Customer Reviews

Windows XP All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers))

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

No one speaks Windows XP the way Woody speaks Windows XP in his new publication "Windows XP All-in-one Desk Reference", which is a masterpiece of organization, indexing, and commom sense treatment of technical topics in non-technical discourse.

Not since Woody's publication of "Woody Leonhard teaches Microsoft Office 97" has such an instructive, clearly written and illustrated technical book on Microsoft products been published.

There is a mind-boggling number of subjects each treated individually in short, simple explanation that gets to the heart of the subject. The dialog and explanations are laced with amusing analogs that make reading a pleasure, aside from the technical content. Subjects ranging from the simplicity of the XP Desktop to the meaning of the highly technical term DHCP, are handled with the same masterful stroke of simplicity.

This book is a must-have in every home and office that expects to stay on-line in the 21st century.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this book for beginners, intermediate, or expert computer users.

I like other things Woody has written (Mother of All Windows 95 books is a classic) and other Dummies books (Word 2000 for Windows for Dummies is good).

But this book is poor.

First, it isn't really "9 books in 1." The AOL "book" is a joke, clearly written with the intention for you to avoid AOL at all costs (minimizes the importance of chat rooms, nothing about automatic Zipping of e-mail attachments, nothing about accessing e-mail from outside the AOL client (hello does Netscape browser ring a bell?). The MSN "book" is even more of a joke (nothing about Money, nothing about free storage for pictures and web sites). The hardware "book" doesn't mention any brands and gives corny advice (optical mice only good for people with pets).

Second, there is no practical advice on dealing with Windows on a day-to-day basis. It acts like all the problems have been solved with XP (wow the stability). Nothing on dealing with the co-branding, pop-ups (both OS and Internet), and spyware. So much of the advice is generic (get AV software installed, updated, and working), with no specifics. No whys (like why should I use IE over Netscape, why should I use Media Player over Real, why should I use built-in ZIP over WinZip). The basics just aren't considered.

Third, this book is designed for teenage wannabe-geeks. Specifically, the only real hints in this book are game cheats (registry mods and the like).

Fourth, the humor in this book is all too hard to find and falls flat.

I am disappointed. This author can do so much better (check out his Office newsletters). Look elsewhere on this one folks.

This book could have used a thorough editing. It is supposed to be a "desk reference," which to me means you can look up information quickly. However, it's hard to find what you're looking for here. The worthwhile information is buried in the everyday stuff that I already knew, so to find what I wanted, I had to wade through many pages of material I was already familiar with.

Take Chapter 2, "Finding Your Way from Start to Finish," for example. It explains very basic stuff such as changing user settings, and then, starting about 40 pages into the chapter where you would least expect it, are instructions for sharing a file on the Internet, a sophisticated task.

I found this book very frustrating. On top of not being able to find instructions I wanted by browsing in the book, I found the index unhelpful.

Finally, I don't understand why the author devoted 65 pages to America Online. Since when is America Online part of Windows XP? The book makes no mention of the Windows Registry.

This book should rightly be called "A Ramble through Windows XP." It is not a reference. It is not a friendly book that you can find information in.

I must leap to the defence of Mr Leonhard from the ill-informed attack on his book that's been placed among the user reviews. I was intruiged about 'kenonline' and his complaint so I went hunting through my copy. Sure enough on page 202 there's a reference to 'NTBACKUP' but that's NOT the authors fault - that's the name of the folder that _Microsoft_ used.

The Backup option in XP/Home is pointless (you can backup but not restore) which is presumably why Woody decided not to spend pages on a laborious explanation of how to use it. In any event the online help is more than enough if you want to waste your time with it.

Woody Leonhard has been producing great books and newsletters for as long as I've been computing. They are easy to read, informative and he'll tell you things that Microsoft wants to keep quiet about.

It's a great shame that his latest book has been maligned in such as fashion. It's a pitiful case of a person not carefully reading what's in front of them and then blaming the messenger.

I sure won't be returning my copy of 'Windows XP all in one desk reference' and I'm happy to recommend it to one and all.

Leonhard does an excellent job of explaining how to do things in XP, but you must skip through several pages of really awful attempts at humer to get to the real subject.

Showing filename extensions is a good example. He starts that subject on page 85. On page 87 he gives 5 steps in bold type which explains exactly how to get XP to show filename extensions. But pages 85, 86 and most of 87 are pure garbage with respect to the subject. Just before the 5 steps on page 87 he insults the reader with a complete paragraph about pointing your finger at the computer screen and shouting " Show me filename extensions, sucka, or I'm gonna getcha!".

The book is 80% junk and 20% well written advice.

If you are not familiar with Leonhard's books, you might want to check this book out of the library, or buy it cheaply used. In my opinion, this book is a sad example of a publisher and editors allowing an author's personality to destroy what would have been an excellent reference book.

There is lots of useful information in this book explained very clearly. Yet, to read it all, you must put up with Leonhard's constant adolescent remarks. Or are they "geek" remarks? Or possibly both? Or maybe one and the same? I don't know. I don't inhabit his world, and found it difficult to even visit it for more than a few chapters. Luckily, I got the book from the library. And now I see why there are so many used books by him going so cheaply.

It's strange to see, too, that Amazon is showing reviews for this book that were written before it was even published! Obviously, they are for previous editions. Oh well...it's all been one strange trip anyway...a trip that I, for one, cut short...very, very short. This book is strictly for the author's fans, or for those who inhabit his world.

This is a solid effort and about 750 pages long and close to the limit of what you can comfortably read - limited by weight and thickness. The good thing is that author covers all the basic topics on Windows XP and spends a lot of time on the mysteries of peripherals and media. So, in effect he tries to cover every topic of interest from basics such as turning on Windows to movie making and does so all in one thick book. This book is similar to but larger and more up to date than Dan Gookin's "Troubleshooting Your PC" and "Windows XP" by Andy Rathbone. His style is similar to Gookin's, i.e.: humorous or he attempts to be funny. I can live with that, no problem, just ignore it. The non-Windows subject are under 10% and I have no problem with them.

I got a copy, skimmed through it, read three chapters in detail and looked at the rest. I will tell you why I did not buy it. But I give the author his due: it is a solid 5 star effort. The question is more basic and it is whether you want a 750 page book on XP? I say no, and this is my story.

As a reference point, I have a strong technical background in science and engineering and have used all versions of Windows going back for 14 years to Windows 3.1. Overall, I was satisfied with the amount of detailed information in the book. It is aimed at the average user who does not want the details just the basics. It is a quick introduction to the basic recipes or what Microsoft calls Wizards and what everything means at the interface panel and how to use Windows. If you have a problem, which are mostly settings issues with Windows, you can look in the index and there it is. Turn to the page listed, follow the step by step recipe and the problem is solved. That applies to 90% of the Windows users and most Windows problems. If you want a single book on your desk, then buy it.

Before using the book, I received an older computer with Windows XP that had problems. This caused me to stop, fix the problems and look at some of the books on the market. I read the other two books first. By the way, I downloaded all the Windows updates and Service Pack 2. There are over 100 free updates.

The dirty little secret is that you do not need the book to get the information since Microsoft has a huge support effort found on their "Microsoft Help and Support" page. All you have to do is search on that page by typing in your topic and all the information is there or you can do a web search. Not only that, the Microsoft support is current - updated all the time - plus it has the suggested free downloads. To top it off, Microsoft has a guy called Ed Bott who is their Microsoft Press Author and he has written a series of free guides. I have started to collect Bott's articles which have many tips, and of course are free.

In fact, anyone can write this book by simply downloading a pile of the Microsoft Help and Support Pages plus some other files, do an edit (for a few months?) and they have the book. So, I did not buy it because it is free from Microsoft in pieces or available on the web in pieces, and it is more detailed at Microsoft than in the book, plus Microsoft keeps their support current.

So why buy a heavy book, pay $20 plus shipping, or drive to the store and buy a book that will go out of date? Just go to the Microsoft Help and Support web page and type in your topic or problem, and if it is not there do a quick search. It is no more difficult than searching the Index of the present book. It is book versus computer for similar information.

If you must have a basic user book on Windows XP, then the book is good. You get a lot of paper and many recipes all in one spot for $20.

For someone new to Windows XP this is a great place to start. Just take it for what it is, an introduction. For more in depth, technical know-how, you may have to go elsewhere. This is plainly written in English that is understandable and easy to follow. An excellant resource to help anyone get started, whether purchasing, setting up, or running XP.

Woody has dissappointed us with this shallow book. It has none of the deep insight, hints, tips, and tricks found in his earlier books.

No help on many details of my not so difficult install.

No help on the many things that went wrong.

No details of the oh-so-poorly documented Microsoft provided remedies.

No explanation of where "My Documents" really goes or gets named in the three install options (Upgrade, New on Separate Drive from other MS OS, New on Same Drive as present MS OS)

I must not be dumb enough. I found so little of value.

I offer this book for re-sale to some real dummy.

One of the finest and most useful books I ever studied and re-studied was Woody's "MOM for Windows." Woody and company really explained Windows and gave you the tools and confidence to dig in and get the most out of the operating system with behind-the-scenes customization tips.

Either Windows XP is absolutely opaque and no longer amenable to friendly hacking -- or Woody is coasting on his reputation with this book for dummies. I cannot believe that a few game cheats and other odd bits are the only features to XP that haven't been sufficiently explained by Microsoft marketing products.

Woody and company may indeed be between a rock and a hard place in trying to delve beneath the surface of XP. I do not know. But this book has done nothing to diminish my ignorance.