FireFox & Thunderbird Garage

[Tami]

FireFox & Thunderbird Garage
Authors: Chris Hoffman, Marcia Knous, John Hedtke
Review By: Adaera

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If the authors of this book were car mechanics I would be first in line to take my car to them for repairs. FireFox & Thunderbird Garage is the most complete text I have seen yet on these two programmes. The book opens with an indepth introduction to the Open Source philosophy and gives the reader an understanding of the vision held by those who create programmes and release them as open source.

This book is rife with good humour and holds a plethora of sites on the web to visit. I have to admit I was surprised to see the home page for The Arrogant Worms listed as a favourite site by an American author, but given the sense of humour injected into this book perhaps I shouldn't really have been that surprised. Sidebar notes are placed in relevant areas along with web resources, and content is easy to find using the extensive table of contents or index.

The authors have divided the Garage into two "service bays" one for each programme, with cross-referencing for helpful hints and further information. Both sections are laid out in a logical, step by step format. Even someone who has never opened FireFox or Thunderbird will be advanced users by the time they finish the last page. The book is illustrated with clear, easy to understand screenshots and diagrams which accompanied by a comprehensive list of online resources. Procedures for Windows, Mac and Linux are covered, along with complete keyboard menus for both programmes.

FireFox & Thunderbird Garage goes far beyond the basics, covering such areas as spam, phishing, virus and trojan dangers and security tips. The chapter on blogging was informative and a nice addition to the book. I think my favourite part of the book, aside from the knowledge I have gained, were Eunice's Popovers. If you want to know what they are, you'll need to buy the book and find out for yourself. Firefox & Thunderbird Garage is worth every cent of the cover price and one that has found a permanent home on my reference shelf.