The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Windows XP for Dummies - for the bookshelf Major Keary |
This title is now in its second edition, which has been expanded to explain all the recent patches, tweaks, and frustrations that Microsoft has added to WinXP". The author says the intention of the book is not to make the reader "a whiz at Windows", but to "dish out chunks of useful computing information when you need them".
This is not meant to be a substitute for the user manual that Microsoft didn't provide, and is not a tutorial for raw novices. It assumes you have WinXP running, or are familiar with an earlier version and want to move to WinXP, and need a reference-cum-tutorial that can be used when a how-do-I-do-that solution is required. It does not spend time on how things work, but focuses on how things are done.
The book follows the proven Dummies format: it is in parts each of which deals with aspects of a general subject. Part 1 is an overview of WinXP (desktop; start menu; files, folders, floppies, and CDs; and basic Windows mechanics.
Part 2 is about working with programs and files (finding things, printing, faxing, and scanning). Part 3 explains the Internet tools: Web browsing, e-mail, and security. Part 4 explains how to customise WinXP, crash preventive measures, multiple users, and elementary networking. Part 5 shows how to use the multimedia tools. Part 6 explains the help system and those mysterious error messages. Part 7 is the conventional Dummies "part of tens"; in this instance ten aggravating things about WinXP, ten things to remember about WinXP, and ten things to look forward to in Longhorn (the next version, the code name for which makes one wonder if Bill has some Freudian delusions).
If you admit to being an ordinary user of WinXP without aspiring to know everything, this is well worth having as a ready reference. Well written and comprehensive.
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Andy Rathbone: Windows XP for Dummies 2/e ISBN 0-7645-7326-8 Published by Wiley, 406 pp., RRP $39.95 incl. GST |
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Reprinted from the August 2005 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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