And so every year, AppleWorks arrives in the hands of four million Apple iMac and iBook buyers. There it sits on the hard drive, a masterpiece of smooth integration and clever interface design, accompanied by templates, art libraries, and fonts--and no printed instructions. "AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual" is the book that should have been in the box.
In "AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual", authors Jim Elferdink and David Reynolds guide the reader through both the basics and the hidden talents of the new AppleWorks, placing special emphasis on version 6's enhanced word processing, Internet, and presentation features. "AppleWorks 6 began shipping in February--with many bugs!" says Elferdink. "Apple released an updater (6.0.3) just as the book was going to press, so we were able to get some information about it in the book. The updater fixes most of the problems with the original release (thank God!) restoring speed and stability to the program."
"AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual' readers will be able to work around AppleWorks 6's most annoying shortcomings while making the most out of its killer new features," adds co-author David Reynolds. "The book is honestly packed with good stuff. There's nothing like it out there--Jim Elferdink set the tone and the structure, David Pogue added style and humor, and I added some sweat equity--eww! It's actually an entertaining read. Not easy for a computer manual."
"AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual" covers:
- What's new. The authors place special emphasis on easing the transition
into the new AppleWorks 6 interface, its Internet hooks, the Starting
Points window, and the new Presentation Module.
- Part by part. The early chapters delve very deeply into the six core
AppleWorks modules, including 85 pages on the word processor alone.
- Power tools. Much of AppleWorks' power comes from its macros,
templates, assistants, customizable Button bar, and Web-based clip-art
libraries.
- Document exchange. AppleWorks 6 can no longer export Word and Excel
files. But this book covers exchanging documents with other programs,
versions, and platforms--and includes a 25% discount coupon for MacLink
Plus, which restores the file-conversion feature.
- Troubleshooting. Because this book isn't an Apple publication, the authors freely acknowledge the program's weaknesses--and offer workarounds. Witty and jargon-free, "AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual" treats AppleWorks as the serious productivity tool it is. With over 250 illustrations, a 2,000-entry index, and a menu-by-menu explanation of every command, "AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual" is as smoothly put together as AppleWorks itself.
About the Missing Manual series:
Microsoft does it. Apple does it. Adobe, Netscape, and FileMaker do
it. Almost every major software company, in fact, sells increasingly
sophisticated software without a printed manual. To cut costs and save
production time, today's software companies don't offer physical
instruction manuals at all. Instead, you're expected to learn these
complex programs by reading electronic help screens. One technical
writer finally became inspired enough to do something about the
problem. David Pogue, bestselling Mac author, has teamed with O'Reilly
to launch a new imprint, Pogue Press, dedicated to producing
beautifully written manuals for popular consumer software and hardware
products. O'Reilly/Pogue Press is pleased to introduce its new line:
the Missing Manual series.
About the Authors:
Jim Elferdink owns Macs for the Masses, a well-known consulting
company, and teaches AppleWorks. David Reynolds is the executive editor
of MacAddict magazine, one of the most popular Mac sites found on the
Web.
Online Resources:
- Chapter 3: Advanced Word Processing, is available free online.
- More information about the book, including Table of Contents, index, author bios, and samples.
- More information on the Missing Manual series.
- A cover graphic in jpeg format.
AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual
Jim Elferdink & David Reynolds
1st First Edition May 2000
1-56592-858-X, 450 pages, $19.95
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
About O’Reilly
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