The Reading Warehouse

If you prefer a more streamlined alternative to the bloat and complexity of Microsoft sport-utility programs, AppleWorks 6 is the stealth office suite. Hugely popular in classrooms, colleges, and small offices, it's got word processing, graphics, database, web design, spreadsheet, and slide-show functions in a single, beautifully integrated application.Every year, AppleWorks arrives in the hands of four million Apple iMac and iBook buyers. There it sits on the hard drive, a masterpiece of smooth integration and clever interface design, accompanied by templates, art libraries, and fonts--and no printed instructions.AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual is the book that should have been in the box.It covers:

• What's new. The authors place special emphasis on easing the transition into the new AppleWorks 6 interface, its Internet hooks, the Starting Points window, and the new Presentation module.
• Part by part coverage. The early chapters delve very deeply into the six core AppleWorks modules, including 85 pages on the word processor alone.
• Power tools. Much of AppleWorks's power comes from its macros, templates, assistants, customizable Button bar, and web-based clip-art libraries.
• Document exchange. AppleWorks 6 can no longer export Word and Excel files. But this book covers exchanging documents with other programs, versions, and platforms--and includes a 25% discount coupon for MacLink Plus, which restores the file-conversion feature.
• Troubleshooting. Because this book isn't an Apple publication, the authors freely acknowledge the program's weaknesses--and offer workarounds. Witty and jargon-free, AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual treats AppleWorks as the serious productivity tool it is. With over 250 illustrations, a 2,000-entry index, and a menu-by-menu explanation of every command, AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual is as smoothly put together as AppleWorks itself.

Jim Elferdink is the author of Office 2008 for Macintosh: The Missing Manual and iWork '05: The Missing Manual, and co-author of AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual. He also owns Macs for the Masses, a Macintosh consulting company. In former lifetimes a commercial photographer, farm owner, carpenter, and cabinetmaker; currently he enjoys gourmet cooking, digital photography, and racing sports cars. College introduced him to the Mac Plus and to comely professor Joy Hardin. He bought one and married the other. They share a home in the redwoods of far Northern California.

David Reynolds is the executive editor of MacAddictmagazine.