Windows Vista Annoyances
By David A. Karp
- Publisher: O'Reilly
- ISBN - 10: 0-596-52762-4
- ISBN - 13: 978-0596-52762-4
- Price: £.21.99 ($34.99)
- Available From:
O'Reilly Media
Book Cover reproduced with kind permission of
O'Reilly Media, Inc
Spend some time perusing the Windows Vista
newsgroups and you will soon see that the biggest
annoyance to the users of Windows Vista is the
Windows Vista operating system itself.
Windows Vista may have been billed as the
operating system with the 'WoW' factor or, as
Microsoft regularly expound, 'the most secure
windows operating system yet,' but, in reality, to
most of its users, Windows Vista is, sadly, the
biggest annoyance yet.
Fortunately, you don't have to spend hours
pulling your hair out trying to find solutions to
Vista's many annoyances; instead David A. Karp's
Windows Vista Annoyances can do the job for you.
Windows Vista Annoyances comprises the following
chapters:
- Get started with Windows Vista.
- Shell tweaks.
- The Registry.
- Working with Media.
- Performance.
- Troubleshooting.
- Networking and Internet.
- Users and Security.
- Scripting and Automation.
- Appendix - BIOS Settings; TCP/IP Ports
Whether you want to know how to install Windows
Vista or create a simple Script to automate a
particular application, then Windows Vista
Annoyances has just the answer.
As the title suggests this book tackles all those
Vista annoyances you wish you could eliminate but
never knew how. Reading through the book you will
see that Karp really empathises with his readership
and has gone to great lengths providing the reader
with a plethora of customisation techniques, hacks
and troubleshooting solutions.
Containing numerous working examples, each
solution is well thought out and the step by step
instructions means that even a relative beginner
wouldn't get lost.
Karp actually goes into considerable detail with
subjects such as the Windows Registry, Networking
and Internet and even Scripting and Automation. If I
didn't know much about scripting when I started
reading this book - something that prior to
reviewing this book I wasn't particularly interested
in - I certainly knew a whole lot more by the time
I'd finished it.
Covering such topics as, Blue Screen of Death
(BSOD), fixing USB management issues, Preventative
maintenance and Data recovery along with a host of
other useful topics, Karp's Troubleshooting chapter
also contains gems of advice that are well worth
taking note.
Finding a computer manual that is informative
isn't a problem, the local book stores have hundreds
of them. On the other hand, finding one that is
informative, entertaining and capable of giving the
reader a feeling of satisfaction is a far more
difficult task.
Verdict
Windows Vista Annoyances is an easy read, packed
with useful information. I personally found it an
entertaining read which, once started, was difficult
to put down. And as I read the final page I realised
that I'd actually leant something.
Being able to entertain, keep the reader focussed
and give him/her the satisfaction of having learned
something new is difficult for even the best known
authors but, I have to say, that Karp' Windows Vista
Annoyances did all that and still had plenty to
spare. If I were asked to choose just one book on
Windows Vista then it would have to be Windows Vista
Annoyances. From the first page I had high
expectations and this gem of a book certainly didn't
disappoint!
Rating:
- Ease of Use: 9
- Features: 10
- Value For Money: 9
- Overall: 9