Running Mac OS X Panther: Inside Mac OS X's Core [Paperback]

Apple® has shown no mercy to the Macintosh® power user---that dedicated individual who knows their Mac® inside and out: what makes it tick, and what makes it tick better. In the rapid evolution of Mac OS® X, there have been three major releases, and each new release challenges the power user to once more stay ahead of the learning curve. Mac OS X Panther is no exception to that rule. With more than 100 new features, including a new Finder, Expos , FileVault, and an improved BSD Unix core, there's plenty here to master. Fortunately, power users have a secret weapon in Running Mac OS X Panther. This book takes readers deep inside Mac OS X's core, revealing the inner workings of Panther for those who want to get the most out of their system.

Running Mac OS X Panther is the ultimate Swiss Army Knife™ for power users who want to customize, tweak, and generally rev up their Mac. The easy-to-follow format is organized into three primary parts:

• Getting Started introduces you to Mac OS X--where it came from, how it's put together, and how it works
• Administration Essentials gives you the tools you need to examine how your system is running and adjust all the knobs behind its operation
• Networking and Network Services covers all the ways Mac OS X interfaces with the world around it, including wireless and spontaneous networking

Written for readers who are inquisitive and confident enough to dig into their Macintosh system, Running Mac OS X Panther doesn't waste time talking about silly Finder tips or glossing over the messier details. This book dives right in and explains how your Mac works. You may not be a Mac guru when you start this book, but once you've read it, you'll be well on your way.

James Duncan Davidson is a freelance author, software developer, and consultant focusing on Mac OS X, Java, XML, and open source technologies. He is the author of Learning Cocoa with Objective-C (published by O'Reilly & Associates) and is a frequent contributor to the O'Reilly Network online website as well as publisher of his own website, x180 (http://www.x180.net), where he keeps his popular weblog. Duncan was the creator of Apache Tomcat and Apache Ant and was instrumental in their donation to the Apache Software Foundation by Sun Microsystems . While working at Sun, he authored two versions of the Java Servlet API specification as well as the Java API for XML Processing. Duncan regularly presents at conferences all over the world on topics ranging from open source and collaborative development to programming Java more effectively. He didn't graduate with a Computer Science degree, but sees that as a benefit in helping explain how software works. His educational background is in Architecture (the bricks and mortar kind), the essence of which he applies to every software problem that finds him. He currently resides in San Francisco, California.