Customer Reviews

Microsoft PowerPoint 97 Step by Step (Step by Step (Microsoft))

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After having taught half of a Computer Office Management class using the Word 97 Step by Step book, which was an excellent resource for learning some of the more useful features of Word, I was looking forward to teaching the PowerPoint portion of the class. Unfortunately I was doomed to be disappointed by the end of the PowerPoint Step by Step book. The first half of the book was fairly consistent and easy to follow, but it deteriorated rapidly from there. Inconsistencies in the screenshots and what you actually see while doing the lessons, missing steps, inadequate explanation of how to get through certain parts of certain lessons, making assumptions about the end user's computer and file availability (fonts, NT vs Win9X, etc.). This made the last half of my teaching experience a living nightmare, constantly having to go from student to student and show them how to get to the point on the screen that was showing in the book, with no explanation in the book on how to set things up properly. An example, in the "Producing a Slide Show" lesson, #11, in the section covering changing text animation slide settings, the author neglects to inform the reader that one must animate the objects that will be showing up in the Custom Animation dialog box by highlighting the text or graphic object listed on the Timings tab, and switching the radio button to animate in order for the object to show up on the Effects tab, to be able to continue with the lesson. That is just one example of many in the last 6 sections of the book that really threw my students for a loop. I will be recommending that we use a different book for the next time we teach PowerPoint.

I must admit, I passed the PowerPoint 97 Expert exam by only reading through half of this book because PowerPoint 97 is not really a difficult program to learn (compared to Access 97 or Excel 97). However, there may be those who differ and this book is fine for everyone. It is great for reviewing even if its just for a specific task. If Microsoft decides to add Visual Basic to the exams, then you'll have a problem. Also, if you want to go beyond and create eye-popping presentations, you'll have to look elsewhere.