There's no lack of advice available for how to run your Mac efficiently and solve pesky problems, but it's scattered all over the Internet. Our latest Take Control ebooks, both by Joe Kissell, provide a well-organized, go-to source for a comprehensive Mac maintenance plan and effective advice for handling any problems that might arise.

The first, Take Control of Maintaining Your Mac, Second Edition looks at how to start on the right foot with keeping your Mac running smoothly, and then it explains weekly, monthly, and yearly tasks that anyone can perform easily to enjoy peak performance and avoid pesky problems. Along with telling you what to do, it includes a section about what not to do, explaining several time-consuming tasks that don't provide any real benefits.

The second ebook, Take Control of Troubleshooting Your Mac, version 1.1, goes beyond maintenance to teach you how to solve any problems that might pop up. In particular, you'll learn how to perform 17 specific problem-solving tasks (including clearing caches, running disk-repair utilities, and checking your RAM), how to solve 9 common problems (including printer problems, mouse problems, and Mac-won't-turn-on problems), and how to proceed if you encounter a novel problem.

In both cases, Joe has updated the ebooks for the latest versions of Mac OS X, and for the latest versions of various utilities that play a role in Mac maintenance and troubleshooting.

—Posted by Adam C. Engst on May 21, 2009