Introducing Windows Vista - William R. Stanek

...it fair?

Introducing Microsoft Windows Vista is aimed at existing Windows users, administrators and developers and as such tries to be all things to all men. Alas it doesn't really offer enough for any one audience but as a taster of things to come, it offers adequate coverage. I did feel ordinary users may get turned off by the more technical sections yet those who need more in depth coverage will find some sections too lightweight.
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The rest of Introducing Windows Vista covers networking in some detail and how to support Vista once deployed. Again, this was definitely a section for the advanced user and did offer some useful content, particulary for those tasked with planning deployemnt in their organisation.

Conclusion

I do feel that Microsoft Press got this book somewhat wrong. In trying to keep everyone happy it ended up having large ... more

It's been many years in development and has filled thousands of column inches in the computer press but at last, Windows Vista is upon us. Windows Vista claims to be the most radical overhaul so far of Windows with many new features as well as toughened up security. Will the changes baffle people or be the best thing they've ever seen?

The author, William R. Stanek has over 50 books to his name and is also a series editor for Microsoft Press and is thus well placed to explain what's new and how it all works. At just over 280 pages it's a fairly slim book by IT book standards so how does it fair?

Introducing Microsoft Windows Vista is aimed at existing Windows users, administrators and developers and as such tries to be all things to all men. Alas it doesn't really offer enough for any one audience but as a taster of things to come, it offers adequate coverage. I did feel ordinary users may get turned off by the more technical sections yet those who need more in depth coverage will find some sections too lightweight.

The book starts with brief discussions on the various versions, the new Welcome Center and usage within the two types of network, domains and workgroups. From here it moves on to more useful areas such as the new taskbar, start menu and the new Windows Gadgets. It would have been nice to have had more on the rationale behind the many changes, as it stands many readers will be left thinking 'it's different but why?'.

Next up is Internet Explorer 7 and the new look and feature set. Again, I felt the author could have gone further. A lot of this section is just a list of features with very little on what they are for and why. Less experienced readers will be left wondering what a phishing status indicator is all about or wondering why they can't spell fishing properly.

The section on collaberation features was equally confusing. It notes that the new Calendar is similar to the one in Outlook but offers nothing in the way of explanation as to which one you should use if you are already an Outlook user.

I thought the coverage of the improved accessability features was rather better describing speech input, the uprated magnifier function and sticky keys to help those with reduced motor control. Here it was more obvious what the advantages were although the chapter did start with a bizarre comment about security features possibly changing before the final release. I suspect this was an editing error as the next chapter covered security.

The security section was where the problem of aiming the book at all audiences was all too apparant. Here was a description of the BCDEdit command and an example output including arcane looking hex strings. Great for administrators but totally baffling for end users. The table comparing security between XP and Vista covered nearly five pages and whilst interesting to techies would bewilder others.

The rest of Introducing Windows Vista covers networking in some detail and how to support Vista once deployed. Again, this was definitely a section for the advanced user and did offer some useful content, particulary for those tasked with planning deployemnt in their organisation.

Conclusion

I do feel that Microsoft Press got this book somewhat wrong. In trying to keep everyone happy it ended up having large chunks of book that will be of little use to one type of audience or another. It would have been far better to have two books, one for users and one for administrators. No doubt the full set of documentation for the latter is in full production right now but an expanded overview would have been good to have today.

If you really want to find out about Vista now then this book is worth a go but my recommendation would be to look at some of the other books that have become such as "Windows Vista The Missing Manual" or "Windows Vista Unleashed" which may suit your needs a little more closely.

 

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