Any computer or general-interest library needs this easy, attractive and logical approach
Other books covering Windows Vista are unnecessarily complicated for your basic user: not so The Windows Vista Book. Each page is a color screen visual which take one topic and provides screenshots and photos for quick reference. Learn how to manage photos, play music, and customize within the Vista environment with a guide that vastly simplifies the entire process. Any computer or general-interest library needs this easy, attractive and logical approach that average, everyday computer users can quickly use.
Quick, easy explanations help transition from XP to Vista
I admit it, I'm one of the many XP users who didn't jump to Vista when it was first announced. Stories of the interface, problems with printer compatibility, etc. made me not want to even think about changing operating systems. As a longtime PC user, having made the transition from DOS to the first Windows release years ago; I wasn't looking forward to yet another big change in how I do my work.
Reading "The Windows Vista Book" gave me reason to finally make the switch to Vista. The book has 10 short chapters, easy-to-understand explanations of individual features, and a full-color screen shot highlighting the feature on each page.
It's obvious the editor/author/publisher took care to make it simple to scan the book chapters. Each chapter has a different colored 1/2 inch border at the top of the page with the chapter title which makes it a breeze to distinguish chapters.
Want that tip on Security? Go the chapter with the purple bordered pages. How do I split clips for a movie? Go to the light green bordered pages.
I liked the book since it gave me quick overview of some of the most helpful and exciting features in Vista, without taking up a lot of my time. Chapter 1, with its list of the 10 coolest features in Vista, will get anyone moving away from XP.
The Vista photo managing features explained in Chapter 7, Getting the Most out of Your Photos, were a lifesaver for our family at a recent reunion. With a couple hundred photos shot the night before, I quickly organized, edited, and displayed a slideshow to the family the next morning.
A nice touch - tips are included throughout the chapters, at the bottom of pages, set off by a blue background box.
My only negative comment on the book - the content on each page was one big paragraph, some paragraphs with more than 15 lines. It would have been an easier read to break some of the longer paragraphs into shorter paragraphs.
only for the super non technical
I bought this book yesterday at a regular bookstore and read it really quickly, very clear and concise. And it made me feel way more comfortable about my new system that is being delivered the end of the week. But as I was talking to a friend about Vista seeming to be very intuitive from this book. He said depends on how ingrained xp is with you. I asked for an example and he said well one is add and remove programs, it is not even called that anymore. Then I realized that this book didn't even touch on the control panel, installing programs. printers and scanners. Or any possible issue you could have.
When I read the introduction they didn't even want to write they said who the book was for, and it sounded like me. I am not interested in all the high end technical stuff but I did want to know the differences in this operating system and xp.
So if this is your first operating system and you don't expect to ever install a program or a printer this book if for you.
All in all I guess it does follow thru on its doing cool things with vista but that is about all it does. This is really just a big fan page for Windows Vista.
Excellent Non-Techi Tech Book!!
This book rocks! If you want a book that can help you get around the complexity of Windows Vista, this is it. The one-page snippets are dead on. Short-explanitory directions with great screen shots too. I feel that if you buy this book to have a relatively easy way to learn the ins and outs of Vista, you won't be dissapointed.
