Customer Reviews

Windows Vista For Dummies

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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?

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.

ASIN:0471754218 Windows Vista For Dummies
I ordered this book for my 81 year old Dad who had just bought himself his first computer. Since his laptop came with the new vistas program and I still had windowsXP I was unable to help him.He loves the book.Says it is very user friendly and is written in such away that the first time computer user can easily understand. It has helped him alot. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has the Windows Vista program

This book is simply wonderful for someone who buys a new computer with Vista preinstalled and, if you actually pay attention to the advice it gives, it will be a big help.

The most important thing with Vista is to create a Recovery Disk IMMEDIATELY. We didn't and had to wait for a week before we could buy one from HP. Meanwhile the computer sat like a paperweight.

As with all the "Dummies" books I like the way Andy separates the wheat from the chaff by telling you up front which things you really need to know, and which things are nice to know but not necessary. He presents the information in easy to understand plain language and includes enough humor to keep it interesting. I find myself reading on screen help and then referring to "Dummies" to see what it really said.

An excellent book for a quick start in the basics of Vista. Answers many of your questions that you may have as this version of windows has moved around many of the tools that you were used to in the past versions of windows.

The book has been a tremendious help in navigating thru the Windows Vista format. without it I was ready to chunk the computer.

This dummy really needed help with Vista and, reading from back to front and browsing for particular problems, I have learned how to cope with some of the differences between Vista and XP.

I also have Dummies for Office 2007, WordPerfect7, Quattro Pro6, Quicken
2008 and Digital Photography, so I guess that makes me a major dummy ~~~~

I FOUND THE BOOK TO BE QUITE HELPFUL, AND TO THE POINT
IT IS WRITTEN IN PLAIN ENGLISH, WITH OUT ALL THE UNNECESSAY PROGRAMMER
BUZZ WORDS.