 Suitcase 10, Mac OS 9 and OS X and Windows, Extensis, $99.95; $45.95 upgrade
Every Extensis product to date has served Mac users in ways we've come to applaud with a robust application, familiar interface, and extraordinary productivity. Suitcase 10 for OS X is no exception. It includes support for Open Type fonts for ease of cross-platform work, auto activation, so you always have the fonts you need when you need them, live font previews, faster access to font sets, font conflict handling, Collect for Output that copies the fonts (printer and screen), identification of corrupt fonts, MenuFonts for customizing the appearance of the Font menu and several other features.
Adobe's announcement that it is no longer supporting ATM Deluxe means that we have to find an alternative that will work with OS X. Fortunately, Suitcase 10, already a proven product for OS 9 will serve well as the ultimate font manager for OS X.
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 Illustrator 10 Visual QuickStart Guide by Elaine Weinmann and Peter Lourekas, Mac and Windows, Peachpit Press, $24.99 (568 pages).
Like all the books in this extraordinary series, Illustrator 10 covers everything in the update of this powerful application. New tools for creating Web graphics, a Symbols palette, and several new tools are covered in this comprehensive and intelligible book. Lots of screen shots, examples, a straightforward commentary, and a glorious color portfolio will have you up and running and far more productive than you would be with the skimpy Illustrator 10 manual. As both a visual resource and reference work, this book is an invaluable resource in learning and using Illustrator 10.
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 Adobe Illustrator 10 Classroom in a Book, Adobe Press, Mac and Windows, $45 with CD
For a first look at Illustrator 10, this book is a good place to start. Using the files on CD and working through the exercises will make you familiar with the primary functions, including the new tools, commands, and features of Illustrator 10. As part of the official training series from Adobe Systems, it fifteen lessons developed by Illustrator experts, including tips and techniques for quickly becoming an Illustrator pro. Designed so you can use the lessons in the order given or separately, depending on what you want to learn, the book provides an excellent introduction to Illustrator 10.
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 Microsoft Office for Mac OS X Visual QuickStart Guide, by Dan Henderson and Steve Schwartz, Peachpit Press, $21.99.
Tired of PDF manuals on expensive software? For less than it costs to print the Help file/manual, this book will teach you everything you need to know to get the most out of Office X's new features. It takes a look at each of the programs comprising Office and with step-by-step instructions and lots of screen shots guides you through the function. Veteran Office users will be immediately comfortable with this approach, and new users will find it helpful in learning the new features. All users will become proficient at using Office in the OS X environment very quickly and will find it easy to produce spectacular documents very quickly.
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