Press releases

Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac--New from TidBITS: How to install Windows on a Mac, and keep it secure, backed up, and working optimally.

Press release: March 4, 2009

Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac Ithaca, NY—Installing and running Windows on an Intel-based Mac has become commonplace, but doing so most effectively still requires expert knowledge. Fortunately, the new Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac, Third Edition (TidBITS, $10 USD) brings readers 167 pages of hard-won advice, helping readers determine the best installation option for their needs, install Windows easily, and keep Windows secure, properly backed up, and working optimally.

Written by cross-platform guru Joe Kissell and based on innumerable hours of research, the title covers Windows XP and Windows Vista, and it gives procedures for working with virtualization programs VMware Fusion, Parallels Desktop, and VirtualBox, along with Apple's dual-boot solution, Boot Camp.

For each option, Kissell provides instructions for installing the software and for installing Windows, and he goes further by explaining how to make peripherals--like mice, keyboards, and printers--behave properly, how to share files between the Mac and Windows environments, and how to integrate the Mac and Windows interfaces. Kissell also looks at software that makes it possible to run Windows programs on a Mac without installing Windows itself, and he explains methods of acquiring Windows, a topic made confusing by Microsoft's many licensing options and activation mechanism.

Questions answered in the ebook include:

  • What are 15 things that you can do in Windows, but not on the Mac?
  • How can I get a copy of Windows XP or Vista that will work on a Mac?
  • How can I set things up so that Windows won't bog down?
  • How should I handle partitioning for my Windows installation?
  • How do I avoid and handle activation hassles?
  • Boot Camp is free with Leopard, but what are the pros and cons to using it?
  • How can I run one copy of Windows with both Boot Camp and virtualization software?
  • Should I run VMware Fusion, Parallels Desktop, or VirtualBox?
  • What's the best way to right-click in Windows?
  • How do I print from my Windows software?
  • How do I make my Bluetooth devices work in Windows?
  • What is FAT32, and why might it matter to me?
  • What are the coolest new features in Parallels Desktop 4?
  • What's interesting about the different views in VMware Fusion?

For a review copy or more information please email takecontrolpr@oreilly.com. Please include your delivery address and contact information.

Joe Kissell has written numerous books about the Macintosh, including many popular Take Control ebooks. He's also Senior Editor of TidBITS, contributes frequently to Macworld, and previously spent ten years in the Mac software industry. Joe Kissell joined the TidBITS staff in 2006 as Senior Editor and currently lives in Paris. He has written more than a dozen Take Control ebooks, including the best- selling Take Control of Mac OS X Backups. He's also the author of numerous print books about Mac OS X and a frequent contributor to Macworld magazine. Joe runs a business called alt concepts, which publishes such Web sites as Interesting Thing of the Day and Truffles for Breakfast.

Additional Resources:
For more information about the book, including table of contents, index, author bios, and cover graphic, see: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9781933671536

Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac, Third Edition
Publisher: TidBITS
Joe Kissell
Take Control of Running Windows on a Mac,
PDF format, 167 pages, free 30-page sample available
PDF Price: $10.00 USD
ISBN: 9781933671536



About TidBITS
The Take Control series is published by TidBITS Publishing Inc. TidBITS co-founders Adam and Tonya Engst have been publishing highly regarded news and editorial since 1990 when they created the online newsletter TidBITS, which covers Macintosh- and Internet-related topics. The Take Control series has helped many thousands of readers with high-quality, timely, real-world, cost-effective documentation since 2003.

About O’Reilly

O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.

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