“A big thank you for Inside Macintosh and your work on NeXT documentation! When I discovered that documentation, I was blown away by how good it was.”
—Dru Nelson (programmer), May 2024

“As far as I’m concerned, [Caroline Rose] is an unsung hero in the history of Apple and a role model for tech writers everywhere. … Skimming through [the 1985 edition of Inside Macintosh], I’m struck by not only the clarity and thoroughness of the writing, but its consistent tone. It’s technical but has a human touch that doesn’t feel forced or overly casual.”
—Andy Lee (programmer), blog entry, December 2010

“These days I’m spending time reading documentation and typing code. It’s a nice feeling, although I do miss reading the old documentation from the Caroline Rose years at Apple. She definitely helped me improve as a writer, and I think there’s a whole generation of Mac programmers who would have suffered a lot more had she not been keeping a watchful eye on the documentation coming out of Apple.”
—Dave Polaschek (programmer), November 2009

“Inside Mac was, and remains, by far the best computer documentation… heck, the best technical documentation. Ever. Period. I think what made Inside Mac so special is that it’s the only documentation that was 100% focused on helping the developer… I ache for the comfort, helpfulness, and completeness of Inside Mac.”
—Daniel P. B. Smith (software developer), July 2008

“develop was the finest developer journal ever. Your work was great!”
—D. K. Smith (programmer), January 2007

“A bunch of us Mac programming dorks [are] dismayed by the absence of good development magazines, and we remember with fondness our old issues of develop. … I thought you might appreciate knowing that we still remember all the great work you did both on develop and Inside Mac.”
—Daniel Jalkut (software developer), April 2006

“Before long I figured out that if Caroline had trouble understanding something, it probably meant the design was flawed. … I began to imagine her questions when I was coding something new, which made me work harder to get things clearer before I went over them with her.”
—Andy Hertzfeld (programmer, original Mac team), Revolution in the Valley, 2004

“Your work on Inside Macintosh was inspirational. I’ve written four books and am a series editor with Addison-Wesley, and Inside Macintosh was one of the most influential things I’ve ever read.”
—Don Box (programmer and author), April 2004

“I’ve never seen a better example of a well-conceived and -executed technical document than Inside Macintosh. It dissected complex issues and performed well as both a reference and an introductory text. I wish other technical documentation was laid out so sensibly. Your example remains astonishingly unmatched in my experience over the last 20 years. Congratulations for being responsible for what has consistently been the best documentation I’ve read in my entire career.”
—Mark Chally (programmer), March 2004

“Inside Macintosh made sense of something incredibly complicated in a way that no reference [documentation for] the Windows SDK ever came close to doing.”
—Wilson Smith (programmer), March 2004

“Inside Mac was my best friend for a long time and is still the yardstick by which I judge technical books.”
—Mark Dalrymple (programmer and author), March 2004

“Even that early release [of Inside Macintosh] was far more than an API reference; it was illustrated, expository, and thorough. It formed the basis for nearly two decades of Macintosh software development.”
—Ken Good (programmer), Mac OS X developer mailing list, March 2004

“Some of the best documentation for an API I ever read was the original Inside Macintosh, which shipped with version 1.0 of the Mac OS operating system… [The] core elements of the Macintosh toolbox by and large were described in some of the best computer API documentation I have ever seen… (Reply: There is a very simple explanation for what you described: Caroline Rose. The best editor ever. She not only made documentation better, she made the code better because she asked questions which made engineers think hard enough to realize their own mistakes.)”
—Macintosh developer group discussion, December 2001

“With your work on develop and Inside Macintosh you clearly have made a tremendous contribution to Macintosh, our development community, and the computer industry in general.”
—Eric Gundrum (organizer of MacHack keynote session in which Caroline participated), June 2001

“Caroline Rose is the best I’ve ever seen at [making engineers] think clearly about what they’re designing. She’s just without peer.”
—Chris Espinosa (publications manager on the original Mac team), interview, June 2000

“Caroline Rose inspired me by being the best technical writer I’ve ever known, and by writing Inside Macintosh, without which no other Macintosh technical books would be possible.
—Scott Knaster, How to Write Macintosh Software, 1986

“I’ve said it before and I’ll keep on saying it: [Inside Macintosh] is the finest documentation of a complex system I’ve ever come across…. Congratulations, admiration, and thanks to all involved. Caroline Rose is my hero.”
—Stan Krute (programmer), February 1986

“The highlight of the [1986 Appleworld Conference], for many, was Addison-Wesley’s publication of [Inside Macintosh]. It’s $75 and worth every penny… a must for any developer.”
—John C. Dvorak, InfoWorld magazine, January 1986

“We at Semper Software have been reading and using Inside Macintosh intensely now for several weeks. We find it refreshing that documentation for a machine out for as short a time as the Macintosh can be this good. The organization, in which first facilities are discussed in general, then the “high-level” routines are gone over in detail, and finally the “low-level” routines, if any, are covered, is very natural…. Your good manuals make my job easier and smoother. I also appreciate the absence of syntax errors, run-on sentences, etc. that are typical in other microcomputer technical documents. Congratulations.”
—Michael A. Amling (Semper Software, owner), October 1984