title: The Mosaic Handbook for the X Window System
        by: Dale Dougherty, Richard Koman + Paula Ferguson
 publisher: O'Reilly & Associates 1994
  subjects: computing
     other: 262 pages, glossary, index, CDROM, US$29.95/A$59.95

     title: The Mosaic Handbook for the Macintosh
        by: Dale Dougherty + Richard Koman
 publisher: O'Reilly & Associates 1994
  subjects: computing
     other: 171 pages, glossary, index, floppy disk, US$29.95/A$59.95

One of the nicest things about using Mosaic to access the World
Wide Web is that it is simple enough for complete novices to manage
without ever opening a book or a manual.  But those who want a guide
to using the more advanced features of Mosaic and the Web will welcome
the latest offering from O'Reilly.  _The Mosaic Handbook_ comes in
three different versions -- for X Windows, for Macintoshes and for
Microsoft Windows -- all coupled with the latest and fanciest version
of Mosaic on disk or CDROM.  It is aimed at novices and assumes no
computing background.

The first chapter (on the internet and internet services) goes into a
little too much detail about such things as ftp sessions and the
distinction between clients and servers.  This will scare some readers
unnecessarily (I can't see the average Macintosh user wanting to know
what a Unix ftp session looks like!), but starting with chapter two
things become much more user friendly, with a slow, step by step
treatment of the material, complete with illustrative snapshots of
Mosaic windows.  Chapters two through four cover the basics -- getting
Mosaic up and running, the World Wide Web and non-Web resources like
gophers, WAIS and News.  Chapters five through seven cover extras --
customization of Mosaic, using multimedia with Mosaic and creation of
your own HTML documents.  The final chapter has information about the
W3O project and sources of information on the WWW, the appendices have
some reference material, and a glossary and an index finish off the
book.  This covers everything ordinary Mosaic users could want, and is
sensibly structured.  All the material is clearly laid out and
explained, and _The Mosaic Handbook_ is up to the high standards one
expects from O'Reilly.

I haven't seen the Microsoft Windows version, but I assume it is very
similar, since the X and Macintosh versions are pretty much the same,
with the differences concentrated in the chapters on multimedia and
customization. (The X book is so much longer partly because these are
more complicated with X and partly because the window snapshots take
up more room).  I have two minor gripes -- there's no Linux binary
on the CDROM, and the X Windows window snapshots are barely readable
(I think some verisimilitude should have been traded for legibility)
-- but otherwise have no qualms at all about recommending _The Mosaic
Handbook_.

--

Disclaimer: I requested and received a review copy of _The Mosaic
Handbook_ from O'Reilly & Associates, but I have no stake, financial or
otherwise, in its success.

--

%T 	The Mosaic Handbook for the X Window System
%A 	Dale Dougherty
%A	Richard Koman
%A	Paula Ferguson
%I 	O'Reilly & Associates
%C 	Sebastapol, California
%D 	1994
%O 	paperback, glossary, index, CDROM
%G 	ISBN 1-56592-095-3
%P 	xxiii,262pp
%K 	computing

%T 	The Mosaic Handbook for the Macintosh
%A 	Dale Dougherty
%A	Richard Koman
%I 	O'Reilly & Associates
%C 	Sebastapol, California
%D 	1994
%O 	paperback, glossary, index, floppy disk
%G 	ISBN 1-56592-096-1
%P 	xxiii,171pp
%K 	computing

Danny Yee (danny@cs.su.oz.au)
8 November 1994