Five main parts comprising 25 chapters make up this 800-page tome, covering such topics as installing Mac OS X; comparing X to OS X Server and OS 9.x; the new interface; network architecture; and configuring user accounts, privileges, and network communications.

Part III, "Getting Things Done with Mac OS X," discusses the use of the bundled applications (Mail, Address Book, Preview, Keychain Access, Grab, etc.), as well as the new printing architecture and how to set up printers and manage color with ColorSync; using QuickTime; and automating the OS and applications using AppleScript.

The book falls short on only a few things. There is little reference to its heritage (NeXT's NeXTStep OS) or other carryover features from NeXTStep (such as NetInfo), and not much about the Unix startup process and the scripts that run during bootup (although you will learn that you can hold down Command+V to see system messages during booting). The book is much more focused on bringing up to speed an experienced Mac user, not necessarily a user with some Unix experience who needs to know just how Apple is handling Unix.

There are many good things about this book--the troubleshooting section is informative, and there's a terrific chapter on using Terminal and writing Unix shell scripts. The appendix, "Installing and Setting up Mac OS X," in Mastering Mac OS X goes far beyond Apple's own minimal hardcopy documentation, as do the chapters on the preinstalled applications.

Mastering Mac OS X makes a fine handbook for users anxious to dig into the new operating system, and it offers a subtle introduction to some of the core Unix workings. --Mike Caputo