Need to Learn Advanced Use of OS X

Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I hope you guys can help me out.
I'm coming to Mac from Windows, of the latter I'd say I'm an advanced user. I've been using a MBAir for about 8 months and I've got the "every day use" down good and even some slightly advanced knowledge.

I do technical support for a company and management wants me to get my Mac skills on par with my Windows skills. I've searched Google and Amazon for books on the subject but so far I haven't found what I'm after.

Can anyone suggest any good books or online courses for becoming a power-user with Mac (Mt.Lion or Mavericks)? Advanced stuff like digging into Terminal commands for checking processes and status of the OS and apps; Rsync, generally more in depth stuff about understanding how to "really use" the Mac and diagnose stuff when it breaks with our application.

I don't care so much about learning Garage Band, or Calendar, etc. But I would like to know about sparse bundles, using PF to restrict traffic; general "under the hood" type stuff a regular user would ask a professional for.

Books are great; online courses are good; ebooks are less so, but still good enough. PS, I've been told to specifically say away from the "Dummies" series.

Thanks in advance! :)
 
Joined
Jun 1, 2010
Messages
195
Reaction score
5
Points
18
Location
Japan
Your Mac's Specs
Early 2015 13"MBA 2.2GHz i7, 8GB RAM, OS X 10.11.6
I recommend the Missing Manual series by David Pogue. Not only thorough, but entertaining as well. I have the ones for Snow Leopard and Mountain Lion. Don't know if there is one available for Mavericks yet. Everything you need to know about the actual OS is covered in that book. I think you're going to be looking at some 3rd party apps for some of the functions you mentioned, tho...
 
C

chas_m

Guest
The "Missing Manual" is likely to be far too oriented to novices for this guy, MacShane. I'd suggest he take a look at the other offerings from O'Reilly Books., particularly this one.
 
OP
T
Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Thanks for both of the suggestions guys, I'll consider both of them right now.

Still open to any other recommendations :)
 

vansmith

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
19,924
Reaction score
559
Points
113
Location
Queensland
Your Mac's Specs
Mini (2014, 2018, 2020), MBA (2020), iPad Pro (2018), iPhone 13 Pro Max, Watch (S6)
If you want detailed stuff, O'Reilly books are a good place to start. You can also look for stuff online about some of these things. For example, rsync is widely used well beyond OS X and there are many many tutorials online for it.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top