I find books esp. helpful with Windows. Whenever I use Windows, it takes a long time to do anything because I have to learn so much and remember it, even the basics of the operating system like how to find programs, install them, or uninstall them—and that's with built-in search and uninstall capabilities.
The authors of Windows books are looking at a version life of four or five years while on the Mac there is a new version every 18 months. That gives Windows authors a lot more time to rest on their residuals while Mac authors had to be already working on the successor to Yosemite while Yosemite was still in Beta. The Mac HAS to be easier to use or no one could ever keep up.
