Microsoft® Office XP Inside Out (Cpg-Inside Out) (Paperback)

by Michael Halvorson (Author), Michael J. Young (Author) "The Microsoft Office XP suite provides more applications and utility programs than ever before..." (more)
Key Phrases: modifying graphic objects, window management procedures, orders front list, Visual Basic, Microsoft Word, Web Layout (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
As office productivity suites grow more capable and network-wise, the demand placed upon their users--who typically are everyday office workers with no particular interest in software technology--grows dramatically. That's why a carefully compiled manual, like Microsoft Office XP Inside Out, is invaluable in an organization that expects its employees to use the new features of Microsoft Office XP. This book won't hold your interest if you attempt to read it straight through, and indeed it may strain your back when you lift it off the shelf. On the other hand, if you want a concise but comprehensive tutorial on the use of Excel's PMT function or FrontPage's new ability to output XML code--or any of hundreds of other details--this book has your number. Just check the jumbo-size index.

The book could have paid more attention to automating Office XP with Visual Basic. Even though more space is devoted to the programming language than most of the competition and the book does a good job of explaining the core language and key objects, a lot of its capabilities go unmentioned.

Otherwise, the authors do a wonderful job of explaining procedures and concepts whose power lies in their details. In explaining features, they'll typically present a procedure that covers the generic case, then discuss variations on that theme in longer paragraphs and special sidebars. As is the trend in books like this, screen shots are augmented with labels and instructions--this aids clarity and speeds up the answer-finding process. --David Wall

Topics covered: Everything that the programs in the Microsoft Office XP suite--Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Exchange, FrontPage, and Publisher--can do, including customization via Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to an extent. Creating, formatting, editing, sharing, storing, and the rest of the work that Office assists in is covered.

Product Description
MICROSOFT OFFICE XP INSIDE OUT is the foremost reference to Office XP for PC "super users". Complete in one volume, this book gives you a thorough overview of Microsoft's popular productivity suite and its new knowledge-sharing features and functions. The book provides the information advanced user really need with no beginner content included. Then it delivers in-depth information about each major Office XP application and tool, including Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint(r), Microsoft Access, Outlook(r), Publisher, FrontPage(r), and Microsoft Small Business tools. The book also shows how to integrate Office XP applications by sharing data, using the Office Binder program, and other techniques, and it demonstrates how to use the Microsoft Visual Basic(r) development system to master Office XP by building macros, using variables, operators, and functions to manage operations, using control structures to modify the user interface, and working with application objects. Throughout the book you'll find a wealth of timesaving Office tips and tricks, troubleshooting techniques, and indexes, plus a CD-ROM that holds an electronic version of the book's text, handy Web links, sample macros and code, tutorials, utilities, and additional third party software. This is the authoritative handbook you'll keep by your computer and use whenever you're stuck or stumped!

Product Details

• Paperback: 1582 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press (June 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735612773
• ISBN-13: 978-0735612778
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 2.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #573,778 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Oscillates between too little and too much information, August 22, 2002

By	John Harpur (Trim, Meath, IRELAND) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The most positive aspect of this book is that is also available as an ebook on its accompanying CD. It is certainly a starter book on Office XP, and there is probably not enough in each section to develop a depth of expertise. The section on VBA for instance is fairly general. However, if you are trying to come to terms with Office as a whole for the first time this is a worthwhile book compared with many others of similar size.

However, let me add one caveat. There is a companion volume 'XP Inside Out' which covers a lot of the ground covered in this book. I would recommend buying that volume first and then decide if you need Office XP Inside Out or one of the application specific Inside Out books.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Use it to make a yule log, January 7, 2002

By	Don Gordon (Patton Township, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This 1,500 page Microsoft Press reference book is a tome. The Windows XP Inside Out book at 1,200 pages was barely manageable (Please see my review for praising details). The best I can say about the XP Office version is that this combined introduction to Office, Word, Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, FrontPage, and Publisher is exponentially less expensive than separately buying the Inside Out versions for each of those applications. Make no mistake, this is chiefly an introduction for the casual user. You don't learn the application inside and out. Don't expect to understand the Access Database application from this introduction. Picture yourself holding a six pound book in your lap paging through 1,500 pages trying to find how to change fonts in a Word document. This book is too large for the casual user and lacks the specificity needed by power users, developers, system designers, software instructors, consultants, and CIOs. If you buy Microsoft applications installed by the computer manufacturer there are no user manuals and contextual help is often deficient. If you need to know an application inside and out then buy the Microsoft Inside Out books for each application - ouch that's expensive! The book does include a full text and illustrated e-book version, but it is not much better than contextual help. I want my money back! I'm soaking this book in paraffin and making a Yule log.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top of its Class, June 13, 2001

By	Matthew (Warner Robins, GA USA) - See all my reviews

I bought this book only a few days ago without seeing any others on the market. It is well layed out and easy to read. I use it mostly as a reference book because I am very familiar with Office 2000 already. However, if you are new to the Office Suite and want to learn from scratch, this book can do it. It highlights all the new things in Office XP and the CD included has the entire book in "ebook" version making search and query a cinch. After seeing a few other books out on the subject, I couldn't have made a better choice...its perfect!