Customer Reviews

Microsoft Windows 7 Unleashed

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

 

 

Before writing my own review, I was very surprised that this book didn't carry a 4+ star overall rating -- it's at least a 4-star book, but only for the right audience. If you are a casual user of Windows -- if you're NOT a "power user" who is interesting in lots of user interface customizations, and if you aren't interested in saving keystrokes or mouse clicks anywhere you can -- then this books wasn't written for you. If you are a casual user who wants more breadth and less depth on Windows 7, I enjoyed reading Windows 7 Secrets, a new book by Paul Thurrott. Both "Windows 7 Secrets" and "Windows 7 Unleashed" are listed on the back cover with a "User Level: Intermediate-Advanced". This book targets that audience, whereas "Windows 7 Secrets" is more for casual Windows enthusiasts who want to learn not only something about Windows 7, but also complimentary technologies such as Windows Home Server and Zune.

Since this review is for this book -- Windows 7 Unleashed -- I'd expect that you are truly an advanced Windows user (or an aspiring advanced Windows user). You don't need introductions, you don't need lots of transitional comparisons to Vista and XP (there are some, but they're limited). Instead, you want a single volume that covers the depth of Windows 7 alone.

I liked the author's perspective -- maximizing every performance point possible with Windows 7 -- even though I'm not ardently trying to do that. For me, I wanted to have a book that I could refer to if, say, I needed to know something more about User Access Control or group policies or tuning Windows 7. Yeah, I could hunt the web for that stuff, but I like a single, bound, book with all that info contained in one volume. Then, when I hit the web, I'm looking for something even beyond what the book has.

The author's writing style is straightforward -- very little fluff, very little humor. His passion is to save a mouse click here or there, cut seconds off performance delays, and customize everything to make your Windows 7 installation a truly hand-in-glove experience. I think he succeeds, but I don't have the inclination to that good of a hand-in-glove fit.

His coverage of Windows 7 is excellent, except on Windows Aero and the new Libraries concept. There are several cool, productive tricks to Aero that I didn't see covered (and "Aero" wasn't in the index), and neither is "Libraries" covered in the book or index (a big omission which I presume will be corrected in a later edition of this book -- I'm reviewing the book covering Windows 7 Release Candidate). Other than those two glaring omissions, he explains things about the Windows Registry I didn't know, even though I've dabbled editing the Registry for years. He does a great job overviewing security, including IE8. He's got a step-by-step troubleshooting section, covering system restore and lots more.

Although he does mark "New in 7" those features that are new in Windows 7, I would have preferred that he would have done more comparisons and constrasts to both Vista and XP. That wasn't the style he chose, though, so don't expect him to tell you, "This feature has been around since XP" -- he's telling you what's in Windows 7 right now, not where that feature was first introduced in the Windows family. That may be something to consider if you want a book that makes those comparisons and constrasts to older versions of Windows. Because of the poor Aero and Libraries treatment, I'm giving this book only 4 stars instead of 5.

He's got great appendices! Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts and a wonderful explanation on "Understanding TCP/IP".

In short, I think any 1, 2 or 3 star reviews for this book probably come from people who incorrectly thought this book was targeted to their casual computing needs. It's not for the casual user. It's for a power user. For Windows power users out there, if you want a book that covers the depths of the Windows 7 operating system, this is an excellent choice. That said, if you already have a similar book covering Windows Vista, you may not really need this book, since fundamentally not much has changed between Windows Vista and Windows 7, and key parts that are new -- particularly the way Windows 7 implements virtual libraries -- isn't covered at all.

This book is essentially for the "save the introductions" audience, offering a wealth of information for those using the RC of Windows 7 and looking forward to the October launch. I've technically reviewed dozens of books covering Windows versions during the past decade, but this is the first from McFedries. Of particular note is that the author obviously understands his subject thoroughly yet maintains efficiency with the delivery of the technical concepts. Moreover he seems to "get" his audience. There's a great balance here that readers from hobbyist types to IT pros are likely to greatly appreciate.

I'm one of many using the RC as a main OS and we now know 7 is more than a polished Vista. As expected, the new features are prominently covered in this book and while I found it slightly customization heavy I'm certain many will enjoy the myriad ways one can personalize everything from startup to IE8. I think the real meat is in learning how to maximize 7s attributes. Of course it's faster, more stable, and more secure and simultaneously less annoying out-of-the-box regarding UAC, but there are powerful and sometimes subtle differences with the OS that McFedries plunges into.

First off, security is a broad as well as crucial topic and it's covered here, coincidentally or not, in seven informative chapters. Everything from user and file level to Internet and email (using Live as 7 has no boxed client) security is given due attention. Networking, obviously another huge topic, is well covered at the sub-enterprise level in several key areas including: setup, security, wireless, remote connections, and the new HomeGroup functionality. Regarding the potentially more complex topics such as local group policy, MMC use, and registry tweaks, the author clearly conveys the concepts to get power users well beyond experienced trail and error methods. There are also two very useful chapters on scripting with WSH and Windows PowerShell. And, if you're like minded you'll find the performance chapters invaluable for maximizing what the new OS can do.

Finally, while reading this book and working on my 7 machine, I continually found that I was asking the "well what if..." questions, particularly within the troubleshooting chapters, only to find the answer within the next page or two. This is a quality resource and the author appears to know what the early adopters want in a Windows book. It's highly useful, it's accurate, and it's presented well.

Though Windows 7 has not been released yet, this book contains lots of interesting information about modifying Windows in order to make it you own...
This book is not for beginners as most of it deals with modifying the registry and creating scripts to improve performance.

This book provides a single source option for many tips/tricks on getting the most out of Windows 7. I'm sure this book has saved me a ton of time - both in searching for specific information and by leveraging tips in the book to speed up everyday tasks. The book is easily understood, logically laid out, and well indexed.

Well written book. Much good information, however it just seems to alck that 'something' which would make it special. I fear that I will need another source to polish my Win 7 skills, especially since I skipped Vista. I do feel that it is targeted for too broad of an audience (from newbies to experienced users) and fails to a degree on aiding both groups

This 758-page book on Windows 7 is a solid resource for beginners and power users alike.

In fact, it is especially useful for beginners. One of the annoying things Microsoft began doing in earlier versions of Windows was hiding the file extensions. How in the heck are you supposed to be able to know what files you're working with if that information isn't visible? So McFedries devotes some time early on to correcting this and other productivity-killing "enhancements" so a person can actually get work done on a Windows computer. He doesn't however, go far enough with this.

I don't recall if the book mentions to right click the Start button to open Windows Explorer, but that's another tip I give beginners who don't know where to begin. Microsoft has, mercifully, not disabled that in W7 (else, you'd have to navigate to where they hide the shortcut to it). If Microsoft is still around a couple of years from now and releases another OS, I hope the Unleashed book will have a chapter titled "Fixing the Enhancements" so beginners and power users can save time getting Windows to make sense. This chapter needs to address each annoyance that the Microsoft User Frustration Team has come up with, and explain how to fix it.

While not exhaustive, this book's coverage is extensive. It does have two glaring problems, though. It's wrong about networking, and it's wrong about menu alteration.

The reason I got this book was I thought it would help me make sense of what I see as Microsoft's flakiest OS interface yet. For example, I use my computers to accomplish tasks. What a novel concept. Thus, I organize my start menu by the mission of each application. I have folders for Communication, Financial, Graphics, Utilities, Webworking, etc. It's set up based on the idea I want to accomplish something or perform a specific type of task. Microsoft's defaults are based on some other idea.

My first step in a Windows install on a laptop is to create a data partition (on a desktop, I just use a second physical drive for data). Fortunately, W7 makes this step easy; in earlier versions of Windows, I had to spend yet another wad of cash to buy a program to provide this functionality. Why Windows doesn't by default create an OS partition and a data partition already (or, in the case of desktop machines, autosense the second hard drive and make it the data drive), I have no idea. It would not take much to just make it that way.

Then I change all of the program defaults to save data outside the OS partition or drive (reinstalling Windows is inevitable, which means data loss is inevitable if you store data on the OS partition). My next step is to go into Windows Explorer and set up folders for the program menu shortcuts. Even after reading this book, I can't figure out how to do that in W7.

That said, I typically don't start work by opening an application (e.g., Word) and searching for files from it. I typically start by opening a file with Windows Explorer (file association is something Microsoft got right). However, there are times when I don't have an existing file to work from and want to begin with a program. Wading through a long list of unrelated program names instead of going directly to a logically-named folder of related apps is a productivity killer.

The great thing about W7 is it boots up quickly. If not for that, I would have given up on it after an hour of fussing with it. This book was helpful, but its explanation of how to find the location of the user profiles and menu folders doesn't match what is on my computer. Since I still can't get the Start Menu shortcuts arranged in anything approaching a logical setup, I still might replace W7 with XP.

I disagree with the author's assertion that Windows 7 makes networking easier. I have found the reality to be exactly the opposite. After buying a laptop with Windows 7, I came within an inch of wiping out the OS partition and installing Windows XP on it. After spending far more time than I should have and even tapping an IT pro for help, I finally did get W7 to at least see my XP machine (can't get it to work the other way). By contrast, I can plug any pre-W7 machine into my network and connection/detection is automatic. If you want to affirm that this networking problem is widespread and immensely frustrating, just google it.

All in all, a solid book IF you aren't networking with earlier versions of Windows, and IF you already know why you never save files in the same partition as the OS, and IF you already know how to "de-enhance" the interface so it is logical and efficient. What's missing is the chapter I mentioned earlier.

I became a power user when DOS 3.0 was the current OS, and have carried forth the lessons learned in subsequent OS releases (while updating my knowledge by reading at least two books on each release). New computer users don't have that experience to draw from, and most users don't have that education to draw from. So a book like this is a godsend.

New users will choose between W7 and Mac, which goes a long way toward explaining why Mac sales are on the rise and Microsoft has had layoffs. For those of us stubbornly clinging to Wintel and wanting to make it work in frustration-free fashion, Windows 7 Unleashed is an excellent resource.

This book has lots of good information about Windows 7, but does not cover the 70-680 exam objectives very well. The author starts out saying what's wrong with Windows 7 and how he would fix it. This book has some good information about customizing Windows 7 to suit your own needs. It gets into some very good information about configuring startup settings and the Registry. I will keep this book as a good desk reference, but I'm using other materials to study for the 70-680. Unlike other Microsoft study materials, the information in this book is actually useful.

I purchased this prior to the release to market version of Windows 7. At that time it was one of the only Windows 7 books available. Although it may prove to be a useful reference, certain critical information is completely missing.

The author assumes your computer already has the correct version of Windows 7 pre-installed on it. There is very little information about the various (somewhat confusing) editions of Windows 7 available to the consumer. There is no discussion about the 32-bit versus the 64-bit versions of the operating system.

Also, the reader will find absolutely no information about installing Windows 7. While that information is certainly available elsewhere, to be a truly comprehensive and useful reference book, it would be nice if the author provided expert advice on what to do if you are installing Windows 7 on a computer previously running XP or Vista. You will not find that information in this book.

According to the author the book should appeal to IT professionals, power users, business users, small business owners, and home users. I think he is optimistic in his assessment. Most IT departments do not want their business users messing with the operating system on their computers, most small business owners just want their computers to work, and the majority of home users just want to know the least they need to know to get their computer to do what they want it to do. That leaves power users and IT professionals as the real target audience. Since I am neither, I can not assess the value of the book for these groups. I am sorry I bought it and can't think of anyone to whom I would recommend it.

I fear that I will have to buy another book on windows 7. This one is both long, and frankly not that detailed about windows 7.

I bought this book to try to help me understand how to use and configurate shared folders in Windows XP. Thankfully, I learned that Windows 7 will address this problem. This book is better suited to IT professionals or network administrators -- it is not so relevant to the average user.