Good Book(s) for Vista?

[CWLee]

Is there any consensus here about the best book to purchase
to help with Vista?

Every few weeks I browse in Borders looking for the
appropriate book. Fortunately there are no more with 2006
copyright dates, but many of the 2007 ones seem to have been
written either just before, or immediately after, Vista was
released to the public. I'm looking for a book written
after the author had at least 6 months experience actually
using Vista, instead of just reading press releases about
how good it was going to be, and what it was "supposed" to
do.

Thanks.

--

 

[Richard]

Vista probably wont be around long enough for anybody to write a book on it.
Vista is so poorly structured and such a disgusting a piece of incredibly
poorly structured software no author of any repute would want to put his
name to a Vista book.

 

[Andre Da Costa [ActiveWin]]

Windows Vista Inside Out - Ed Bott
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Vista-Inside-Out-Bott/dp/0735622701

 

[DP]

Vista probably wont be around long enough for anybody to write a book on
it.

Gee. You'd think that before making such a statement, you would at least
bother to CHECK first.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_g...alias=stripbooks&field-keywords=windows+vista

Makes ya look kinda stupid that you didn't.

 

[DP]

My impression, which could be very wrong, is that books like these -- no
matter who the author or the publsher -- are basically created like this:
The author or publisher is allowed a sneak peak at the new version of
windows (or say, Office, Access, etc) months in advance of the software's
release so that he or she will have time to write the book. I'm guessing
most of the books on this subject say the same thing because most of the
authors were granted the same exposure to the software in advance of the
release. Though they may not carry an explicit Microsoft authorization,
these books wouldn't exist without Microsoft's help.
What I'm getting at is that the book you're looking for doesn't exist. It's
possible that the existing Vista books will be updated to cover changes in
the OS, but I don't think you're going to find some user writing a
completely new book based on his post-RTM experiences with Vista.
You'd probably be better off finding that kind of evaluation on web sites.

 

[AJR]

Have you looked the Vista Resource Kit and updated Vista Administrator's
Handbook?

 

[CWLee]

My impression, which could be very wrong, is that books like these -- no
matter who the author or the publsher -- are basically created like this:
The author or publisher is allowed a sneak peak ...

I think you are correct.

... the book you're looking for doesn't exist ...You'd

probably be better off finding that kind of evaluation on
web sites.

As the OP, I'm not looking for "evaluations" so much as
detailed "instructions", techniques, tricks, etc. on how to
do various minor things in Vista. I note on many of the
newsgroups (Vista and otherwise) that lots of people have
simple to ask questions - how to change icons, fonts,
add/drop one feature or another, etc. - which are generally
answered by helpful people in the newsgroup. I also suspect
that most of these techniques are spelled out - as they were
for Windows 3.1 and Windows 2000 (and perhaps Windows XP) in
books like "xxx for Dummies" or "pocket guide to xxx" - in
one of the books currently on the shelves of the big
bookstores.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Drew]

So how does it feel to be a total idiot ??..Vista works just fine for the
majority of those using it...Pull your head out of your ass and learn how to
use a computer and not bitch about something you obviously know nothing
about.....just my 3 cents

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Windows Vista for Starters - The Missing Manual

The author is David Pogue, and the publisher is O'Reilly

Cost = US$19.99 - CAN$25.99

 

[Dustin Harper]

It really depends on your knowledge level, what you want to do, and how
much information you really need and want. You can get one that helps
you optimize Vista, or administer it as a network admin, or beginning
Vista, or whatever...

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

From a guy who preaches about the wonders of Macs, worships the ground Steve
Jobs walks on, who writes biased reviews about Apple products for NYTimes
because he is constantly loaned Apple products by Apple? No, I don't think
so. He's making enough off Apple already, I don't think he needs to make any
off his hypocrisy/double standard.

The Apple lovefest from him was so overwhelming, Discovery Network had to
cancel his tech show.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

LOL.. He put away his political beliefs for this one and did it just for the
money. He must have known that Vista would be big. Its a sizeable book for
just $20..

--
Mike Hall - MVP
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx
Posting Productively.. http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

Maybe, but he's a bit too obnoxious in my opinion - I would print everything
off Microsoft Knowledge Base before I buy anything with David Pogue written
on it. I am sure it would be just as sizeable and a bit more personalized.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Maybe, but he's a bit too obnoxious in my opinion - I would print everything
off Microsoft Knowledge Base before I buy anything with David Pogue written
on it. I am sure it would be just as sizeable and a bit more personalized.

It's of course up to you what books you choose to buy, or what authors
you like or dislike. Nevertheless, in my view this is a pretty good
book.

 

[Anthony]

Windows Vista for Starters - The Missing Manual

The author is David Pogue, and the publisher is O'Reilly

Cost = US$19.99 - CAN$25.99

Super book, but try to get the second edition. Its the same as the first
except that the graphics are in black rather than lite blue.