Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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191 of 202 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can't imagine a better manual!, January 31, 2007
It's been over five years in the making and it's nearly perfect. No, I'm not referring to Microsoft's vast new operating system named Windows Vista, but to the reference book "Windows Vista: the Missing Manual," by author David Pogue. The Missing Manual series is the benchmark of quality for computer manuals. Unless you're a system administrator, programmer, or uber-geek, this is probably the only reference source you'll need to learn Microsoft's Vista.
Vista is the long-awaited successor to Windows XP and it is a major overhaul and upgrade of that operating system. It was designed primarily to address long-standing security issues with XP and its predecessors, but it also has a vastly new look and feel graphically and in operating features. It comes with a large number of new programs and features.
This Missing Manual uses every bit of 827 pages (including index) to provide similar descriptive and informational material as the built-in Vista sources, but provides much, much more:
One. Beyond mere description of features and functions, the book explains and evaluates all of the major (and many of the minor) changes from Windows XP to the new Vista. The introductory chapter itemizes all of the most important changes providing perspective on what Microsoft has done with the new operating system. It also highlights some of the more significant interface changes - the new search tool, the revised Start Menu, and the new "ribbon" bar.
Two. The author notes the options a user has in either using a new Vista feature, or in reconfiguring the operating experience to return to pre-existing features and the aesthetic elements of Windows XP and earlier versions of the operating system.
Three. Pogue provides an expert user's perspective on the value of the changes and new features in Vista. Some things are improvements and upgrades; others are rated as inferior to what was before. If you don't like the new or changed feature, Pogue guides you how to revert to previous iterations of the featuress, or otherwise provides workarounds.
Four. Pogue is great at providing an expert user's perspective on working with the operating system efficiently and pragmatically. The Manual is written so that one almost feels that one is getting a one-on-one, hands-on lesson, in using Windows Vista. There is good reason that Pogue has been described as one of the "world's best explainers."
Five. Beyond all of the information, guidance and perspectives, Pogue has a great writing style. The writing is sprinkled with wit, sarcasm, and good-natured humor, extremely rare for a computer related book.
Six. The author writes for multiple levels of need and understanding. He details the basics of Windows Vista for beginners, provides richer material in breadth and depth for intermediate users, and a good amount of material useful for power users. There are many sidebars sprinkled throughout called "Power Users Clinic" which offer more technical tips, shortcuts, and information to PC veterans.
There is a lot new to Vista. The most important, if not the most noticeable, are the security enhancements. Microsoft now has a user account control which limits installation of new applications to a "user" who has administrative permissions. There is a full page of FAQs just regarding the user account control.
A major security upgrade is "service hardening" which prevents access to the all-important system files by outsiders or unauthorized users. Other new security elements are the Windows Defender program designed to prevent spyware installs, a phishing filter in Internet Explorer, parental controls, drive encryption, address space randomization, and much more.
What is most noticeable is the appearance of the desktop, windows, icons, system font , and interface features. These are all redesigned to take advantage the vastly enhanced graphic capabilities of Vista referred to as "Aero". The Start Menu has been redesigned to be easier to use. The conventional menu bar for the desktop and most application windows has been replaced with a content-based ribbon bar.
There is a lengthy list of new applications, most significantly Window's response to Apple Macintosh's iLife suite of media applications. In Vista, these are the Photo Gallery, Calendar, DVD Maker, Media Player 11, and DVD Maker.
Mr. Pogue is an accomplished writer and computer expert having authored over 40 books, including 17 of the Missing Manual series. The writing is clear, concise, and jargon free. The book provides a fair evaluation of Microsoft's latest operating system and gives it good grades overall.
The book is organized into eight parts including a set of appendices. These include the Desktop (or user workspace), the Vista software, Internet connection matters, the new Pictures, Movie, and Media applications, hardware and peripherals, PC maintenance, and networking with Vista. The page layout is clean. The book is filled with hundreds of screenshots and numerous step-by-step instructions on nearly all of Vista's elements.
Part One explains the Desktop and what's new, including the Welcome Center, Start Menu, and the greatly enhanced search tool which graces every window and the desktop itself. It now offers natural language searching for the first time. A full 10 pages is devoted to Microsoft's improved speech recognition system, including a large handful of insights from an experienced user of such software.
Part Two contains most of the material on the new programs and the improved programs - Internet Explorer and its new RSS capability, tabs, and search bar, Mail (the Outlook replacement), and the Control Panel, which now contains at least 50 icons for mini-applications, wizards, links, and folders. Chapter 8 provides an applet by applet description. Dealing with the Internet with Internet Explorer and Mail comprises most of Part Three. There is a comprehensive section on connecting to the Internet with the growing number of methods-cable, DSL, dial-up, WiFi, cell, etc.
The media applications are covered in detail in Part Four including comparisons of Microsoft's media applications to iTunes and Zune. Part Five deals with the fax, print, and scan functions and hardware related matters. Especially interesting are the printer tricks and the section on laptops, tablets, palm tops and hand-recognition software.
For maintenance, troubleshooting, and problem solving, there is a trio of chapters in Part Six covering disk maintenance and repair, the new "dynamic discs" feature, compression and encryption, and backups. Geeks may be interested in knowing how to uncover the hidden controls for the new improved firewall.
Part Seven covers the basics of accounts and networks. There is a lot new in Vista, especially in regard to its "separate users" architecture. The difference between workgroup and domain networks is explained clearly. Sharing and collaboration functions are explained and there is a comprehensive and deep section on remote control using a multitude of methods.
The appendices are great. Appendix A. discusses the installation of Vista in a comprehensive, systematic manner, from pre-purchase and installation considerations, to making decisions about upgrades or clean installs, to dual booting.
Appendix B. is cheekily titled "Fun with the Registry" and is an introduction, with examples, to the notorious registry which is carried over from XP and predecessors. Most authors writing for this level of reader tend to avoid discussion of the registry, but Pogue provides just enough material to intrigue the intermediate user.
Appendix C. is a short itemization of what's missing in Vista from previous Windows operating systems.
Appendix D. is a master list of keyboard shortcuts for both the operating system and its major applications, like Internet Explorer 7, and the new Windows Mail.
There is no wasted space or text in this book. It's worth every cent of its $34.95 price.
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108 of 116 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Essential "Missing Manual" Title on Windows Vista, January 12, 2007
Author David Pogue, now well known for his acclaimed "Missing Manual" series from O'Reilly, once again stuns us with his latest title, Windows Vista: The Missing Manual. The latest in this marvelous series of "Missing Manual" guides will surely get the attention of potential buyers when they peruse the abundance of computer books now filling the shelves. More importantly, Vista is a major new operating system from Microsoft, not just another security update, and this makes this title even more important.
With Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows Vista, this lack of a manual has created an opportunity for others to fill the gap. To the rescue comes this wonderful guide to Windows Vista that easily can serve as the manual that should have accompanied the software. Filled with hundreds of screen shots, this guide includes numerous step-by-step instructions for using almost every Windows Vista feature, including those you may not even have quite understood, let alone mastered.
Author Pogue has organized this book into eight parts, including The Windows Vista Desktop, Vista Software, Vista Online, Pictures, Movies, and Media Center, Hardware and Peripherals, PC Health, The Vista Network, and the Appendixes.
In this Missing Manual title, the author also discusses concerns regarding upgrading, versus a clean install of Windows Vista, and the all important issue of whether to even consider loading Vista on an existing machine, versus purchasing a brand new machine with Vista already installed. Readers will also be glad to know that the author includes comments on all the five (5) versions of Vista that will be available. These include Vista Home Basic, Vista Home Premium, Vista Business, Vista Enterprise, and Vista Ultimate.
This important book is designed to accommodate readers at every technical level, except system administrators. Computer network operators will want to supplement this book aimed more at desktop users with other more technical books on supporting Vista that will soon fill the shelves.
The primary discussions are written for advanced-beginner or intermediate PC users. If you are a first-time Windows user, the special sidebar articles called "Up To Speed" provide the introductory information you need to understand the topic at hand. If you are an advanced users, keep your eye out for similar shaded boxes called "Power Users' Clinic" that offer more technical tips, tricks, and shortcuts for the veteran PC fan.
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47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Windows Vista - The Missing Manual" a Book You Really Need, January 25, 2007
Windows Vista is a complete overhaul to the Windows operating system that took over five years to complete. It includes an all new user interface and major improvements to security. With the all new look, new programs, new explorers five different versions it is a lot to fathom. But you get on screen help but no manual. I personally still want and need a book to sit down and study. I found Windows Vista - The Missing Manual the solution for me. I don't have Vista but worked with the beta product and found that the manual walked me through the changes that impacted me. It has also given me the incite necessary to determine which version of Windows Vista I eventually will use.
The book published by O'Reilly is written for advanced beginners or intermediate computer users. For beginners it includes "Up to Speed" articles and for advanced users there are the "Power Users' Clinic" highlights. The Missing Manual's over 800 pages comprise eight parts and four appendixes.
I found the "Where'd It Go" appendix an excellent reference. It shows you where the old features you were used to using are hidden in Vista. Part One covers the "Vista Desktop" showcasing several new features. It prepares you for what you might see when first starting Vista.
We have all heard about the Aero interface and the book clearly explains the features. I was interested in the new Sleep feature. This is a two step energy conservation feature. For the first 15 minutes all of your open programs and settings are saved in Ram. So restarting only takes a matter of seconds. After 15 minutes the full Sleep mode starts. At that point like Hibernation the image is saved on the hard drive and it takes longer to restart, but is still much faster than a full start up.
The new Lock feature also has a potential for excellent benefits in the workplace or a home with children. When you leave the computer just turn the lock on and it will require log on to reactivate. In addition, I found the description of the new fast system wide Search interesting. Some of the new features in the Start Menu Search should become evident through use, but things like using Vista's criteria search are not self evident and I was glad to learn about them from the book. The book even suggested that with the new folder search features maybe deeply nesting folders isn't necessary. However, I doubt I could give that up.
Part One - "Vista Desktop" of the Missing Manual walks you through using the Vista desktop and fully customizing all of its features to suit your needs. It even shows you how Vista will let you go back to the old classic Windows XP look and feel. Windows Explorer is covered here. Since I personally use Windows Explorer for managing, organizing and opening my myriad of files I studied this chapter closely. I found the detailed descriptions of the windows panes enlightening. The information available in the details pane is incredible. I like the idea of using tags. And with my tendency to create a very detailed folder hierarchy, I found the books descriptions of Vista's Windows Explorer sorting, grouping, stacking and filtering options valuable.
Since there are a lot of improvements and changes in Vista, it is important to be able to get help. And the Missing Manual contains an entire chapter to help understand the new Vista Help system. I use Help features in Windows and application programs often and found the descriptions of the help screens and various methods of gaining help and assistance very useful.
These topics were all included in the Basics and Desktop section of the manual's first 186 pages. Just this information on how to set up and get along with Vista and the Appendix on "Where Did it Go" are well worth the cost of the manual. But he manual also includes much more.
Part Two - "Vista Software" explains the programs, gadgets and freebie software included with Vista. Here you read about installing, opening, managing and uninstalling application programs. Although the book addresses Windows Vista, it provides information you use while using an application. Like using dialog boxes to open and save files. You also see how to use cut, copy and paste commands to move information between programs. Drag and drop and export/import are also covered.
The applications provided with Windows Vista are each discussed. I remember when I got my current desktop computer and was shocked when it started adding strange things to my documents. If I had read about Speech Recognition, (It was turned on in my version of Office.) I might have figured out what was happening with less concern. I was intrigued with the text to speech capabilities of Vista. The new Sidebar and each gadget are explained. For people who don't use Outlook's calendar, the new Windows Calendar may be valuable, and you find all you need to take advantage of the tool in the manual. Another new tool worth noting is the Snipping tool. Each of the freebee goodies even the games is described in the manual. But for you game enthusiasts, you don't get instructions on playing the games.
Vista's presentation of the Control panel is new. An entire chapter is devoted to the applets included in the Control panel. It explains each and even shows how to get back to the classic view.
Part Three - "Vista Online" explains using Vista online. Here you learn how to configure network connections, use Windows Mail and surf the web with Internet Explorer 7. The Internet Security Center, Windows Firewall, Windows Defender and the Phishing Filter are all covered. You read how to configure and use Vista's features to protect your data and computer. Since my new laptop is wireless, I closely read the information on hotspot security and home wireless networking. But I then skipped the parental controls discussion.
Part Four - the "Media Center" has over 100 pages are devoted to Pictures, Movies and Media center. Since many of us are into digital photography, the chapter on the Windows Photo Gallery is interesting. Photo gallery imports your photos from your camera or computer. Lets you organize, tag and rate them. After completing any required editing, you can then share the pictures as prints, slideshows or on CDs/DVDs. I already have applications that do these functions so did not try the Windows Photo Gallery. Nevertheless, the descriptions and instructions in the manual are clear and straightforward. There are also chapters on Windows, Media Player, Movie Maker and DVD Maker, Media Center rounding out this part of the manual.
Part Five - "Hardware and Peripherals" covers faxing, printing and scanning as well as working with other peripherals. Installing printers and using them to print from programs and the desktop is discussed. If you think this is too basic skip that part and take a look at controlling printouts and fancy printer tips. For the more adventurous the manual discusses ports, jacks and installing cards in expansion slots. Troubleshooting tips and using the Device Manager are explained.
Part Six - "PC Health" discusses Windows Vista tools that can be a great benefit to the knowledgeable computer user or a potential door to Pandora's Box. Computer maintenance and tweaks are described. I have used third party software to partition my computer's hard disks for years. So read with interest the disk management chapter on partitioning, compression and encryption.
Part Seven - "Vista Network" covers setting up user accounts and networks, domains and network sharing. These 100 pages cover using user accounts so multiple people can safely use the same computer without impacting each other's settings and data. You also learn how to set up a working network to share files and peripherals as well as a network connection. There is even a chapter on remote control of your computer.
Part Eight includes the appendixes. I already mentioned the appendix on "Where'd It Go?". But there are also appendixes on Installing Windows Vista, Fun with the Registry (That is a scary thought.), and a Keyboard Shortcut List.
So Windows Vista - The Missing Manual does contain something for everyone. It is a great book to read and excellent reference. If you are planning to upgrade to Windows Vista, the book can help you make the right choice and ease the transition.
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