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Windows Vista Secrets [Paperback]

Brian Livingston (Author), Paul Thurrott (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"If one book can help you master Vista, this is it." --Fred Langa, former editor-in-chief of Byte Magazine

"These two know more about Windows than Microsoft does." --Chris Pirillo, editor of Lockergnome.com

Go beyond Microsoft's Help guide and discover the true secrets of Windows Vista that are essential to power users. Written by two of the most recognized Windows authorities, this resource provides you with numerous tips, tricks, and undocumented features that aren't available anywhere else. You'll find extensive screenshots, tables, and illustrations that clearly show how to achieve optimal performance, fix desktop problems, and take advantage of the robust features of Windows Vista.

The Insider's Guide to

  • Installing and upgrading your system (see Chapter 2)
  • Quickly finding and organizing all of your files (see Chapter 5)
  • Taking advantage of new security features (see Chapter 8)
  • Creating your own movies and DVDs (see Chapter 12)
  • Playing state-of-the-art games with amazing effects (see Chapter 14)
  • Going wireless using Windows Vista mobility features (see Chapter 15)
  • Managing your schedule with Windows® Calendar (see Chapter 20)

From the Back Cover

Go beyond Microsoft's Help guide and discover the true secrets of Windows Vista that are essential to power users. Written by two of the most recognized Windows authorities, this resource provides you with numerous tips, tricks, and undocumented features that aren't available anywhere else. You'll find extensive screenshots, tables, and illustrations that clearly show how to achieve optimal performance, fix desktop problems, and take advantage of the robust features of Windows Vista.

The Insider's Guide to

  • Installing and upgrading your system (see Chapter 2)
  • Quickly finding and organizing all of your files (see Chapter 5)
  • Taking advantage of new security features (see Chapter 8)
  • Creating your own movies and DVDs (see Chapter 12)
  • Playing state-of-the-art games with amazing effects (see Chapter 14)
  • Going wireless using Windows Vista mobility features (see Chapter 15)
  • Managing your schedule with Windows® Calendar (see Chapter 20)

Product Details

  • Paperback: 672 pages
  • Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 10, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0764577042
  • ISBN-13: 978-0764577048
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 1.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #594,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Windows Vista Secrets
70% buy the item featured on this page:
Windows Vista Secrets 3.9 out of 5 stars (58)
$19.82
Windows Vista Inside Out, Deluxe Edition
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Windows Vista Inside Out, Deluxe Edition 4.4 out of 5 stars (15)
Windows Vista: The Missing Manual
8% buy
Windows Vista: The Missing Manual 4.6 out of 5 stars (65)
$23.09
Windows Vista Annoyances: Tips, Secrets, and Hacks
7% buy
Windows Vista Annoyances: Tips, Secrets, and Hacks 4.4 out of 5 stars (16)
$23.09

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Customer Reviews

58 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (58 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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163 of 187 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars A Huge Disappointment, February 13, 2007
By Chris McKenna (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Windows Vista Secrets (Paperback)
Somewhere inside these 645 pages is a terrific computer book desperate to get out.

Unfortunately, the useful tidbits are buried by the jargon, disjointed outline, and the wince-inducing writing. The authors say "functionality" instead of feature, "enabled" instead of On, and (I kid you not) "circular in nature" instead of "round."

But it's even worse that huge chunks of Windows Vista get no coverage at all! Here are a few topics that don't appear in the book, or at least the index: Scanning. Faxing. Flash drives. Monitors. Dial-up connections. Safe Mode. Hibernation. Filename extensions. Network projectors. ReadyBoost. Dynamic disks. Shadow Copy. Burning CDs or DVDs at the desktop. Problem reports. Driver rollback. Driver signing. Ease of Access Center.

And there's no information at all about Vista's amazing new speech recognition--only a passing reference in the Tablet PC chapter, even though it works on any Vista PC.

So if you get this book, you'll also need ANOTHER book if you want comprehensive coverage of Vista.

Meanwhile, huge swaths of the book are padded by pointless tables and listings. Do we really need *26 pages* of symbol-font printouts?

Or a half-page table that explains the difference between Small Icons, Medium Icons, Large Icons, and Extra Large Icons? (The table says that "Medium Icons are similar in style to Large Icons, but smaller." Wow, really!?)

There are lots of illustrations, but most are full-screen shots, shrunken down to to fit the page. The result is that you can't read any of the text in them.

The authors of this book clearly know a lot. But they should have been paired up with writers, editors, and indexers who could help them set that information free.
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54 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars A user guide for home users - NOT FOR TECHIES, April 12, 2007
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Windows Vista Secrets (Paperback)
I really had high hopes for this book as I read Paul Thurrott's articles and am on some of his email lists.

My conclusion about this book is that it is more the missing user manual than a real techie book with good insider's technical knowledge. The last time Microsoft included a concise user manual with windows was with Windows 3.11. This book perfectly fills that void. If you are a home user or are trying to enhace your BASIC knowledge of vista, this is a good book.

If you are a technical professional in the field, this book is not going to give you any epiphanies. I also didn't like that there seemed to be a healthy dose of filler in the book as well. There are pages upon pages about fonts including many more pages of font character sets. I would guess that less than 1% of the people that buy the book will have any interesting reading that many pages about fonts nor will many people use the font character sets that the authors printed over many pages.

I'm Sorry to say that I'm pretty let down by this book. Especially considering that about 90% of the "Secrets" in this book are not secrets but are fairly common knowledge to advanced home and technical users.

Please gentlemen, you both have the technical skills and contacts to make a much better book than this. Instead it seems you've made a book that was stuffed with filler and basic info so that you could be one of the first to market after the release of vista.
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32 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars glad to have it on my shelf, February 15, 2007
This review is from: Windows Vista Secrets (Paperback)
I bought this book before I upgraded to Vista. I am glad I have it. The book covers everything from which version to buy to upgrading- including some insights about the gotchas found in every microsoft product. The book is well organized. There are plenty of screenshots which are useful because Microsoft has completed changed the look and feel of the Windows Operating system. Everything is different, and this book is useful for finding all the right buttons, and getting up to speed on the operating system without too much developer speak or needless rambling.

I find myself turning to this book to figure out how to do a certain task- burn a DVD,CD, transfer files, make a movie, download music, etc....

I especially liked the tips throughout the book as it's often the subtle insights that lead to wasting less time wondering how to do something!

If you are planning to upgrade or have acquired a machine with Windows Vista, this book is a must have.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceedingly Happy
As a subscriber to Windows Secrets I know some of the capabilities of these authors. I had no idea that they could make working with Windows Vista so easy.
Published 14 months ago by William G. Conrad

5.0 out of 5 stars Vista for Dummies
Brian Livingston has a Newsletter called Windows Secrets that I subscribe to and enjoy so it was an easy decision to order his book before I even had a computer with Vista on it... Read more
Published 16 months ago by M. Nelson

5.0 out of 5 stars What An Amazing Book
What an amazing book. I have listened to the author's podcasts for sometime and finally decided to purchase this book. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Warren D. Sundqusit

3.0 out of 5 stars Too Much Too Soon, Windows Vista Secrets: SP1 Edition
At this time only a 3 rating as I have not used it enough. Those few items that I have used it have been pretty clear and helpful. Read more
Published 19 months ago by J. Tighe

1.0 out of 5 stars No Secrets in this book
This book has no secrets. Doesn't even address the registry. You get more info on Microsoft's website. I have many "Secrets" books and this is the worst. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Michael Vaughn

4.0 out of 5 stars Not an apologist
Of course there is little to say to defend Microsoft, but this book is quite ressonable at explaining what Vista is about and what is better (and worse) than earlier versions... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Max H. Sherman

5.0 out of 5 stars Awsome Vista Secrets
This is Paul's best book yet!! His eye for detail is unprecedented, I hope he keeps writing these books. If you want to know something about Vista, go no further.
Published 21 months ago by Kory J. Klimoski

5.0 out of 5 stars Usual Thurrott thoroughness
As has become the norm for Paul's work this is a very comprehensive, easy to read, reference on Vista. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Lynn E. Rogers

4.0 out of 5 stars Good referance book
Even experienced users will find useful gems of knowledge in this users manual for Vista. As an experienced user myself I find it a good reference for some of the more obscure... Read more
Published 22 months ago by R. Lane

5.0 out of 5 stars Vista Secrets
This was a very good book and I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about Vista. It has helped me a lot.
Published 23 months ago by Barbara R. Stratton

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