The Mother of All Windows 98 Books [Paperback]

Woody Leonhard (Author), Barry Simon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 23, 1998

In this irreverent sequel to the bestselling The Mother of All Windows 95 Books, the irascible and irrepressible Mom and her loyal sidekicks return to give you the inside track on Windows 98. With a wacky sense of humor and in-depth insider knowledge, The Mother of All Windows 98 Books (a.k.a. MOM98) goes right to the heart of what you need to know to become a Win98 power user. MOM98 illustrates how--and more important, why--things work (or don't work) enabling even novices to quickly become wizards with Win98. Written in plain language (so even your Mom can understand it) MOM98 is packed with insight, unique tips, and shortcuts so you can customize and fine-tune Win98 to get the maximum benefit of this powerful new operating system. MOM98 isn't just another Win98 book; no way! Mom serves up a hearty helping of features and coverage for your benefit. Here's some samples of Mom's work: *Describes how Windows 98 really works, not how it's supposed to work *Includes a "fast track" chapter to get experienced Windows 95 users rapidly up-to-speed *Reveals what works, what doesn't, and how to work around the obstacles (this coverage is worth the price of the book alone!) *Explains all of Win98's snazziest features: the Update Manager, Multilink Channel Aggregation, Virtual Private Networking, FAT32, Win32 Driver Model, DirectX 5.0, The Tune-Up Wizard, HTML Help, VBScript, control panel applets, and more *Covers the Windows 98 Registry in depth *Based entirely on the final "shrink-wrapped" version of Windows 98; no beta stuff in here And, MOM98 has a comprehensive supporting Web site, that is updated regularly to give you the latest work-arounds as inherent bugs emerge. MOM98 offers you the most on the market--a comprehensive reference and timely updates when you need them. Reviews from previous MOM 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 exceptional value...written in a style that is at once irreverent, witty and, well, strange."--Brit Hume and T.R. Reid, The Washington Post 0201433125B04062001

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Microsoft Windows has always been complicated, and the latest version of this top-selling consumer operating system ranks as the most bewildering to date. While the upgrade is very powerful, most users don't know what Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) is or how to use adjustable font tracking. Woody Leonhard and Barry Simon--experienced Windows professionals, who write for respected industry magazines--explain these things and more in the thorough and often hilarious The Mother of All Windows 98 Books.

This omnibus Windows 98 how-to book documents the entire operating system, explaining everything from how to double-click to how to pull off the coolest hacks by editing the Registry. Along the way, the authors give advice on installing Windows 98 properly, getting DOS applications to work right, tweaking multimedia, and much more.

Like any good how-to book, this one doesn't take itself too seriously. Its fact-dense pages feature comic relief in the form of cartoon characters--including a caricature of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates--spouting geek wit. The Mother of All Windows 98 Books is a pleasure to read and extraordinarily informative to boot. --David Wall

From the Inside Flap

Do You Need MOM98?
The old order changeth, yielding place to new.

--Alfred Tennyson, The Passing of Arthur, 1869

What

makes The Mother of All Windows 98 Books--MOM98 for short--different from the

other five hundred or so Windows 98 books on the market? Three reasons. First,

it's the only book that shows you what's really going on inside Win98, from

a user's point of view. Second, it's the only place you'll find hundreds of

unique tips--and straightforward, down-to-earth explanations--for configuring

Win98 to work for you, not against you. And third, it's the only Windows 98

book on the market that was written from the ground up based on the final, shrinkwrapped,

shipped version of the software.

It

continues to amaze me how many books on store shelves are based on very, very

early beta-test versions of Windows 98--and how many books amount to nothing

more than minor rewrites of their Windows 95 versions. While it's true that

Windows 98 looks a lot like Windows 95 from the outside--you know, pointing

and clicking and all that--the simple fact is that Win95 has gone through major,

even apocalyptic, changes on the inside. While you might not bump into those

big changes the first time you use Win98, by the end of a week I guarantee you

will.

And

then there are all those books and magazine articles that say, "Windows

is great but it won't do this and this and this." We spent months figuring

out new ways to make Win98 do what the experts say it can't and making it cookbook-easy

to put those tricks to use. Whether you're supporting a company full of Win98

users or simply sitting at home and trying to get the bloody thing to start,

MOM98 shows you hundreds of ways to make Win98 work better, faster, easier,

and more reliably, the first time, every time, day after day after day. And

we do it all in plain English.

For those of you who cut your teeth (if not your fingers) on Windows 95, we

have a chapter designed specifically to bring you up to speed on Windows 98--with

a curmudgeonly emphasis on what does and doesn't work. Not all of the "improvements"

Microsoft talks about radiate sweetness and light. In fact, if you don't know

where the problems lie, you might find yourself wasting days of effort and hundreds

of bucks on Win98 features that just plain don't work.

On the other hand, Win98 has an enormous array of new features that do work--and

you need to know about them, too. Some of the most important new features are

buried so deep, you'd never find them without a guide map. And that's just what

our first chapter provides: knowledgeable, detailed discussion of what to look

for and where. Windows for Dullards NOT!

If you're looking for a book to show you how to push the Windows 98 Start button,

well, you're in the wrong place. The Win98 tutorial shows you all you need to

know to get started, and the proliferation of built-in Windows Wizards can run

you through the most common procedures. For nearly all the "click here,

drag there" basic stuff, Windows online help shows you step by step what

you need.

But Windows 98 is such a rich environment and the provided docs and online

help so skimpy, you'll need MOM98 just for its collections of tips and pointers,

its plain-language explanation of what's really happening, and its authoritative

exploration of Win98's seamier side. The shortcuts you find on just about any

page of this book will save you lots of frustration every time you boot up. Manual Labor

At

this point you're probably wondering, "Why doesn't Microsoft tell us about

all these cool, albeit weird, things?" Or maybe "Why should I pay

for a book when the documentation I already have undoubtedly covers all the

important stuff--if I ever get around to reading it" Or "Why doesn't

my favorite aftermarket Windows book give me at least some little hint that

all this funky stuff is going on under the covers?" Let me clue you in

on a little behind-the-scenes stuff, a few of the dirty secrets of the publishing

biz.

First, all the official Win98 documentation and all the aftermarket Win98 books

were written before the final code for Windows 98 was ready. That means that

everything on the bookstore shelves and in the shrinkwrapped Win98 box-- including

the official docs, the Help files, and the Wizards--every bit of it is based

on beta-test code and an idealized concept of how Win98 should work, once/if

all the problems were resolved.

MOM98, in blazing contrast, was written by, for, and with the final, shipping

Win98 product. That made us last on the bookstore shelves and probably hurt

MOM98's sales, but it was the only way we could be sure you'd get the straight

story.

Second, the aftermarket books are based almost entirely on the official documentation.

Where the Windows Resource Kit or online Help is wrong or ambiguous, virtually

every book glosses over those points--or are wrong or ambiguous. Mom wouldn't

let us get away with parroting Microsoft, even if we wanted to. She wields a

mean rolling pin. We went back to original principles, as the saying goes, and

reported only on what we could see: what's really there, as opposed to what

somebody thought should be there.

More

than that, we had a chance to talk with many of the Windows designers and developers

to pull together detailed descriptions of how the final, shipping product works,

how each individual piece really functions, and how the pieces fit together

in the overall scheme of Win98 things. We worked meticulously to make sure all

the details are right, so when you have to figure out a solution to your own

problems, you can rely on the most accurate information available anywhere--right

here on these pages. You won't find these kinds of detailed, accurate, no-bull

explanations anywhere else.

Third, the amount of documentation Microsoft produces--and it's the Microsoft

documentation that drives the rest of the book-writing industry--has dwindled

away. Consider the decline and fall of the windows manual.

Windows 2.0

568 pages

Windows 3.0

640 pages

Windows 3.1

754 pages (with 104 in the Getting Started booklet)

Windows 3.11

477 pages

Windows 95

95 pages

Windows 98

129 pages

Microsoft claims that they are backing away from longer manuals because readers

don't want them, but that's a bunch of hooey. Their real goal is to drive down

the COG--Cost of Goods. Paper manuals are the single most expensive part of

the whole equation. Look at it this way: if shipping a 129-page manual instead

of a 750-page manual saves $2.00 a package and 50 million copies ship . . .

well, that's some nice pocket change, yes? Mom's Point of View

MOM98

is more than an encyclopedic reference of the reality behind Win98. It's also

a book for that proverbial rainy day: the day Win98 won't boot up at all. The

day one of your Registry settings goes haywire. The day you delete or move a

program and can't figure out how to get it working again. The day you need to

do something Windows' designers didn't think of. The day you want to do something

the designers thought you shouldn't be allowed to do.

If you want to get under Windows' skin--whether for the sheer pleasure of understanding

what's happening in that box on your desk or to ward off the sheer terror of

a machine that won't work right--this is the book you need.

MOM98 concentrates on the parts of Win98 that are hard to "get"--the

tough concepts underlying Win98 font technology, for example, or what a Shortcut

really entails. You'll find never-before-seen tips on how to make Win98 work

better, on how to customize it to support the way you work. You'll see how the

Desktop connects to your applications and how folders control what you see on

the screen. You'll learn how Win98 starts itself, and what's really happening

in Safe mode. You'll see where vestiges of Windows 3.1 and even DOS creep into

Win98, and how a rudimentary knowledge of those "archaic" operating

systems can keep you out of a whole lot of hot water.

And

if you've ever tried to understand the Registry--the single repository of all

Windows knowledge, where all the bodies are buried--by using the incredibly

unenlightening official documentation in the Windows Resource Kit or online

Help, you'll appreciate MOM98's unique, detailed report on what we found there

. . . including all sorts of errors in the WRK, the Help files, and just about

everywhere else we looked. A very large part of Chapter 3 and practically all

of Chapters 8 and 9 work directly, down and dirty, with the Registry. That's

more than 200 pages of Registry stuff, much of it previously unpublished. Now

you know why we say that The Mother of All Windows 98 Books contains The Mother

of All Registry Books.

Most

important of all is what you won't see: the Microsoft Party Line. MOM98 doesn't

crib from the official, often erroneous, Windows manuals and books: it's a fresh,

untainted look at what's really happening in the Win98 ooze. Mom, Woody, and

I would sooner starve than serve up rehashed Redmond cant.

What you'll find here is the straight story, as best we can tell it, about

the most pervasive, most important computer program ever created. In short,

we think that every single Windows 98 user beyond the "What is the Start

button?" stage needs MOM98. Sooner or later, it'll save your butt.

Enjoy! Woody Leonhard
Coal Creek Canyon, Colorado Barry Simon
Los Angeles, California 0201433125P04062001

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 864 pages
• Publisher: Addison Wesley Publishing Company; 1st edition (October 23, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201433125
• ISBN-13: 978-0201433128
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,129,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MOM does it again!!, December 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mother of All Windows 98 Books (Paperback)

I bought and read "The Mother of All Windows" when I bought my first PC with Windows 3.1. I bought and read "The Mother of All Windows 95" the day it came out. I was bugging our local book store weekly for a copy of "The Mother of All Windows 98", because there are no other Windows books like them and I knew MOM 98 would not disappoint. And it didn't! The MOM books are the only computer books I've read cover to cover. They are packed with information available no where else because they are all based on the real shipping version of the Windows product and are written based on real-time testing and experience. MOM98 is not only packed with information Microsoft does not even publish or publishes inaccurately, but it communicates that information in a manner that is simple, straight forward, honest, and wrapped with humor. The portion of MOM98 I find most valuable is the in depth look at everything you ever wanted to know about the Windows 98 registry. The "Fast Track" section is also an important and quick way for the experienced Windows 95 user to get a handle on the differences between Win95 and Win98 and decide if the new features are worth the upgrade. I must point out though that past readers of MOM95 will notice a significant amount of duplication of data between MOM95 and MOM98. But despite the duplication, there is still a ton of new data unique to Win98 to be gleaned from the pages of MOM98. MOM had to duplicate the data to make the book a complete reference for those new to the Windows world. One thing I missed with MOM98 was the CDROM. MOM98 has no CDROM, but does now have its own dedicated web site with an electronic newletter which MOM98 readers can subscribe too. I've already received two copies of the newsletter and found them to be significant supplements to the data in the book. They will provide new and late-breaking information on Window's 98 to help you keep up with the inevitable changes. All in all, MOM98 is a must have in my opinion. I've recommended it as the primary Windows resource to any and all of my co-workers. They all agree it is great!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 stars Excellent book! 4 1/2 stars, November 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mother of All Windows 98 Books (Paperback)

The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars was that it didn't go into enough depth about IRQ's, DMA's and I/O addresses and the like. All of these things are mostly controled by W98(not including external hardware settings) and they only made reference to their "Mother of all PC Books" for info on those topics or just skimmed them eveer so lightly. Perhaps I wanted to much, but hey, I bought this book knowing almost zero and now I feel like I have a pretty good start/handle on everything but that area. Other than that, I loved it.

Not afraid to lay blame where and when due (read as: Microsoft). I liked the fact that they actually used a final press of the software for the book and didn't rely on the lies, ur.., um, false promises ur.., um, things that Microsoft told everyone and everyone just taking that for face value. Something that all other author's of ANY Microsoft product "help" book should do. The other author's just may end up helping people instead of just frustrating them more.

Great job fella's!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Users' Guide: relaxing and moderately entertaining read, June 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Mother of All Windows 98 Books (Paperback)

The text is written in a pleasant format punctuated with relevant comments. The topic is Windows 98 from an end-user view point: it is a cross between "Popular Computing" and Cisco & Ebert. Even the frequent characterizations of Bill Gates ("Billie") and the two short, heavy-set guys (Leonhard & Simon) are tasteful and instructive.

If you want to learn about using Microsoft Windows 98 with some good inside tricks, this text is a good beginning.

If you want to know the API function calls to write programs for Windows 98, you won't find what you need here. In fact, the book reads so nicely that you will probably need to fight to keep focused on your work, instead of propping your feet up on your desk and enjoying this light read.