The book weighs in at nearly 800 pages and the authors have covered nearly every aspect of OS X. From installation through maintenance and good backup habits, they explore Mac OS X and all its installed applications. There are few stones left unturned, including such important new concepts as the "superuser" account, the NetInfo Manager, and access rights and privileges.

The friendly and clear style of the writing masks the complexity of OS X and discussing it in bite-size chunks will help any level of Mac user understand. Each chapter is littered with sidebars, notes, tips, and tricks, offering an abundance of information on everything from setting a default Web browser to connecting pre-OS X Macs to their newer brothers to writing scripts in the new AppleScript.