Software Books

Testing has often been the misbegotten portion of the software development process. Frequently neglected until the semi-chaotic end of the production cycle, the testing phase has traditionally been shortened to accommodate a fixed release date. The relationships between the developer and test groups are to some extent adversarial, but in so many cases it often breaks down into open hostility. Among developers, it is often considered demeaning to have to soil ones hands by actually testing the code. With such a sullied background, it is no wonder that production code is generally riddled with bugs.
As the authors of this book point out, all of the above are dangerous conditions. With the expansion of code reuse and RAD tools, the development of the initial iteration is going to be done at a faster pace than before. Since the number of pathways through the code is operationally infinite, the only way relatively bug-free code will be developed is by allocating more resources to testing and making the choice and tracking of test cases a more scientific endeavor. The most significant point of the ten made in this book is that the testing process should be considered on an equal basis with that of development so that both groups communicate as equals. Without that, all the fancy, efficient tools in the world are reduced to the level of mere toys.
This is a book that can and should be read by developers, managers and yes, even testers, as all will benefit from the simple words of wisdom.

This book gives excellent insight for the beginning QA professional. It not so detailed that developers and managers will not want anything to do with it either. It explains ways to communicate quality assurance without offending anyone. The content is concentrated on the expressing QA in a brighter light without ruffling too many feathers. I recommend it for everyone in a technical environment with the goal of attaining quality. THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR ANY QA PROFESSIONAL.

Much has changed in software development and testing practices since this text was written in the late 90's. However, many of the identified challenges are still with us. I find myself rereading this book as it is a useful reference for a test manager. The authors identify dual disparate roles for the software tester. In role one, the focus is on the task of testing software, such as test planning, test design, and execution. In role two, the tester or test manager's role is more as a politician and marketer to protect the test staff and promote the value they bring to each project . The text focuses on the second role, which elaborates on what the authors identify as the top ten people oriented challenges for the software test professional.

The first section of the book includes an assessment to help you identify your strengths and weaknesses in meeting people related testing challenges. The bulk of the text contains individual chapters on the top 10 challenges. The challenges are explained along with guidelines to overcome the challenge. Chapters can be read out of order and this format allows you to focus on your weaknesses as identified in the self assessment. The last section of the book describes a six step change process to implement improvements. My favorite two chapters were "Explaining Testing to Managers" and "Getting Trained in Testing." Highly recommended.

This is an excellent review of the biggest recurring problems of the software testing world. As I read the descriptions of each of the 10 challenges, I was astonished at how many of the pitfalls I fall into on a regular basis. Perry & Rice don't just lay out what the challenges are - they also discuss how to meet each one. Each item on the list has its own chapter with sections on the impact on testing, solutions to the challenge, impediments to implementing the solutions, and helpful guidelines to creating a plan of action. This is without a doubt an excellent book for those of us in the trenches of software testing each day. (One bit of advice, though - if you're looking for a book on "how to do software testing", look elsewhere. Perry and Rice have other good books on the subject, but this one is really intended to help you step back from your daily testing work and see where you could improve on your approach to it.)

When this book was written software testing was starting to consolidate into an 'honorable' profession, and the number of good books about testing could be counted on your fingers (and probably a few toes). The discipline has matured into a profession, and there are so many excellent books on the subject now that it boggles my mind.

You'd think that the top ten challenges listed in this book would have been long ago resolved and replaced with a new set. Sadly, that isn't the case. Each challenge listed is as valid today as it was when this book was written, and except for #10 on the list (getting trained in testing), which has dramatically improved, the other nine are still there. Read the book. Take the advice of the two authors, both of whom are seasoned professionals who give the solutions to these challenges, and move the profession forward.

Here are the top five challenges that I see today, drawn from the list in the book:

#1 today, #6 in the book: Communicating with Customers -- And Users
#2 today, #3 in the book: Hitting a Moving Target
#3 today, #1 in the book: Having to Say No
#4 today, #4 in the book: Testing What's Thrown Over the Wall
#5 today, #2 in the book: Fighting a Lose-Lose Situation

Your order may be different, but I am willing to bet that the list will be the same. This book does give realistic solutions to these problems, so if you agree with the list, then you'll find this book valuable.

As someone with a background in the comparatively 'easier' (and more stable) Mac world, I found this book, more than any other Windows 98 guidebooks, to be the most useful in terms of explaining why my Wintel product was failing. The book is exceptionally well-designed. Not only is the materially organized in a useful fashion, the page-layout makes things easy to read. The author's writing style is crisp and engaging, and that which he is trying to teach is genuinely useful. Indeed, _Using the Windows 98 Registry_ is so straightforward in its approach, I felt like I was reading a tech manual for a Macintosh product. I would second another reviewers' comments, though, that future editions could benefit from the inclusion of case studies.

I purchased the book to understand how Windows 98 registry really works. I had sometimes to correct corrupt registry entries arising from my heavy user actions and this may be very scary.

Hunneycutt's book was the right choice. This is a book written by an expert with high pedagogic skills. I found not only the whys of registry but a number of tips that helped resolving my issues. Reading this book felt me more in control of the machine.

Also useful are some of the freeware and shareware described in the book, like regmon. To be frank, however, I didn't find much use for the featured software that come with the book's CD.

The book offered a lot more than my immediate needs requested. For instance, as a programmer I found it may be a powerful reference tool for those needing to write code accessing the registry.

As a hint for the next edition I suggest increasing anedotical contents for troubleshooting application entries and other heavy user issues.

This book has tons of useful information and goes into detail in the areas where you need it to. Lots of good desktop edits, good CD, and very easy to read & follow.

This book is excellent for understanding the "theory" of the Win 98 registry, but I have not found it very useful for guidance in the practical aspects of actually tweaking registry settings. It usually contains enough information about a particular registry section to know if it is not worth editing, but it often does not give enough coverage to important keys. It would definitely benefit a lot from input by a person who commonly solves problems using the registry. That said, I have sometimes found it helpful when trying to find which key contains a given piece of info that I am interested in tweaking.

This book is one of the best written registry books that I have read. It explains all the hard to find details that most other books barely touch on. It's the only registry book that I recommend!

I have taught programming for about 20 years in a local college. I have several other Rod Stephens books so when I needed a book to help me with the new features in Visual Basic 2008, this book was my first choice. I was not disappointed. At over 1000 pages it covers just about everything you might need, whether you are a beginner or an expert. The good explanations are backed up by good examples. I highly recommend it.

A weighty tome with substance to match the heft. Mr. Stephens knows his material and knows how to make his knowledge accessible. This book has become a necessary adjunct all of my VB projects.

For the novice user this book will take you by the hand, and guide you through VB.NET from the IDE, to basic principles and concepts of OO programing, and into concrete examples, covering a vast amount of information. There is an incredible 200+ page appendix.

Like most other books on the subject, the sections that cover parts of VB that I work with daily (and thus understand well) offered few new insights. The other 75% of the book has proved to be extremely helpful!

If you truly "know" VB.NET '08 inside and out, then you don't need this book (or any others for that matter!), for the rest of us the useful information abounds.

I'm experienced with VB.Net but needed a quick reference book for the new features (esp. LINQ) and that would also provide an overview for features I might not otherwise discover.

My first project with VB 2008 sent me right to the book. I was able to easily adapt code lifted right off the page on the first task. However, different code from the book for a second task was less successful (LINQing on a data set table). The syntax (in the book) for the ORDER BY clause was erroneous and raised a perplexing error. (Perhaps the Wrox web site corrects this; I haven't checked.) Googling brought me to a Microsoft web site with an example with the correct syntax.

I guess you should expect such issues when applying 15th century technology (i.e., printed paper) to a bleeding edge tool.

All in all, however, the book was worth the modest investment. Make use of Amazon's excerpts to evaluate it for your own needs (I did).

By the way, the (first) one I received was damaged (crumpled pages, torn backcover) in packaging, but Amazon redeemed themselves by promptly sending an intact replacement.

This is a great book. Starting for the simplicity and going strong describing in simple language the complicated topics for the beginner to the advanced programmer in VB 2008(VB 9).

I enjoyed the reading and I am not done yet with the book. And after reading some paragraphs again, have been able to find new details that allow me to improve my routines.

Thank you Rod for the book.

BUt why do VB when c# is just as easy and you can write unmanaged within it. Its just a no brainer with all the limitations of VB still.

Visual Basic experts Lars Powers and Mike Snell effective collaborate in the Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to the .NET Framework Class Library to instruct intermediat to advanced level users on a full range of issues including: delineating and define the pieces of .NET; explaining how/why .NET was conceived and what this means to VB6/Windows DNA developers; how to execute Windows programming using the .NET namespaces; position the .NET namespaces within the context of the reader's project; how to make architecture decisions when using .NET namespaces; as well as details about the construction of Web Services and how they programmatically communicate with each other. Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to the .NET Framework Class Library is enhanced further with call-outs and highlighted sections will illustrate concepts by relating previous VB6/Windows DNA best practices with the new .NET approach. 1152 pages. User Level: Intermediate-Advanced. Highly Recommended.

I found this book to be a handy 2nd book to have on .NET programming... it doesn't have much content to help you make the transition to .NET (I'd have to recommend Gary Cornell's Programming VB .NET: A Guide for Experienced Programmers for that task), but it does do a great job of helping you find the right class libraries and write code with them once you are up and running with your language of choice.

Each chapter is focused on a namespace. The authors then spend a few pages bringing people up to speed on the spotlight technology (I am new to XML and particularly liked the intro to XML piece). Then they dive right into the details of using the .NET classes to achieve your desired end-result. The class library that ships with .NET is huge, and I found it helpful to use this book as a guide to highlight the classes I should worry about to get 80-90% of my programming work done.

Now for the cons: the sample applications could have been a bit more in-depth, and I really think they should have spent the time to make the book "bi-lingual" by providing some C# code as well - but overall, a great addition to your .NET bookshelf.

The challenge for a reference book like this is to be better the documentation that Microsoft provide - MSDN and the .Net framework SDK. My experience is that this book certainly achieves that.

For example, today I needed to show the "save file" dialog and then write the contents of a text box to a text file. I know how to do that in VB6, but I hadn't done it in VB.Net before. I searched MSDN which gave me accurate descriptions of the menthods and properties of at least four classes for writing data to files, but I still had no idea which one(s) I needed to use.

I am sure the sample code I needed is somewhere in MSDN, but I hadn't found it after 20 minutes searching when I gave up and referred to this book. In five minutes I had found what I was after, my code worked and I was able to get on with my next task. That is what this book is for. If you want to learn about the new programming features in VB.Net (like polymorphism, delegates etc) this is not your book. But if you want help getting your .Net program to talk to anything (files, printers, active directory, browsers, TCP/IP Sockets, XML/XSLT or whatever) This book will be a valuable resource.

Just note that while this book covers ASP.Net and ADO.Net, if you work with these a lot you might want more depth than is provided here. I will be considering the Wrox "ASP.Net Namespace Reference" when it is released.

Because of a project, I needed to finally make the jump from VB6 to VB.NET. After reviewig several books, I grabbed the book by Powers and Snell. It helped tremendously on the key pieces of my project. What I really like are the numerous code examples - worth the price of the book alone! I even contacted the authors to get their thoughts on something and ask a few questions. Not only did they reply with great answers, but their indepth knowledge of .NET helped finalize an important part of my project architecture. Looking forward to more titles by Powers and Snell. Thanks again guys!

Have you every wondered why your bag was so heavy at the end of the round? Have you ever ended the round with more balls than you started with? Does you selection of golf balls look like the "Water ball" display on the club house counter?

I have spent countless dollars on magazine subsciptions, range balls, lessons and "the latest technology" all for nothing. I have stood on the first tee truly believing a round of 80 was "in my bag" having never broken 85. I have left 3 footers short and chili-dipped my way to a snowman on a par 3.

But now I know all I needed was this book. No, this book will not teach you a better swing, but it will make you appreciate the one you already have.

Chief Tit and his lost tribe of Reb Ball People tries to explain why each of us endures 5 and 6 hour rounds of golf. Using many traditional literary techniques (and some not so traditional), he walks (or carts - your choice) us through the game we all love to hate. The very game that allows us to card a score of 101, leaving us thoroughly dejected, but due to the 25' putt you sank on the last hole, continuing to come back for more of the same punishment.

Following Chief and his foursome through this round of golf I laughed at their experiences as they resembled my own. Read this and identify youself in each of the characters.

Cancel your magazine subscription, load you bag with balls (don't forget your ball retriever) and head to the course for a round with the Chief. A must read for anyone who calls themself a golfer or enjoys the game.

Leadbetter may be able to talk to all the elements of 'hitting' a golf ball, Wildroot explains how to PLAY the game of golf. From laugh-out-loud philosophical debates on hazards and drops to the perfect swing thoughts (thong or no?), this book covers every conceivable on-course angle, and nudges the rules slightly for the average weekend player.

Perfect not only for golfers, but for anyone who wants to understand why those of us with high handicaps continue to (try to) play every weekend...
thanks Chief!

I've been a golf enthusiast for many years, and I've read my fair share of so-called "golf humor" books. None of them have made me laugh out loud the way Red Ball did! From the political satire to the Dedalus twist on not-so-current events, this one will give you plenty of stories for your Sunday golf buddies.

I have read a lot of so-called golf humor books through the years. For the most part, they are either pretentious, uninteresting and/or simply not funny. At last, a golf book that is not only hilarious, but also captivating. Thank you Dedalus Wildroot!! This is golf's version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - with intellectual stimulation to boot. Whether you're a weekend hack or a low handicapper, this book is a must read. It's a journey you'll never forget, and before you know it, the wisdom and sayings of The Chief will find its way into your foursome.

Have you ever hit your second shot from the Ladies Tee? Have you ever broken the "No Personal Coolers" rule? Do you use the plural noun "mulligans?" When standing over a downhill-sidehill lie do you find yourself considering whether O.J. Simpson was framed? Then this book is for you.

"Who Were The Red Ball People?" is the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Links" of golf books. Dedalus Wildroot mixes mathematics, humor, philosophy, politics and loutish behavior into a 19th-hole cocktail of absurdity. Whoever said golf is a "gentleman's game" has obviously never played with the Red Ball People foursome.

You don't have to play golf to get a kick out of this book, but it helps if you do - especially if you fist-pump after triple bogeys. By the time Chief Tit (who will never be pried from his "temporary" handicapped cart) drags you around 18 holes, you may find you have picked up the kind of instruction that Golf Tips magazine only wishes they could impart to you.

In a world flooded with basic introductory books on major 3D packages (cough*Maya*cough), Scott Spencer's 'ZBrush Character Creation: Advanced Sculpting Techniques', while quite a mouthful is a breath of fresh air. This is not a book that focuses on a pure beginner. Understanding the concepts of a 3D environment and mild experience with ZBrush are huge advantages in getting the most out of this book. That is not to say this book is not accessible to those who are not proficient in ZBrush. It covers many of the basic concepts, but covers them in such depth, that it would be easily overwhelming to a beginner.
The book begins by explaining the relationship to traditional sculpting techniques, to those applied while digital sculpting in ZBrush. This is one of the great strengths of the book. It covers not only the technical aspects of ZBrush, but also the artistic, the true driving force and advantage of ZBrush. From this initial chapter, you will then be lectured on such topics as; Sculpting Techniques, Detailing, PolyPainting, ZSpheres, and Displacement mapping, among many, many other topics I will let you discover for yourself.
Another great strength of this book is the mini-tutorials from various other artists that are added into the already information-packed pages. Contributing artists include; Cesar Dacol, Ian Joyner, Jim McPherson, Zach Petroc, Alex Alvarez, Ryan Kingslien, and Fabian Loing. Having all of these different techniques and perspectives on the art of digital sculpting, adds a lot of knowledge and expertise to this book.
I cannot say enough towards the value of this book. It is hands down the best ZBrush resource available in print as of this time. I hope that Scott and company with continue to share their extensive knowledge of the arts and of technology with the digital art community.

I would recommened this book to anyone looking to advance their digital sculpting skills further, regardless if youre a beginner, intermediate or expert. This is a very thick and heavy book with some great tips, tons of which I had no idea you could do. The included cd has a bunch of lessons and video clips to help illustrate processes, along with the great pictures in the book.
Finally Zsphere hands were explained and demonstrated easily!

Very useful, and gives you a breakdown of traditional form to digital which is a must. The tutorials are helpful as well. But overall great book if you want to understand form and gesture, he also explains the interface of Zbrush and why the menus are organized the way they are.
Buy this book.

A great book with a wealth of production proven information!

Scott approaches topics from both traditional and digital stand point. The book is packed with info covering just about any topic the aspiring or experienced Zbrush artist could ask for. The additional information included from other professionals really completes a great book.

The trial and error time that this book will save is enormous - highly recommended!

A truly incredible book, written by a master of both traditional and digital character sculpture. This book contains lessons that go beyond the software drawing on Scott's experience in the industry and artistic and anatomical training. I've studied with Scott personally over the past few years and I've gained a great deal from his teaching. ZBrush Character Creation encapsulates his own style and ability as a teacher and includes many extras submitted by the best Zbrush artists in the world. This book is intended for intermediate users, Scott goes through the basics of the software very quickly so this is not recommended for people who are new to the software. If you know enough to get around the interface and create a simple figure then your ready for Scott's book.

So far so good. Realy well laid out. Just starting to explore it

I purchased this book to learn the basics of autocad map... a very similar program. The book is very easy to follow and detailed. Sykes does a great job of explaining all the autocad jargon and the step-by-step projects are perfect for becoming familiar with autocad tools. I haven't made it through the entire book yet, but I selectively read the chapters I needed to get me going within about 8hrs. Not too bad. Be sure to get the CD with the book as well as the reference card. I wished there would have been more info on how to layout the drawing for print and how to insert legends, scale, etc. but I suppose that is what the advanced book is for.
Overall, a very user friendly book if you want to become familiar with a not-so user friendly program. I look forward to purchasing the advanced book.

Pura vida.

For a student this book is the best. The step by step approach is excellent. I like the graphics and the pictures of what the screen looks like when I do the commands. Easy to follow and Sykes takes a difficult lesson and make it easy to understand.

This book is excellent! The step by step procedure, clear detailed graphics and the multimedia CD are all linked to each other which allow reader of any level to understand AutoCAD without any difficulty.

This is truly a step by step approach. It starts with the fundamentals. The progression from basics to advanced is very orderly. I have used this book to learn AutoCAD 2000 and now I highly recommend it as a text or a reference. I reach for this book when I need information or help with a command or sequence of commands that I have forgotten. The examples and exercises develop real understanding.

I use Karen's ACT! for Dummies (2005, 2006, 2007) books as course materials for most of the classes I teach. Her books are well written, easy to understand and contain soem real life examples. She certainly helps me look good to my students. Thanks Karen!

Great Seller - This is one of my favorite book's - Too, Too Cool!

I want to thank you karen for the remarkable book, it is very easy and at the same time have everything in it . I enjoyed reading the book and hope you can write more, so many people in the IT industry will enjoy reading Books again. Please keep on the good work. God Bless you.

Book is easy to follow, very helpful to a beginner. It would probably be helpful to an experienced user but I am so new to this that I have not even looked into advanced features. I highly recommend this book.

Don't be fooled by the "Dummies" title - Wiley Publishing has a very successful formula that they've developed for this series. As much as I'd like to think that you're going to read this book from cover to cover, alas, it's meant to be a reference book that you can pick up and instantly find the answer to your most pressing questions. I've covered the most commonly used of the ACT! features and included many of the "gotchas" that I've encountered over my many years of ACT! consulting. I've given you easy, step by step instructions that don't require you to work with "pretend" contacts. Most importantly, I've tried to infuse the book with a sense of humor because to me learning a software program should be fun and non-threatening.

Karen Fredricks
Author, ACT! 6 for Dummies
Author, ACT! 2005 for Dummies

Photoshop CS3 is a very "deep" application, and I think that this book can be an excellent resource for virtually any CS3 user (especially those who classify themselves as intermediate users of Photoshop). The author does not assume that you have already read a user manual or other book. He covers in detail many of the tools in detail that are frequently used to color correct, mask and composite images, and do many other common tasks. "Hints" and "Notes" can be found throughout the book in small green boxes, and I found them very helpful. For example, in Chapter 10, the author explains in a Hint box how to apply sharpening settings from one image to a batch of images in Bridge.

Weinrebe supports his lessons with good screen shots throughout the book. Just a small selection of the tools that he covers very well (in a step-by-step fashion) are the Healing Brush, Lens Correction tool, History Brush, the Bridge and Camera Raw (including a suggested Bridge/Camera Raw Workflow), tinting with a color layer, batch renaming, converting to DNG, creating contact sheets, creating panoramas with Photomerge, and actions.

One of the most interesting parts of the book are the artist interviews. These Q&A sessions with such luminaries as John Paul Caponigro, R. Mac Holbert, Pedro Meyer, Graham Nash, Maggie Taylor and Joyce Tenneson generally run from about 4-7 pages and include fantastic imagery and insight about the artists' background, their art, what motivates them, and how they approach and use various technologies. I believe that this series of essays could easily be a very strong coffee table book on their own. They are a really special.

I also like the Chapter Reviews questions and Exercises at the end of each chapter, which can definitely help people to learn more about the Photoshop techniques that were covered in the chapter. Having all the exercise files on a CD in the book is also a nice feature. Also, it really helps that Weinrebe is a professional photographer who has been preparing files for clients for years. His work really shines throughout the book.

As a long time film photographer making the move to digital this book was a life saver. The step by step approach took the mystery out of photoshop.
The language was clear and the examples relevant.

The development of pigments by chemists changed the art of painting in the Renaissance. The development of film sensitivity changed the art of movie making in the 20th century. How will Photoshop and other image processing software change the art of photography?

This book provides instruction in the use of Photoshop, in an unorthodox manner. Most Photoshop books are organized along workflow lines, although a few work their way through each of the Photoshop tools and menus in order. Weinrebe follow his own order, dealing with light and shadow, curves, black and white processing, color tools and so forth before dealing with the tools used when first bringing images into Photoshop. Often a chapter introduces important techniques not related to the main one, as in the author's discussion of the use of the history brush in the chapter on curves. The author recognizes his approach is unusual, and suggests that readers go through the chapters in the order the reader needs.

The chapters include practical exercises that use images provided on an included CD.

The book recognizes the version 4.1 update to Adobe Bridge which is a component of Photoshop CS3, although I expect that the update was made available at too late a date for the author to do much exploration of its potential. (There has been a 4.2 update, but the changes seem to have improved code, without adding tools.) How else can one explain the author's dismissal of the new sharpening facility that allows for input sharpening, which is different from output sharpening?

Besides the instruction on using Photoshop, each chapter concludes with an interview with a famous photographer. Most of these photographers seem to specialize in montage, that is, the creation of pictures by combining images.

My biggest question was what happened to "the Art of Photography" mentioned in the title? Nothing in the material on technique goes further than to describe what controls and sliders create what effects on an image. No advice is presented in how to use Photoshop to create a picture that is more "artful" (whatever that means). The interviews are interesting but they don't include any information on how the artists used Photoshop to make their pictures more artful. I suspect that even Rafael received some instruction from his teachers on how to use the new pigments beyond how to apply them to canvas. Certainly, a few books on Photoshop have covered this terrain. I particularly found Rob Sheppard's "Outdoor Photographer Landscape and Nature Photography with Photoshop CS2" to be useful.

I also have some small complaints about the book. The text always appeared to be one or two pages behind the related illustrations, leading to a lot of page flipping. Some instructional areas seemed to scant the tools being discussed. For example, the chapter on Adobe Bridge mentions how customizable Bridge is, but neglected to provide any details in how to do this.

Still, a photographer looking for an introduction to Photoshop will be able to get started with this book. On the other hand, those looking for a more detailed introduction might want to look at a favorite of mine, "Photoshop Artistry: For Photographers Using Photoshop CS2 and Beyond" by Barry Haynes. It doesn't cover all the changes made to Photoshop in its later versions, but it will provide an understanding of the software that may even include a little bit about injecting the artful into one's images.

the book is well worth the cost: it is well organized and presents all of the capabilities of Photoshop in a pseudo-textbook fashion that are easily understood. At the end of each of the 12 chapters, the author presents a review: questions that the reader should be able to answer and exercises covering the CS3 capabilities that had been explained in that specific chapter. Also, the author includes interviews with 12 noted creative photographers such as Maggie Taylor and Lois Greenfield.

Photoshop is incredibly feature-rich software, and frequently perceived as overwhelming. Weinrebe breaks it down into easily understandable bits while still providing useful tips for very experienced users.

And the interviews with renowned photographers add a unique element, opening - at least a little a bit - a window on their varying perspectives and workflows.

Well done. This book is a valuable addition to every photographer's reference library.

To be honest, I've always been jealous of PowerPoints that I see during company meetings. How do they make them look so good? Finally, I decided to invest a little time. My friend's friend works at Microsoft and told me that his co-workers wrote a book. I figured I would give it a shot. Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed the book. I thought it would be really complicated, but little things go a long way to make slides look good and this book is great at pointing those out. Now, my presentations look clean, professional, and people are asking me for tips! It's great. If you want to impress your boss/co-workers with your PowerPoint skills, then this is definitely a good place to start.

As a student, I have only ever been expected to create the simplest of slide shows, and so my belief of the extent of PowerPoint's capabilities only stretched so far. However, with Microsoft's 2007 update, I thought it would be a smart decision to invest in a book that would guide me through the newest edition of PP. Well, after going through the book, I realized I got much more than I expected. Full of neat and useful tips, I believe that this book will truly benefit all of its readers in the long run.

Lots of useful tips on PowerPoint 2007. A lot of things have changed in Microsoft's 2007 update, and it's always nice to have a good reference so you can find/do what you want. I have not seen a better PowerPoint 2007 book.

Chock full of good ideas and helpful hints. The examples are really illuminating and the writing is exceptionally clear, especially the section on the XML format (which was what I was most interested in). In both business and academic settings I've found myself having to maintain a large number of presentations. Often there are slight variations between presentations (different customer, different conference) and this book helped me streamline a lot of that process. For instance, now I can easily update tables with fresh data! A HUGE win. Now I finally have time to learn the clarinet!

Being a former consultant, business school student, and making hundreds of decks for presentations to CEO's, VCs, and a whole stadium full of people, I have to say that I have finally found the book I need. If you are an advanced user of PowerPoint, then you need to get this book. Learn all the tricks to creating more dynamic slides in less time. It a time saver! Worth every penny.