Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows Vista Author: Robert Cowart, Brian Knittel; Buy New: $31.49

Product Description

SPECIAL EDITION Microsoft® Windows Vista® Second Edition



The only Windows Vista book you need



We crafted this book to grow with you, providing the reference material you need as you move toward Vista proficiency and use more advanced features. If you buy only one book on Vista, Special Edition Using Microsoft® Windows Vista®, Second Edition, is the book you need.



• Tired of the constant barrage of spam, spyware, viruses and other ‘Net nasties? We show you how to rebuke the onslaught of hacker attacks, protect your identity, and keep your sanity, all at the same time.

• Is the new Vista interface making your trigger-finger itch? Ours too…that is, until we turned Windows inside out, shook out all the loose parts, and figured out just what makes this beast tick. Learn from our pain and suffering.

• If you finally broke down and purchased a Windows Media Center computer, or if you think you have one and didn’t even know it, you are holding just the book for you. We show you how to get up to speed with your new computer, transforming it from the little PC that could into the media juggernaut, entertainment center, gaming center, and way-better-than-TiVo replacement you never knew it could be.

• Ready to upgrade? We provide from-the-trenches advice on upgrading to Windows Vista. Maybe you to still want to run Windows XP but would like to try Vista for a while to see if you like it. We cover how to dual-boot your computer safely with both operating systems.



Category: Microsoft® Windows Operating System

Covers: Microsoft® Windows Vista®, all versions Windows Vista Service Pack 1

User Level: Beginner–Intermediate



Robert Cowart has written more than 40 books that have sold more than 1 million copies worldwide. He made his name writing for Sybex and Osborne–most notably in the best-selling Mastering Windows series. As an author and media developer for Que, Bob has written numerous Windows titles, including multiple editions of Que’s flagship Windows book, Special Edition Using Microsoft® Windows®.



Brian Knittel is a software developer, consultant, and writer. He’s authored or coauthored many of Que’s best-selling Windows books, including Que’s leading Windows book, Special Edition Using Microsoft® Windows®. Brian also is the author of Windows XP Under the Hood and coauthored Upgrading and Repairing Windows® with Scott Mueller.



On the CD-ROM

More than 80 minutes of how-to video, showing you how to get up to speed with Windows Vista! Bob and Brian show you how the new Vista Welcome Center works, how to personalize and tweak the desktop, how to use the new Windows Explorers, how to manage user accounts and more! Using screen cam videos and voice over, you’ll be able to watch the Windows masters at work, taking the guesswork out of getting up to speed with Vista. It’s like having Bob and Brian sitting next to you while you’re learning how to use Vista!



Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #61807 in Books
* Published on: 2008-05-05
* Original language: English
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Paperback
* 1536 pages

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Cowart has written more than 40 books on computer programming and applications, with more than a dozen on Windows. His titles include Windows NT Unleashed, Mastering Windows 98, Windows NT Server Administrator’s Bible, and Windows NT Server 4.0: No Experience Required. Several of his books have been bestsellers in their category and have been translated into more than 20 languages. He has written on a wide range of computer-related topics for such magazines as PC Week, PC World, PC Magazine, PC Tech Journal, Mac World, and Microsoft Systems Journal. In addition to working as a freelance consultant specializing in small businesses, he has taught programming classes at the University of California Extension in San Francisco. He has appeared as a special guest on the PBS TV series Computer Chronicles, CNN’s Headline News, ZD-TV’s The Screen Savers, and ABC’s World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. Robert lives in Berkeley, California. In his spare time he is involved in the music world, producing chamber-music concerts and playing various genres of music. He meditates regularly in hopes of rewiring his inner computer.



Brian Knittel has been a software developer for more than 30 years. After doing graduate work in nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging technologies, he began a career as an independent consultant. An eclectic mix of clients has led to long-term projects in medical documentation, workflow management, real-time industrial system control, and most importantly, 20 years of real-world experience with MS-DOS, Windows, and computer networking in the business world. Previously, he coauthored Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows XP, and contributed to several of Bob Cowart’s other Windows books. Brian also coauthored Upgrading and Repairing Microsoft Windows, with Scott Mueller, and is the sole author of Windows XP Under the Hood. Brian lives in Oakland, California, and spends his free time restoring antique computers and trying to perfect his wood-fired pizza recipes.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Welcome

Thank you for purchasing or considering the purchase of Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows Vista. It's amazing the changes that nearly 20 years can bring to a computer product such as Windows. When we wrote our first Windows book back in the mid-1980s, our publisher didn't even think the book would sell well enough to print more than 5,000 copies. Microsoft stock wasn't even a blip on most investors' radar screens. Boy, were they in the dark! Who could have imagined that a little more than a decade later, anyone who hoped to get hired for even a temp job in a small office would need to know how to use Microsoft Windows, Office, and a PC. Fifteen or so Windows books later, we're still finding new and exciting stuff to tell our readers.

Some people (including the U.S. Department of Justice) claim Microsoft's predominance on the PC operating system arena was won unethically through monopolistic practices. Whether or not this is true (we try, almost successfully, to stay out of the politics in this book), we believe that Windows has earned its position today through reasons other than having a stranglehold on the market. Consider that Windows NT 3.1 had 5 million lines of code. Windows Vista weighs in with about 50 million and takes up 4 or 5 gigabytes of disk space by itself. This represents a lot of work by anyone's accounting. Who could have imagined in 1985 that a mass-market operating system two decades later would have to include support for so many technologies, most of which didn't even exist at the time: DVD, DVD±RW, CD-R and CD-RW, Internet and intranet, MP3, MPEG, WMA, DV, USB, FireWire, APM, ACPI, RAID, UPS, PPOE, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11g, WPA2, IPv6, Teredo, fault tolerance, disk encryption and compression...? The list goes on. And that 4GB of disk space Vista occupies? It would have cost more than a quarter of a million dollars in 1985. Today, it costs a dollar or two.

Although rarely on the bleeding edge of technology, and often playing the role of the dictator with partner businesses and exterminator with competing businesses, Bill Gates has at least been benevolent from the users' point of view. In 1981, when we were building our first computers, the operating system (CP/M) had to be modified in assembly language and recompiled, and hardware parts had to be soldered together to make almost any new addition (such as a video display terminal) work. Virtually nothing was standardized, with the end result being that computers remained out of reach for average folks.

Together, Microsoft, Intel, and IBM changed all that. Today you can purchase a computer, a printer, a scanner, an external disk drive, a keyboard, a modem, a monitor, and a video card over the Internet, plug them in, install Windows, and they'll work together. The creation and adoption (and sometimes forcing) of hardware and software standards that have made the PC a household appliance the world over can largely be credited to Microsoft, like it or not. The unifying glue of this PC revolution has been Windows.

Yes, we all love to hate Windows, but it's here to stay. Linux and Mac OS X are formidable alternatives, but for most of us, at least for some time, Windows and Windows applications are "where it's at." And Windows Vista ushers in truly significant changes to the landscape. That's why we were excited to write this book.
Why This Book?

We all know this book will make an effective doorstop in a few years. You probably have a few already. (We've even written a few!) If you think it contains more information than you need, just remember how helpful a good reference can be when you need it at the 11th hour. And we all know that computer technology changes so fast that it's sometimes easier just to blink and ignore a phase than to study up on it. Windows Vista is definitely a significant upgrade in Windows's security and sophistication—one you're going to need to understand.

Windows Vista might seem similar to its predecessor, Windows XP, but it's a very different animal. Yes, the graphics and display elements are flashier, but it's the deeper changes that matter most. With its radically improved security systems, revamped Control Panel, friendlier network setup tools, new problem-tracking systems, improved support for mobile computers, and completely revamped networking and graphics software infrastructures, Vista leaves Windows XP in the dust. In all ways, it's superior to any operating system Microsoft has ever produced.

Is Windows Vista so easy to use that books are unnecessary? Unfortunately, no. True, as with other releases of Windows, online help is available. As has been the case ever since Windows 95, however, no printed documentation is available (to save Microsoft the cost), and the Help files are written by Microsoft employees and contractors. You won't find criticisms, complaints, workarounds, or suggestions that you use alternative software vendors, let alone explanations of why you have to do things a certain way. For that, you need this book! We will even show you tools and techniques that Microsoft's insiders didn't think were important enough to document at all.

You might know that Windows Vista comes in a bewildering array of versions, primarily Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate (not to mention Starter, which is sold only in emerging markets, and several extra versions sold in the European Union to comply with antitrust court-mandated restrictions). But Vista is Vista, and all that really distinguishes the versions is the availability of various features. Most of the differences matter only in the corporate world, where Vista will be managed by network administrators, so you don't need to worry about those yourself. For the remaining features, we tell you when certain features do or don't apply to your particular version of Windows Vista. (And we show you how to upgrade from one version to a better version, if you want the features your copy doesn't have!)

In this book's many pages, we focus not just on the gee-whiz side of the technology, but why you should care, what you can get from it, and what you can forget about. The lead author on this book has previously written 16 books about Windows, all in plain English (several bestsellers), designed for everyone from rank beginners to full-on system administrators deploying NT Server domains. The coauthor has designed software and networks for more than 20 years and has been writing about Windows for 10 years. We work with and write about various versions of Windows year in and year out. We have a clear understanding of what confuses users and system administrators about installing, configuring, or using Windows, as well as (we hope) how to best convey the solutions to our readers.

While writing this book, we tried to stay vigilant in following four cardinal rules:

* Keep it practical.
* Keep it accurate.
* Keep it concise.
* Keep it interesting, and even crack a joke or two.

We believe that you will find this to be the best and most comprehensive book available on Windows Vista for beginners through advanced users. And whether you use Windows Vista yourself or support others who do, we firmly believe this book will address your questions and needs.

Our book addresses both home and business computer users. We assume you probably are not an engineer, and we do our best to speak in plain English and not snow you with unexplained jargon. As we wrote, we imagined that you, our reader, are a friend or co-worker who's familiar enough with your computer to know what it's capable of, but might not know the details of how to make it all happen. So we show you, in a helpful, friendly, professional tone. In the