Most Helpful Customer Reviews
109 of 116 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Way to get Up and Running Quickly, December 11, 2006
This review is from: Windows Vista For Dummies (Paperback)
Having been around Windows as long as Windows has been around, I know that I need two books on Windows Vista.
First I want something quick and easy. Something that will give me the overview that tells me simple things like, 'what version do I want.' Vista comes in five main versions: Basic, Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate. A quick glance on pages 18 & 19 tell me I need the Business version.
Microsoft always throws in a bunch of new things just when you aren't expecting it. Vista, for instance, comes on a DVD, not a CD. I don't watch movies on my PC's, and they were constructed for business, not entertainment. So to use Vista, I've got to buy at least one DVD drive -- RATS. And this AeroGlass things seems to require high end graphics. How do I turn that off to work with low end graphics cards -- see page 376. Parental control, no kids here. Anyway you get the idea.
This Dummies book is exactly what I need to get through these kinds of problems. It is easy to read, easy to find what you need, quickly tells you how to do simple things like turn off parental controls.
The second book I'll need is something more complex, when you have a question like, 'how many open web sessions can Vista/Bussiness have' don't expect to find it in this book. Most likely I'll get Windows Vista Inside Out. It will cost at least double, have three times as many pages, and be much harder to find things.
Start with this one. With it you can get started quickly and begin to find where your real problems are.
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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, the Dummies Series is Kaput - R.I.P., May 11, 2007
This review is from: Windows Vista For Dummies (Paperback)
This marks the ultimate... although not the Windows Vista Ultimate edition!... of Dummies titles gone wrong.
What began years ago, Dos for Dummies, has turned into a mish-mesh of topics that do not relate, do not connect, and do nothing more than confuse newcomers.
As an advanced Windows user and programmer, I understood the concepts herein. It was my first exposure to Vista. But all through the book I kept wondering HOW anybody who does not already consider themself a master at operating systems could go from one point to the next.
The topics appear almost randomly.
The Dummies publisher does this intentionally, and it used to work because it would be a surprise and not a planned, contrived way to just look, well, dumb.
The more traditional titles, especially Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows Vista All in One (Sams Teach Yourself), go out of their way to address BOTH the newcomer's needs as well as getting the more advanced user up to speed.
This Dummies title, and unfortunately many others these days, rely on their series gimmicks to fill the book and rely far less on content that will truly help the newcomer to the topic.
If you know Vista or don't, you will get little value. I do like the cartoons! And I do like the top ten lists, but is the book worth buying just for those?
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104 of 120 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
If you can turn on a computer and click a mouse, you don't need this book., January 17, 2007
This review is from: Windows Vista For Dummies (Paperback)
Windows Vista for Dummies is light on details and missing so much important information you'd be better off skipping this book entirely. I simply cannot believe anyone who has used Windows before would find much of value in this book. It is a basic book for beginners who have never seen a computer before. If you can turn on a computer and click a mouse, you don't need this book.
I got this book because Chapter 1 discusses some of the features in Windows Vista and I thought it would then go into more detail. NOT!! Chapters 2 to 7 are about clicking the mouse, pointing to get to menus, starting progrmas, searching and printing. If you can click Start and then click a program to run (which even my 6 year old can do) you can skip these chapters entirely. If you can click Print in a program you can skip these chapters entirely. Oh and if you can click Start, type a search and then click, you can skip these chapters too.
Things go downhill from there as the next two chapters (chapter 8 and 9) are rehashes of web browsing and sending email!! By this time it was clear the author can write cute little anecdotes but doesn't have a thimbles worth of knowhow when it comes to computers.
Many features are left out entirely or mentioned in passing since it seems you're supposed to buy a different dummies book if you actually want to be able to do something. The only actual programs covered are in Chapter 15: Playing and Copying Music in Media Player and Chapter 16: Fiddling with Photos and Movies. These chapters are so skimpy they might not as well even be in the book. That's it for multimedia, there's nothing else!! Only these 2 lousy chapters!! If you can click Start and then click one of these programs you can learn more on your own in 5 minutes. The goal seems to be to make sure you buy the dummies multimedia book.
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