Exactly what I needed!
Very good at going over the major concepts of AD. I have a solid background in eDirectory/NetWare but knew there were some differences in tree design as well as how certain objects were used differently between the two directories. Even if you did not have directory experience I think this book gets you up and running very quickly. Overall, I am very happy with this purchase.
Pretty Good Book
I wanted to wait to give this review until after I took the 70-640 now 83-740 exam. Well I just took it and passed. This book was very well put together as far as topics and how they were covered. I do have to agree there are a few typos that could have been fix before putting to print, but by the end of the book I just got use to it; no big deal. The labs are great, a must if you plan to take the exam, but there were some of the labs that require command line or small scripts that I could not get to work. Overall this book is a very good purchase. It covers things in the exam and things you would need to know in the work world. The only reason I give it four stars is because of the misprints, no 2008 server eval software, and it really is not a complete solution for taking the exam, but what book is.
Good start, but it falls apart at the end
It seems to be a recurring theme among the Microsoft Press books I've been studying for the Windows Server 2008 exams: they get off to a great start with rich information and good detail, but then 1/2 to 2/3 through the book, it's like somebody flipped a switch and can't wait to get the book done. They hurry through what's left with pages of "recipe" step-by-step examples explaining how to do tasks, but not WHY you should do something this way instead of that way. As this book gets to the end, the coverage is sparse. No way do I feel near ready for the exam. Hands on is an essential ingredient in learning this material and being ready for the exam, and I'll do that on my own, but I still expect a better job than this book does for exam prep. Specifically, chapters 10 onward are weak, and the coverage of CS and FS is really poor.
Interestingly, several of the authors in the MS Press series have contributed to portions of several of the books, and some of them have done books for earlier versions, like Windows 2003. Don't rest on your laurels guys! You gotta do better!
Very good, but not perfect
This is a very good book, but not a perfect one. Overall, the book is very well written, and quite readable. Unfortunately, there are a large number of typos and mistakes that markedly detract from it. If you go to the Microsoft Press web site, you can download a very long list of errata for the book and oorrect the mistakes, but that is very time consuming, and frankly, a pain in the butt. Don't let that stop you from getting the book, but at least now you will be aware of the issues with the book ahead of purchasing it. The large amount of errata prevent me from rating this book higher than four stars. I would hope that eventually MS Press would republish the book with all of the mistakes fixed. Aside from the errata, the book is well written, well organized, and presents the material for this test in a logical and appealing manner.
Good Value
I used this book, and passed the test. You do need to check the errata, especially if you are a beginner. The MeasureUp practice questions are a good study tool and are a good simulation for the exam, and they are the reason I am giving 4 stars instead of just 3. Certificate Services should have gotten more coverage. You will want to use supplementary materials for studying, and install it in a lab yourself. There are a lot of links to additional information, but most of them have guids in the URLs (are you going to enter that in your address bar?). Search technet for the material instead.
The last 4 chapters have a lot of material that matches up with information on technet. The information on technet may be written by the same people. So, technet won't be a good secondary source, but Microsoft has on-demand webcasts for RMS, and a little on FS which are great.
Get to know the command line tools. The syntax is shown in the books, and they are presented in a good overview, but you will need to look at the command line references in technet.
