Book Review - Windows 7: Up and Running: A Quick, Hands-On Introduction by Wei-Meng Lee
Category Book Review Wei-Meng Lee Windows 7: Up and Running: A Quick Hands-On Introduction
I have all the computers in my house now running on Windows 7 (having for the most part skipped Vista), but there's still a bit of the "so how do I do this..." going on. I've found that the book Windows 7: Up and Running: A Quick, Hands-On Introduction by Wei-Meng Lee is an excellent guide to get you to that point of relative competency on Windows 7, while also showing you some of the cool new stuff you can do with it. I probably would have done much better had I read this earlier in my Windows 7 experience.
Contents:
Installing Windows 7; Getting Around Windows 7; File Sharing; Security; Essential Applications; Internet Explorer 8; Using Windows XP Mode; Windows 7 Tips and Tricks; Index
Lee starts out from the very beginning, and that's getting Windows 7 installed. After that's done, he works you through the environment, both in terms of navigation and on how certain core features operate, like the Task Bar, the Action Center, and more. Once you can get around, he digs deeper into some of the significant Windows 7 features such as Bit Locker, HomeGroup file sharing, and running apps in XP mode. While this wouldn't replace a 700 page in-depth reference to everything that is Windows 7, it hits its intended target perfectly at around 185 pages. This is the book you'd give the basic computer user to figure out most of what they'd need to know, and they'd probably be able to figure it out and get around on their own. Lee's done a good job with both describing the features and backing them up with screen prints to illustrate and clarify.
And to prove that it doesn't take much to amuse me... I knew a fair amount of the material in the book, but there were still things in there that I just had to try out. For instance, I didn't know about Aero Shake. Grab the title bar of an open window, click and hold and shake the window, and all the other open windows minimize down to the task bar. Slick! Aero Snap, dragging the app over to the left or right of the screen and having it snap to half the available screen, was also a cool feature I didn't know about. And in the category of useless (for me) but fun was the Math Input Panel. You free-form your math equation in a screen with your mouse, and the application creates the font version of it. It may take a few tries to get a good translation, but it can work on the translation as you go, so you can correct it at the point of the error. It was also fun just to mess with its little mind, scribble on the screen, and see what it tried to come up with. :)
Bottom line, Windows 7: Up and Running is the perfect mix of basic and intermediate information that takes aim at a particular target audience and hits it dead-on. As we migrate to Windows 7 at work, I have a feeling that my copy of this book might end up passing through a few different sets of hands.
Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publisher
Payment: Free
I have all the computers in my house now running on Windows 7 (having for the most part skipped Vista), but there's still a bit of the "so how do I do this..." going on. I've found that the book Windows 7: Up and Running: A Quick, Hands-On Introduction by Wei-Meng Lee is an excellent guide to get you to that point of relative competency on Windows 7, while also showing you some of the cool new stuff you can do with it. I probably would have done much better had I read this earlier in my Windows 7 experience.
Contents:
Installing Windows 7; Getting Around Windows 7; File Sharing; Security; Essential Applications; Internet Explorer 8; Using Windows XP Mode; Windows 7 Tips and Tricks; Index
Lee starts out from the very beginning, and that's getting Windows 7 installed. After that's done, he works you through the environment, both in terms of navigation and on how certain core features operate, like the Task Bar, the Action Center, and more. Once you can get around, he digs deeper into some of the significant Windows 7 features such as Bit Locker, HomeGroup file sharing, and running apps in XP mode. While this wouldn't replace a 700 page in-depth reference to everything that is Windows 7, it hits its intended target perfectly at around 185 pages. This is the book you'd give the basic computer user to figure out most of what they'd need to know, and they'd probably be able to figure it out and get around on their own. Lee's done a good job with both describing the features and backing them up with screen prints to illustrate and clarify.
And to prove that it doesn't take much to amuse me... I knew a fair amount of the material in the book, but there were still things in there that I just had to try out. For instance, I didn't know about Aero Shake. Grab the title bar of an open window, click and hold and shake the window, and all the other open windows minimize down to the task bar. Slick! Aero Snap, dragging the app over to the left or right of the screen and having it snap to half the available screen, was also a cool feature I didn't know about. And in the category of useless (for me) but fun was the Math Input Panel. You free-form your math equation in a screen with your mouse, and the application creates the font version of it. It may take a few tries to get a good translation, but it can work on the translation as you go, so you can correct it at the point of the error. It was also fun just to mess with its little mind, scribble on the screen, and see what it tried to come up with. :)
Bottom line, Windows 7: Up and Running is the perfect mix of basic and intermediate information that takes aim at a particular target audience and hits it dead-on. As we migrate to Windows 7 at work, I have a feeling that my copy of this book might end up passing through a few different sets of hands.
Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publisher
Payment: Free
| Permalink |
