My personal digital experience didn't ask the question, "Where do you want to go today?" but rather, "just how deep do I really want to get in to this mess today?" David Pogue's book will answer the second question so you can ask the first one with a straight face. Then you can proudly button up your properly configured and operating computer, and go get a life.
If we gave a quiz to a random sample of 1000 XP Home Edition users, how many would know off the top of their heads, for example, how to add ® for a trademark or © for a copyright? Or, that they may or may not be received properly in an e-mail such as the one I'm writing right now? I'm guessing less than 5% of us, and that's probably generous. Most of us just eke out a meager existence of typing e-mails and printing photos without knowing that Ctrl+Enter will surround a web address with `http:www.' and a `.com'. And where exactly was I supposed to learn that, without The Missing Manual? These may sound trivial, but when you multiply them by the dozens of great tips The Missing Manual provides, life in Windows XP becomes a far richer and less frustrating experience.
But The Missing Manual isn't just a compendium of slick tips; it's a step-by-step, function-by-function guide for all of us that are too proud to admit in public that we don't really know how to make the best of XP. This book will even teach you how to be the system administrator of your home network, if your family's computer usage has driven you to this precipice. You'll even look like you know what you're doing, because you will. My experience is that The Missing Manual will become a well-thumbed volume, sitting next to your new friend: Your computer. Just shut up and buy it.
Alameda, CANot for absolute beginners or techo-geeks This is an excellent book. However, if Windows XP is the first Windows operating system you have ever used or you are looking for extremely detailed tricks that tweak arcane settings, this book isn't for you.
There is a great deal of depth here, logically and clearly presented. Absolutely every aspect of XP is covered in great detail. However, it is book meant to be read, perhaps not in its entirety, although I'd recommend that, but at least on a chapter by chapter basis, relative to your needs.
My only wish is the author stated his recommendations more forceably, regarding settings and alternative software that does a better job of the task at hand.
