Customer Reviews

Microsoft® Office XP Inside Out (Inside Out (Microsoft))

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The most positive aspect of this book is that is also available as an ebook on its accompanying CD. It is certainly a starter book on Office XP, and there is probably not enough in each section to develop a depth of expertise. The section on VBA for instance is fairly general. However, if you are trying to come to terms with Office as a whole for the first time this is a worthwhile book compared with many others of similar size.

However, let me add one caveat. There is a companion volume 'XP Inside Out' which covers a lot of the ground covered in this book. I would recommend buying that volume first and then decide if you need Office XP Inside Out or one of the application specific Inside Out books.

I bought this book only a few days ago without seeing any others on the market. It is well layed out and easy to read. I use it mostly as a reference book because I am very familiar with Office 2000 already. However, if you are new to the Office Suite and want to learn from scratch, this book can do it. It highlights all the new things in Office XP and the CD included has the entire book in "ebook" version making search and query a cinch. After seeing a few other books out on the subject, I couldn't have made a better choice...its perfect!

This book is a must for anyone purchasing Office XP. The small books you receive with the software are excerpts out of this book! You can be up and running with all the programs included in Office XP Professional edition. The companion CD which comes with the book allows you to place the entire book on your hard drive. The CD is worth more than the cost of the book alone. It has tons of information on using the individual programs in concert with each other. It contains many macros', tools and additional features. There are six other "Inside Out" books like this book, except they deal with the individual programs. The book contains over 1580 pages, and by placing them in your computer, you will be able to have access for the exact item that you are dealing with at that time. We certainly expect to obtain all the other books in this series.

The name of this book is no exaggeration. It has that "Inside Out" coverage. Both beginners and expert users of the software will find it useful. (Although that I will suggest a more concise introductory book like the "Office XP Step By Step" for most beginners).
This textbook has a good pattern, and includes many trouble-shooting tips. It has depth. You can just start from any chapter of your choice without having to know what the previous chapter was all about.
Also, the attached CD-ROM is a big asset. It contains every topic that you will find in the main text; and since the text is heavier than most laptops, mobile users are bound to appreciate the extra flexibility that this CD-ROM provides.

I have never bothered writing a review of a book before, but I feel inclined to now because this book is so bad and has caused me so many hair pulling moments.

It is far too basic and their is no proper explanations of why features exist and no in-depth detail of the options for particular features.

Furthermore, it just introduces features and then sort of goes half way thorugh explaining them. There's no tips, of any use, for better working or things to watch for.

For example, I have just used it to try and understand the new Error Checking tool in Excel. It tells you to go to Tools, Error Checking to switch it on. It provides a screen shot of the dialog box (so that will be the same one I've got on my screen then), and then provides no explanation at all of the options in the dialog box. Aaaahhhh!!!!

As I said, rubbish. I should never have trusted a Microsoft published book. The other reviewers on this board have got a lot to answer for. It's not cheap either. Buy the Special Edition Using Office XP book instead.

Yours, a frustrated reader.

This book is great. Nice looks, nice layout, and most importantly, great resource! I'm a professional myself, and use Office often. It's great to learn the new stuff in XP, but even if you never used any version of MS Office, you'll learn a lot. It covers the basics, but certainly doesn't stop there. It gives you the advanced features too! Great book, to go with a great MS program!

Beware of the multitude of Office XP books out there. This one is from Microsoft Press and is very good and actually matches the XP suite. Some others went to press so far in advance that the book descriptions and content don't even match Office XP actual features [for example, see review of "Office XP Complete Reference" which I bought from Amazon and returned].

I bought this book only a few days ago without seeing any others on the market. It is well layed out and easy to read. I use it mostly as a reference book because I am very familiar with Office 2000 already. However, if you are new to the Office Suite and want to learn from scratch, this book can do it. It highlights all the new things in Office XP and the CD included has the entire book in "ebook" version making search and query a cinch. After seeing a few other books out on the subject, I couldn't have made a better choice...its perfect!

I've used MS Office since day one, however on upgrading to XP found many new additions via this book and excellent CD resource. Helpful for the novice, it is a real "upgrader" for the experienced Office user. I evaluated several other books on XP before purchasing this one and my criteria was if the book could answer some key questions on Outlook, PowerPoint and Word. This is the only book that had it all. This is a users book.

Don't expect to become an expert in any one of the applications from this book. Instead it offers a good overview of the different Office applications and points out the new features available in the XP version. The author also offers tips and shortcuts both new and old in each of the MS products. All in all it's worth the money.