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Mac OS X Snow Leopard for Power Users: Book Review

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The tech publisher Apress gave me a gratis copy of Mac OS X Snow Leopard for Power Users, by Scott Granneman, available for $49.99 as a printed book or $27.99 as an ebook.

While not necessarily for the expert Mac user, this title definitely requires basic knowledge of how to operate OS X. Its chapters discuss different aspects of the Mac, including Safari and other web browsers, utility tools, security, and audio and video files.

The most useful info included here is author’s advice on free or inexpensive software that can vastly improve the functionality of the Mac in different ways. He recommends some software I already knew, such as 1Password for keeping online login info, Cyberduck for FTP, TweetDeck for Twitter reading, and Crashplan for backup.

He also recommends dozens of software solutions that I did not know about, such as:

  • iStat Menus: monitors your Mac’s CPU, memory, disk usage, and battery life
  • AppZapper: deletes software and all related files
  • VLC: replacement for QuickTime Player; can also encode audio and video
  • TypeIt4Me: for text expansion (typing shortcuts, so you can type “mx” and it corrects to “Mac OS X,” for example)
  • Knox: creates and manages encrypted disk images, quicker and easier than Disk Utility

This book, while not essential reading for every Mac user (and definitely not for the beginner), can help the average user become a power user, and highlights lots of third-party software that can make you more productive with your Mac–or help you have more fun.

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