Is there a basic manual for a Mac

Hi

I run a small IT support business with the vast number of my clients running Windows and a few that I have persuaded to migrate to Linux.
Providing support for these two Operating Systems is not a problem, however, one of my clients has bought a Mac.
I can foresee a time when she will ask me to work on this machine and this is where my knowledge of Apples Operating System and Programs will be very limited.
I experienced this when I was extending her wireless network and needed to change the IP address of the machine to access a Wireless Access Point, in the end I used my laptop running Ubuntu.

What I need is a manual that will firstly give me an introduction to the basics of OS/X and then something with more technical information.

I know I could find solutions to problems I may be presented with by using a search engine, but would rather be a bit more prepared.

So, my question is, can anyone recommend any reading material that will give me some insight to the workings of OS/X

mikew

A great book that I read through a little while ago was "Mac OSX Snow Leopard - The Missing Manual by David Pogue" I certainly recommend it to you, check it out here Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual Missing Manuals: Amazon.co.uk: David Pogue: Books

or for the US here:
Amazon.com: Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Missing Manual (9780596153281): David Pogue: Books

Hope this helps

- Simon

The sort of info you may need also depends on the vintage of the Macintosh hardware you have to support...and the OS versions they're running. Nothing really too complex...but sometimes there are subtle differences/changes/improvements in the hardware & OS (just like in the "Windows World").

So maybe let us know what specific Macintosh models you have to support & the OS version's they're running (one or multiple Mac's).

- Nick

Thanks for those replies.

Buzzard, I'll order that book, and you have made up my mind that I do need to have a Kindle.

Pigoo, I do not know what machine she has apart from it's a "desktop" for want of a better word, the monitor and "machine" is one unit and as it is only about a month old I would presume that it is running the latest version of OS/X.

At the moment the only Apple device I am being asked to support is this machine and I do not expect to get a lot of calls from other users of Apple computers, but I think I should have some base knowledge so if she asks me to solve a problem, or just configure something, then I should not be flying by the seat of my pants.

mikew

The Mac she has is called an iMac - the guts of the computer are built into the monitor. If it's only a month old, it is running Snow Leopard (10.6) which is indeed the newest version. She may not be completely updated on the minor releases though - the current version is 10.6.7 (released a little over a week ago) and she may have 10.6.6 for instance.

If you run into an issue, you can always run it by us. We'd be more than glad to help!

Thanks for that vansmith, nice to know that there's a community here.

For a very basic (and quick) tutorial on Macs, try Apple - Support - Mac 101

You will find the Help > Mac Help menu on the Mac itself very useful!!!

I also suggest looking at a shortcut list which will help make your experience with macs a pleasant one and considerably speed up your daily computer use.