Fit for purpose.I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was wanting in other more detailed areas. I think our needs would have been better met by something that spent less time covering the similarities between XP and Vista and more time dealing with the more advanced issues, but then that isn't the role and function of the 'Dummies' series. This book is generally very good, and I imagine excellent if you're on your first Windows operating system. It also doesn't crawl to the sensibilities of Microsoft, which is most refreshing. If you're moving from XP to Vista and you're anxious then this is great for general reference. At the risk of sounding cynical, I think that the myth that Vista is a total nightmare, excessively security conscious and so on has probably helped to shift a lot of copies of this. In reality, Vista isn't that scary.
Does what it says on the coverIf you are looking for a light introductory guide to Windows Vista then look no further. If you are looking for a book that will get you out of trouble, then you'd be better looking at (for want of a better expression) more serious titles.
LAP FOF DUMMEYS AND INTERNET FOR DUMMETSVERY HELPFULL IN EVERY WAY PUT IN LINGO YOU UNDER STAND WITH ALL THE BULL TAKEN OUT ONE RE SAID THAY WHERE FOR USA MARKET NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT THAY GOOD FUN AS WELL AS DOING THE JOB THAY WHERE MADE FOR KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARRY ENGLAND
Learn and smile...I remember buying Windows 3.1 for Dummies many moons ago and it was a big help in my fledgling IT career. Having bought a new PC with Vista pre-installed, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a Dummies book for the new Windows and I'm glad I did. It is a solid and welcome addition to the series, unbiased and informative text, well laid out and the Gary Larson style cartoons give it a friendly feel.
It explains clearly the different versions of Vista, installation issues and the differences between it and XP. All Vistas quirks and features are described in plain English. A useful crib-sheet lists useful shortcuts to impress your colleagues. Home users and office users alike of any skill level would benefit from this book.
What this book is :
A Windows Vista reference, not a comprehensive training manual - choose what you need to gen up on and look for that chapter. Having said that, working through the book a chapter at a time is of use and would not take months
Useful, un-patronising and pretty funny
What this book is not:
Microsoft propaganda - Rathbone tells it like it is and probably won't be top of Bill Gates Christmas card list for some of his comments
A full blown tech guide for geeks, though they would certainly find it useful (without admitting it of course!)
Great book and for this price, it's a steal
A Cracking Edition of For DummiesAfter Purchasing Vista and not being able to get to grips with it my dad got me this book,
it explains in great detail how to do everything that you need to do, it uses friendly language and does not insult your intelligence like some books.
I got the one with the free DVD which i have found very useful.
Amazon are the cheapest retailers of this product that i have seen, it comes wrapped in a standard Amazon packaging -- however you must be at home for delivery as it does not fit through your letter box :(
In All buy this book, you will find it useful, either that look on Google and find the answers for free :P
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