Praise for The Mother of All Windows Books: "Witty, idiosyncratic, sometimes cranky, and often corny, the book captures the feeling of a Windows expert sitting at your elbow, chatting away, listening to your complaints, agreeing, offering solutions." --Jim Seymour, PC Magazine "An amazingly complete (and completely irreverent) look at everything involved with Windows." -- Ed Bott, PC Computing Mom is back, crankier than ever, and she and her motley cast of highly irreverent icons have got the goods on everything you need to know about Windows 95 after you push the Start button. You'll get "motherly" advice, delivered in Mom's own caustic-yet-caring style, on everything from setting up Windows 95 to tuning it and making it work the way you want it to. The Mother of All Windows 95 Booksbrings you insider info on all Windows 95 components (everything from fonts to multimedia), the new desktop, the extremely mysterious (and virtually undocumented!) Windows Registry, and more. The Mother of All Windows 95 Books also delivers the mother of all Windows 95 software collections--full commercial programs, working excerpts from the hottest products, shareware, freeware, and more! The all-new CD-ROM includes: * Norton Utilities' System Information(TM) program, which provides detailed operating statistics for every part of your Windows 95 system. 20 all-new, hand-picked Bitstream(R) fonts. * The Official Airline Guide(TM)--detailed info on over 650,000 flights. * The Pro Phone(TM) Windows 95 "Free Phone(TM)" 800-number directory--every toll-free number in the USA! * From Phone Disk--200,000 phone numbers for virtually every computer related business in the USA! * Microsoft's latest and greatest for Windows 95: the Windows Driver Library; the Hardware Compatibility List; the User Interface Guide (which costs $39 in paperback); and the new Microsoft(R) Word Viewer. * Full working models of some of the most popular Win95 multimedia titles: Arcade America(TM) from 7th Level(R) (including a page from Monty Python's Compleat Waste of Time(TM)); Freddi Fish(TM) and Putt-Putt Saves the Zoo(TM) from Humongous(R); Sound Forge(TM); the simulation game Freshwater Fish(TM) from AnimaTek(TM); and others. * From the Public (software) Library(TM)--the largest, most complete set of Windows 95 utilities ever compiled. System Requirements: * Windows 95 and a CD-ROM drive 0201409712B04062001
I've written a whole lotta computer books over the years, starting with "Windows Programming for Mere Mortals" in 1991, going through the "Hacker's Guide to Word for Windows" (with Vince Chen and Scott Krueger), the "Mother of All Windows Books" and "Mother of All PC Books" series (all with Barry Simon), then the "Underground Guides" to Word, Office, Telecommuting, and many more, "Word Annoyances", the "Woody Teaches Office" series, and the "Special Edition Using Office" series (with Ed Bott). I'm probably best-known for my "Dummies" books, which tell the straight story (whether Microsoft likes it or not!) in a way that won't put you to sleep.
My books have been translated into dozens of languages, and are widely available at bookstores, computer shops and warehouse chains all over the world. I've edited several series of books for various publishers. I've also written hundreds of magazine articles, most recently for PC World and the late, lamented PC/Computing magazine. I used to publish a handful of electronic newsletters, and print newsletters before that, but now confine myself to dispensing news, advice, and a wee bit o' insight, at www.AskWoody.com and my column in the Windows Secrets newsletter, www.WindowsSecrets.com.
I started in the computer book biz in a very odd way. I wrote a novel. An action-adventure novel, no less, set in Saudi Arabia. I never found a publisher, although I keep threatening to dust the novel off and submit it again. But along the way, I came to know - and love and hate - a brand new word processor known as Word for Windows. I wrote a lengthy electronic book about all of WinWord 1.10's bugs, which were legion, and how to work around a whole bunch of 'em. Posted it on CompuServe. Andrew Schulman (who wrote "Undocumented DOS" and "Undocumented Windows" among many others) stumbled into my "Hacker's Guide to the Univers", and he asked me to write a book for him. It all went downhill from there.
My writing has won an unprecedented eight Computer Press Association awards and two American Business Press awards - more than any other computer book author, I think. I was one of the first Microsoft Consulting Partners, and a charter member of the Microsoft Solutions Provider organization.
I still think of computers as a "means", not an "end". I wonder when people lost sight of the fact that PCs were invented to make life easier, to get your work done and get home early. I firmly believe that PCs make passable slaves but horrible masters.
I'm impressed with much of what Microsoft is doing to Windows, although the continuing security screw-ups really leave me shaking my head. I'm much less impressed with what's happening to Offfice. In my opinion, Microsoft is using its monopoly on the desktop to sell more server software, making Office updates less and less compelling for the individual or small business user. Like me. And I'm appalled that Microsoft is now selling a "service" that protects us from the flaws in their own product.
Yes, indeed, the gods must be crazy.
I went to grad school in Boulder, Colorado (M.S. and A.B.D. in CS/Software Engineering), worked in Saudi Arabia for five years, then spent 15 years on top of a mountain in the Rockies. I moved to Phu ket in 2000, with my teenage son, Cocker spaniel and beagle. I live in the hills above Patong now, with my long-time girlfriend, Add. If you ever get to Phu ket, drop me a line! It's an incredibly beautiful place to visit. Or to live, for that matter.
