WARNING! This is not your ordinary WinWord book. It contains industrial strength advice, without the sugar coating. If you've swallowed the Microsoft Party Line-that WinWord is a straightforward, stable, easy-to-use product with just a few minor glitches--The Underground Guide to Word for Windows will shock you.The Underground Guide to Word for Windows is the story the official books dare not tell. In his inimitably irreverent, off-the-wall style, Woody Leonhard takes you on a guided tour of WinWord's dark underside, telling you what works, what doesn't, how to get the most out of WinWord, and how to steer clear of those things that go bump in the night. Learn how to: * customize WinWord's appearance to turn it into a lean, mean word processing machine * construct a killer intelligent letterhead template that does what you want on your stationery * recognize and avoid the most common species of WinWord bugs-from those that are merely a pain, to the fatal variety (mean, snarly, snappy little creatures) that can chew up your data and make your life miserable * write basic macros that make em-dashes, apostrophes, quotes, and other symbols behave the way you want them to * use the "document-centric" approach to get things done better, faster, smarter; you'll learn how to think like a document, to see problems in terms of what WinWord can--and can't!--do * and on and on...Every page has something you can use immediately. The book is packed wall-to-wall with advice, warnings, tips, bug reports, workarounds, and the kind of nitty gritty explanations that could only come from somebody who eats, sleeps, and breathes WinWord. If you really use WinWord, The Underground Guide to Word for Windows will pay for itself in the first ten minutes, and will keep on delivering over and over again. 0201406500B04062001
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.
