Take Control News

Looking to get more out of the latest version of Apple Mail, the one that ships with Leopard? Help is now at hand in the form of Joe Kissell's 95-page book, Take Control of Apple Mail in Leopard." This title is chock full of handy tips, carefully considered procedures, and troubleshooting assistance. Along with coverage of 14 new features in Leopard's version of Mail, Joe delves into the nitty-gritty of account setup; helps you get organized so you can read your most important messages first; and thoroughly covers the ins and outs of addressing, composing, and sending email. Plus, he examines making Time Machine backups of your email, Address Book integration, Notes and To-Do items, archiving messages, and how to proceed if you run into a problem with not being able to send or receive email, or some other annoying bug-a-boo.

Joe has also updated Take Control of Spam with Apple Mail for Leopard, and it goes far beyond the three pages of basic spam-zapping advice offered in Take Control of Apple Mail in Leopard." Weighing in at 71 pages, Take Control of Spam with Apple Mail gives you background information so you understand more of what's going on with spam, detailed advice for configuring Mail to maximize its effectiveness at eliminating spam, and carefully researched coverage of utilities that can improve Mail's spam-slaying capabilities. Take Control of Spam with Apple Mail comes with a coupon for $5 off SpamSieve (normally $30), Joe's top pick for a third-party spam-fighting utility.

Each title costs $10 singly, but you can save $5 by purchasing them together in a bundle. Look for a bundle option at the left side of either book's Web page.

Owners of "Take Control of Apple Mail in Tiger" who purchased before 01-Oct-07 can click the Check for Updates button on the first page of the ebook's PDF to access a special upgrade discount. Everyone who purchased on or after that date should already have received a download link for a free update. Contact us at tc-commentstidbits.com if our email didn't arrive. Owners of "Take Control of Email in Apple Mail" (the Panther edition) can click the Check for Updates button on the first page of the ebook's PDF to access a special upgrade discount.

If you already own Take Control of Spam with Apple Mail, you can upgrade for free. Open your existing PDF and on page 1, click Check for Updates, and download the new version from the Web page that loads.

Buy Take Control of Apple Mail in Leopard
Buy Take Control of Spam with Apple Mail

We're pleased to announce version 1.1 of troubleshooting guru Ted Landau's Take Control of Your iPhone, which is updated for the iPhone 1.1.4 software and chock full of the latest advice for getting the most out of your iPhone, including information about syncing, how EDGE and Wi-Fi interoperate, the latest features in Maps, configuring Mail, hacking your iPhone, creating (or buying) ringtones, dealing with your battery, and much more. The ebook also has a strong problem-solving focus, so if your iPhone is behaving badly, you'll likely find a solution. (Existing owners of the ebook can upgrade for free by opening the PDF and - at the top right of page 1 - clicking Check for Updates.)

The ebook normally costs $15, but you can get it for $7.50 if you act quickly, because we're having a 50%-off sale on all ebooks through April 29th. Look for the iPhone ebook on the Lifestyle tab in our online catalog. When you click through from this post, the necessary coupon code will be applied automatically in the first screen of the cart. (Note that you can select multiple ebooks from the different tabs in the catalog's tabbed interface before clicking the Buy Selected Ebooks button to add them to your cart.)

The most useful pieces of advice about using your Mac are often short, focused tips that solve a particular problem or make a specific program work just the way you want. That's what you'll find in the Macworld Mac OS X Hints Superguide, Leopard Edition, the latest ebook from our friends at Macworld. Written by the undisputed king of tips, Rob Griffiths, the ebook presents a cornucopia of over 200 tips to help you get the most out of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Culled from Rob's MacOSXHints.com site, and with contributions from other Macworld experts, the book's advice covers a wide range of topics and experience levels, from basic tips any Mac user can easily implement to power user tweaks that go way beyond the basics, employing Terminal, Automator, and AppleScript to maximize your Mac's mileage. The 70-page ebook is now available for $12.95 from the Take Control Books Web site, and a print version is also available for $19.95.

Rob covers a lot of territory, with tips relating to new Leopard features like Screen Sharing and Spaces, others that cover existing features like screen savers and keyboard shortcuts, and hardware-related tips for printing and working with discs. He also helps you get the most out of standard Apple applications, including Mail (find and remove large attachments from your mail store), iCal (learn how to add and work with URLs easily in events), Safari (want to invoke bookmarks with voice commands?), and iTunes (check out the AppleScript to update podcasts manually), as well as iChat, Preview, and Dashboard.

If you've wondered about using Unix commands in Terminal to customize your Mac beyond what the graphical interface offers, or if you've wanted to get more comfortable with Terminal, the book provides a nice foundation. It covers the basics of using Terminal and has a generous collection of tips sprinkled throughout that will get you typing (or pasting) simple command strings in order to tweak your Mac in useful and interesting ways. It also has info for those who are already comfortable with Terminal, covering new commands in Leopard, searching from the command line, and more.

Buy Macworld Mac OS X Hints Superguide, Leopard Edition

Apple intends iWeb '08 to help Mac users create polished-looking Web sites, but not all of iWeb's features are easily understood or fully explained by Apple. The new Take Control of iWeb: iLife '08 Edition, a 133-page ebook by iWeb expert Steve Sande, provides step-by-step instructions and plenty of time-saving tips to help you build a Web site and publish it on either .Mac or another Web host. You can watch over Steve's shoulder as he enhances iWeb's templates with a designer's eye, using tools like masks, reflections, and Instant Alpha. Steve teaches you the best ways to make all types of iWeb pages - including blog, podcast, photo, and movie pages - and he covers topics that go beyond the basics and way beyond the online help. You'll learn how to add special elements to your site, such as iPhoto albums and galleries, YouTube videos, Google AdSense ads, Google maps, and forms that feed into Google Docs. You'll also find coverage of how to edit graphics so your site loads faster, how to import podcasts and videos, how to make image maps, and even ideas for working with CafePress, Google Checkout, or Zen Cart to create an online store. The book is available for $10 in PDF form; those who would prefer a book-like, professionally printed copy can get one using the Print link on the cover of the ebook for an additional $10.99.

This new edition updates Steve's "Take Control of iWeb: iLife '06 Edition" with more tips, more advice, and more insider techniques than ever before. Owners of the previous edition who purchased before 01-Aug-07 can click the Check for Updates button on the first page of their copy of the ebook to access a special upgrade discount, and everyone who purchased after that date and who selected the "Notify me" checkbox when placing an order should already have received a download link for a free update. Contact us at tc-commentstidbits.com for more details if you asked not to be notified or if our email didn't arrive.

Buy Take Control of iWeb: iLife '08 Edition

Author Scott Knaster and editor Caroline Rose, who have collectively written and edited for Apple, NeXT, Microsoft, and Google, have been hard at work on a major update to Take Control of Switching to a Mac, and the fruits of their labors are now available for us all to enjoy.

What's to enjoy about switching if you already use a Mac? If you've switched only recently, you may still be having withdrawal symptoms that Scott and Caroline can assuage. Or, if you're anything like us, you periodically hear from far-flung friends and relatives who are considering switching and who would like to pick your brain on the best way to go about it. Instead of spending hours going over the basics, simply point them to this ebook, which is packed with advice that will take them every step of the way. Like all Take Control ebooks, it works fine on either a PC or a Mac, and it's easy to tote it around on a laptop, unlike the print tomes on the topic. The ebook covers what's cool (and what's not - we're not whitewashing anything here) about the Mac, setting up a new Mac, moving Windows files to the Mac, learning Mac basics from the perspective of someone who is already knows Windows, using networks and printers, five key Mac features no one should live without, and five especially useful tips. There's also a glossary of Macintosh terms that should help any switcher feel more comfortable with unfamiliar jargon.

Take Control of Switching to the Mac 1.5 now covers switching from Windows XP or Vista to Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger or 10.5 Leopard. The differences in the various operating systems were sufficiently minor that Scott was able to wrap them all into one book without turning it into a cumbersome reading experience.

Buy Take Control of Switching to the Mac

We just released a new 1.1 version of Matt Neuburg's Take Control of Customizing Leopard, which adds several important pieces of information for working with new options in Mac OS X 10.5.2, including how to toggle menu bar translucency and the reflective Dock, and how to take control of your stacks. It also integrates discussion of new aspects of the Time Machine interface and includes a few bits of advice - like how to put the Finder in all your spaces - that have come to light as we've worked with the shipping version of Leopard. If you're interested in learning more about customizing Leopard's latest update, pick up a copy today.

We are especially happy about this release - free to those who own the 1.0 version - because had we created it as a traditional printed book, thousands of obsolete copies would be sitting on reader and bookstore shelves all over the world, and we'd have no elegant way to update those books to cover Leopard's changes. Those of you who already own the 1.0 version can download the update by clicking the Check for Updates link in the upper right corner of the first page.

Buy Take Control of Customizing Leopard

If you like to go under the hood of Mac OS X, or if you've been forced to by quirky problems, you'll want to check out our latest ebook, freshly revised for Leopard - Take Control of Permissions in Leopard. Written by Unix guru and Mac aficionado Brian Tanaka, the 87-page ebook mixes practical how-to details and troubleshooting tips with just the right amount of theory as it explains permissions in relation to how you keep your files private, copy files to and from servers effectively, set the Ignore Permissions option for external disks, repair screwy permissions, and delete those files that just won't die.

For those who want to learn advanced concepts, the ebook also delves into topics like the sticky bit, symbolic versus absolute ways to set permissions, and how to work with bit masks. In particular, Brian looks at what's new with permissions in Leopard, including the disappearance of the NetInfo database and the increased use of access control lists. Don't worry if you're not accustomed to using the Unix command line in Terminal, since Brian provides extremely clear instructions for that, along with how to manage permissions from the Finder's Get Info and Inspector windows, and with more-capable third-party utilities.

Those who already own Brian's earlier Take Control of Permissions in Mac OS X can upgrade to Take Control of Permissions in Leopard for 75% off; just click the Check for Updates button in your existing copy to access the discount. 

Buy Take Control of Permissions in Leopard

The best way to avoid problems with your Mac is through regular maintenance, and we're not talking a cursory clearing of your Desktop and swipe at the dust on your screen. In the latest version of Take Control of Maintaining Your Mac, best-selling author Joe Kissell has returned to the topic of how to keep your Mac - whether it's running Tiger or Leopard - running at peak performance. All of his recommendations have now been updated to account for changes in Leopard and for the latest helpful utility software. The update is free for the thousands of people who benefited from the original version; click the Check for Updates button in your existing copy to download it.

In this 87-page ebook, Joe provides daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly schedules for how to best do preventative maintenance under Leopard or Tiger, helping you keep your Mac running smoothly and efficiently. The $10 ebook also helps you monitor your Mac's health, find and remove unnecessary large files from your disk, keep your software updated, clear your caches, and much more. Be sure to note the discount bundles with related titles available from the ebook's Web page.

Buy Take Control of Maintaining Your Mac

If not, check out the just-published Macworld Total Leopard Superguide. This visually appealing new ebook from our friends at Macworld provides an overview of a huge collection of new features in Leopard, teaching you how to be more productive and have more fun along the way. You'll find a compendium of savvy information about getting the most out of what's new in Leopard, whether you want to navigate the the Finder faster, search Spotlight more effectively, automate your applications with Automator, share screens with others, or use core applications like Safari, iChat, Mail, and iCal. Contributors to the 92-page ebook include several Take Control authors: Glenn Fleishman, Ted Landau, Joe Kissell, and Kirk McElhearn, along with a who's-who of other well-known writers. It costs $12.95, or you can buy it in printed form for $24.99.

Buy the Macworld Total Leopard Superguide

Whether your holiday reading over the next few weeks trends more toward figuring out how to buy and set up a new digital TV, learning a few new technology terms, or playing the latest hot Windows game on your Mac via Boot Camp, we have a freshly updated ebook for you. Even better, all of these updates are free to existing owners of the most recent version. Happy holidays!

• Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac: Hot off the virtual press, this ebook - now at version 2.6 - is once again updated to cover the latest technology and advice for making Windows run smoothly on your Intel-based Macintosh. This version looks at running Boot Camp under Leopard, what to do if you were previously running Boot Camp under Tiger (or still are), and the latest versions of the frequently updated Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion. Kudos to author Joe Kissell for keeping this title fresh! $10, 151 pages.

• Take Control: The Mac OS X Lexicon: Although this title doesn't include "w00t," Merriam-Webster's word of the year for 2007, it does include over 500 terms that we at TidBITS Publishing think you should know in order to get the most out of your Mac. Written by Andy Baird and by Sharon Zardetto of Mac Bible fame, the revised title (now at version 1.5) has 30 new entries for Leopard, along with lots of helpful tips for Leopard as well as for older versions of Mac OS X. This unusual book stands out from the pack with its enjoyable and helpful prose, and it makes a great holiday gift. $15, 209 pages.

• Take Control of Digital TV: If you're shopping for a new HD television, you definitely want this ebook, now at version 2.1. It walks you through the entire purchasing process, starting by explaining what features are available in an HD set, explaining the jargon, and helping you figure out which options make sense for your budget and the way you'll use the TV. You'll get a printable shopping checklist, ideas for where to shop, suggestions for how to find HD content once you have your TV, and coverage of some popular options for peripherals to attach to the TV. The ebook also helps you with common installation questions. $10, 98 pages.

If you own an earlier version of any of the above ebooks, open your PDF and click Check for Updates on the first page to access your update. Updates from the previous version of each book are free; readers with the first editions of Take Control of Digital TV and Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac receive update discounts.

Buy Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac
Buy Take Control: The Mac OS X Lexicon
Buy Take Control of Digital TV