Instructor
This is the best in depth resource for vista. Not for the newly initiated but for the support professional. All help desk and admin level techs need to have one within arm's reach.
Absolutely Essential !!!
Mitch and company have created an absolutely essential volume for administrators deploying Vista, support personnel, and especially application migration/compatibility specialist. The overview and intros into each section describe the new features and come off a little like Microsoft marketing materials, but don't be fooled by the leisurely starting pace. The kit is broken into 7 major sections including the aforementioned Overview. Then there are sections covering Deployment (including MDT 2008), Desktop Management, Desktop Maintenance, Networking, Troubleshooting, and a group of appendices that cover every critical system file and folder, user rights settings and defaults, and even accessibility options.
The true test of a tome like this is in whether it is just interesting trivia and marketing gibberish or if you can use it to solve problems and conduct research. It is obvious that Mitch and his team have used Vista, deployed it and had to support users and apps on it and not just in some well appointed lab environment, but in the real world. Each of the sections is broken down into chapters covering various aspects of deployment, etc. It is in here where we find the proverbial "Beef". Descriptions of tools and settings as well step by step instructions on how to use the and real world guidance and when and why different options should be selected. The level of detail and care applied to getting right really impressed me. Even the URLs went to the right link or were generic enough to get you somewhere close instead of the usual published links that are invariably dead.
During my initial read I used the kit to resolve a lingering support issue. I have recommended it my students and colleagues and would recommend it to you if you have to deploy, support, or maintain Microsoft Windows Vista.
