technical accuracy, but it not quite ready for delivery in its final form. By ordering now, you get access to the (nearly) complete text of the ebook in a somewhat ugly format on a Web page, but more importantly, you can leave comments or suggestions about any individual paragraph (or the document as a whole). That way, I can integrate readers’ feedback into the initial PDF file, rather than making them wait for a revision later on. When the PDF is finished (likely in a few weeks), those who pre-ordered will of course get it immediately; there will also be free updates as the software landscape inevitably changes over the coming months. The ebook covers not only Boot Camp but virtualization software such as Parallels Workstation and Q, and will eventually include information on solutions for PowerPC Macs such as Virtual PC and GuestPC. I think it’s the best and most complete text of its kind by far.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: if I’m writing about Windows, I must have gone completely mad. But, as I take pains to point out in the new ebook, even though I can do most of my work on a Mac, I still encounter tasks from time to time that (at the moment) require Windows-only software. For me, that most frequently means checking Web design changes in Windows browsers, but I list a dozen or so other common uses that might drive an otherwise sane Mac fanatic to use Windows occasionally. The great thing about Intel Macs is that there is no longer any compelling reason to buy a PC, regardless of which operating system you want to run. I very much hope this move helps Apple along the road to world domination.

Apart from that, my ongoing work for TidBITS, and several new Macworld articles, I’ve been chipping away as earnestly as possible at the long list of things required to bring Interesting Thing of the Day back to life. My list once had over 60 tasks on it; I’m now down to 6. So I can clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I think this massive overhaul will be immensely popular.

As if that weren’t enough, Morgen and I are also developing several new Web sites that are unlike anything we’ve done before. I’m very excited about them, my enthusiasm tempered only by the fact that there are too few hours in the day and days in the week to move everything along as quickly as I’d like.

Today marks the release of my ninth Take Control ebook, Take Control of Maintaining Your Mac. Based on votes received, this was the title more readers than any other were keen to get their hands on, and I’m delighted to have been able to oblige. This ebook covers everything you need to know to keep your Mac performing at its best, as well as reducing the risk of serious problems (and making recovery easier if problems do occur). I think it makes a splendid companion to my earlier, and extremely popular, Take Control of Mac OS X Backups, and so do the Take Control publishers: you can purchase the two volumes together for only $15, a 25% discount off the individual prices.

This was an interesting ebook to write, in that many of the tasks I cover provoke heated disagreement, even among Mac experts. How often should you empty your Trash, repair permissions, install software updates, or defragment your hard disk? Is a surge protector or uninterruptable power supply really a necessity? Is it important to get rid of old, unused files even if you have plenty of space on your disk? Should you care about those built-in daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance scripts that Mac OS X may or may not try to run in the middle of the night? As the ebook went through our usual technical review process, we got tons of comments on topics like these from about a dozen different Mac experts, and some of the exchanges were quite lively. Instead of simply saying, “This is the One Right Way,” I decided to include some of the comments expressing other points of view in a series of sidebar conversations, so that readers can judge for themselves what the best approach is for them.

I have plenty more ebooks ahead, but I’m planning to take a break for a couple of months to concentrate on some other projects that have been getting too little attention. And yes, the long-rumored resurrection of Interesting Thing of the Day is among them! I can’t commit to a particular (re-)launch date yet, but new content is definitely on the way, along with a complete site redesign, a new logo, new features, and more yaddas than you can shake a stick at.