Microsoft Books

This is an excellent book if you want to strictly pass the PowerPoint 2000 MOUS exam. If you have basic knowledge of PowerPoint and want something similar to a practice test, this is the book for you. I would recommend using this book as a supplement with more in-depth books to pass the exam. The end of chapter practice questions on the CD-ROM are very similar to the real test. I ended up scoring a 984 on my exam practicing with this book.

This is a great book for stictly passing the MOUS exam if you already have basic knowledge of PowerPoint. This book is written more like a practice test and should be used with a more in-depth book to study for the exam if your starting from scratch. But if all you want to do is pass the exam, this book is for you. The end of chapter review questions and CD-ROM exercises are very similar to the real exam. I ended up getting a 984 on my exam practicing with this book alone. But once again, I would only suggest this book to people who are already familiar with PowerPoint.

If you are an average or above average Microsoft user and want to pass this exam -- this is the book for you! This book gives a good overview of PowerPoint skills and has good review tests at the end of each chapter. I only use PowerPoint occasionally but had no problem scoring a 952 out of 1000 on the exam. I also learned a great deal about the program that will help me on future presentations.

This book does not cover basic Microsoft skills. So if you don't know how to cut and paste or copy and save files (minimum skills), want to learn more about PowerPoint AND pass the test, I would suggest a more detailed book.

Crammed for 1.5 hrs before the test and passed.

General Knowlege of Windows + This Book = Certification

I used this guide after briefly referring to a third-party manual and scored 952/1000 on the exam--three days before, I'd never even used PowerPoint. Some people think study guides should be as comprehensive as a manual but the truth about the MOUS exams is that, most of the time, the more advanced knowledge you have, the more likely it is that you'll get tripped up interpreting the tasks. Klippert provides an excellent, easy to read and refer to guide that tells you exactly what you need to know. The accompanying CD is brilliant with practice documents for everything, including finished solutions so that you can check your work. What this guide has that most others lack is focus--which is all you need to pass the exam.

This book covers all main areas associated with a SharePoint implementation project, focusing on:
- Planning the deployment
- Deploying and integration with other platforms
- Monitoring and performance measurement
It addresses all topics comprehensively and discusses web part development, customisation and extensibility options. I concur with the prevailing sentiment amongst the other reviewers and would add that this is one of the best technical books of any kind that I have seen lying around!

I bought this book and anthoer very npopular sharepint book. I think this book is the best. It covers almost everything you need both in depth and broad level. Great book...highly recommmand it.

SharePoint products have come together to produce a more tightly integrated and richer platform, upon which successful collaboration and information sharing can occur. Authors Kevin Laahs, Emer McKenna and Veli-Matti Vanamo have done an outstanding job in this book of covering almost every single aspect of SharePoint.

Laahs, McKenna and Vanamo begin this book by looking at the architecture of Windows SharePoint Services (WSS). In addition, the authors look at how a WSS site is used for the purpose of supporting multi author document collaboration. They also take a look at the architecture of SharePont Portable Server (SPS) and the key features that it brings to the collaboration landscape. Then, they focus on site personalization, delivered by WSS; profiles, delivered; personal sites, delivered by SPS; audience targeting, delivered by SPS; and, IM integration, delivered by Office 2003 and Messenger. The authors then look at the major components of search and how they can affect the features available to end users. Next, they introduce you to software and hardware architecture concepts that you should familiarize yourself with. Then, they take a brief look at the core server products you may want to integrate with your deployment and then focus on planning the features you can enable for SharePoint Products and Technologies. The authors continue by delving further into capacity and hardware planning for SharePoint Products and Technologies. Next, they cover the major aspects of deploying SharePoint Products and Technologies and walk you through a few example installation scenarios for both products. In addition, they cover some of the typical migration scenarios and tools available for you to perform them. The authors then look briefly at the architectures of both SPS 2001 and STS and how they evolved into the current SharePoint platform. Next, they examine the concept of Web Parts and Web Part Pages and where they fit into the overall SharePoint architecture. They then continue to expand upon the topic of deployment and explain the security framework surrounding Web Parts. In addition, the authors focus on the aspects of FrontPage and SharePoint integration that have the most impact. Finally, they take a look at some of the more advanced methods of customizing and extending your SharePoint implementation.

With the preceding in mind, the authors have done an excellent job of providing you with the basic knowledge and tools to begin applying the common customizations applicable to many organizations. Obviously, your requirements may be more specialized and require additional knowledge beyond what they were able to provide.

I found this book a very helpful reference and companion while implementing Sharepoint technologies
The authors have planned it carefully based on actual experience
Some other titles are just a copy of the help files or they tell you what you can easily find out yourself
Only drawbacks which (i forgive):
1. the index is not comprehensive, so it is sometimes difficult to find certain topics quickly
2. some issues are not addressed, viz. bugs, problems etc
3. a section on tips and tricks would have been very helpful (like adding friendly URLs in announcements)
All in all a great value for money and thumbs up to the authors.

I had to search and collate a lot of information off the MSDN library, couple of other SharePoint books and newsgroups -- which I could have easily obtained from this book at first glance.

The book approaches Microsoft's portal (and underlying) technology from an architecture perspective and dives into the various phases of any real SharePoint engagement; as promised by the book's title. I would recommend it for people new to SharePoint who are going to be involved seriously, and also to "experienced" people as a good source for reference.

If there was an advanced version of this book, I'd buy it!

This book gives you the information you need when you need it. The authors will tell you what works, and what doesn't. You get the right answers, not just the Microsoft answers.

This book is more clearly defined than the Microsoft manuals. Buy it! It's money well spent!

Basically, a well-written, high level 'cliff notes' of the manuals. The target audience is casual and beginner users of SQLServer, not power users. Power users and budding DBA's should try SQL Server Unleashed by the same publisher, or SQLServer Secrets from IDG.

No other book on the market even comes close with respect to the DBA specific aspects of SQL server. All the rest are a mix of developer/DBA material. If you just want to know how to administer SQL this is definately the book for you!

As a SQL Server DBA I am often called upon to deal with 6.5 installations. All my training has been on 7.0 and while many of my peers may have gotten their start on 4.2 or 6.0 or 6.5, I learned on 7.0 and it is different. The 6.5 DBA Survival Guide has helped me to figure out how to do things in 6.5 that are done quite differently in 7.0. I have found it to be an excellent resource manual for making sense out of how things work. Online help in 6.5 is a great disappointment compared to 7.0 so a book like this is essential.

I don't know how to compare this book to others on 6.5 because I have not read any others. But my readings in this one have compared very favorably to what I have read in dozens of references dealing with 7.0.

I like Kate Gregory's writing style and her ability to get very complex and detailed information presented in an interesting and informative manner. I especially appreciate her ability to describe the interop capabilities of utilizing both managed and unmanaged C++ code. This book is the best that I have found in explaining this complex subject in a clear manner. This book is a little too complex for a beginner.
I do not normally write book reviews, but this is an outstanding book by a very proficient author.

I've purchased serveral books on .NET and this is the first I have finished. I really liked the fact that the book was short and to the point. This made for a quick read.

One of the surprising things in the book is how she takes some time to explain her methodology to application development and give some great examples. You won't find that in any other book.

If you're a C++ programmer looking to move into .NET I highly suggest this book as your first read. You won't be dissapointed.

This is an excellent book to start learning C++ .NET 2003. As with many people out there, I find myself often disappointed with the Microsoft on-line help and especially with the fact the many examples are only in VB.NET or C#.NET. I am one of those guys that goes to the local Book Superstore and sits in the corner reviewing several books on a subject trying to find a good selection. If you want to learn C++ .NET, I challenge anyone to go find a copy at a bookstore and look through it. I think you will buy it like I did.

Kate Gregory does an excellent job in describing how to work with Managed and Unmanaged C++ with .NET. She also provides excellent overviews on many aspects of C++.NET. The book doesn't cover everything about C++.NET, no single book possibly could. It will always depend on the target audience. But this is a great book for the beginner and intermediate developer. Her writing is clear and concise with example code that is easily understood.

Bottom line - If you want to learn C++ .NET - CHECK OUT THIS BOOK!

This is a very good quick read text to use in moving from C++ to Mananged C++ or .NET. Very clear writing with succinct examples.

I've been programming in C++ since the borland D.O.S version, and now I'm inside the .NET world. I think this book is good enough to understand the changes between versions

I live and breath SMS so I've read and seen it all. The Administrator's Companion is a top-notch book and is highly recommended for both the beginner and the experienced SMS Administrator.

Two thumbs up! Not only does this book contains a clear explanation of a very complex subject but also it's written in a very good style. I have been working with SMS 2.0 for more than 2 years and I was forever missing a book like this - I read it overnight like a novel and several times thought - "Hey, this is how it should work ...". This book is a rare case when every word worth reading. It might be used as an introduction to the subject, as a study guide and as a reference. The latter of course doesn't substitute Resource Guide and on-line help.

I just took a SMS training class with the author. He knows his stuff. Buy this book.

This book is a must have for anyone planning, supporting or implementing SMS. Easy to follow and understand.

Of all the resources I have used in learning to implement SMS 2.0, including classes and other books, this book is by far the best. The book is very well organized and I particularly liked the "Real World" sidebars that appear throughout the book, very valuable info! My only regret is not buying it sooner. I would give it my highest possible recommendation. Don't leave home without it!

It's good because it's like a lab works.. Contents are very good.. To read this I felt like I am hearing a story .... For those who wanna live in NT world should read this one.. I am Suhas DBA/SA .. Wish U best of luck..

What's funny is as the mass proliferation of "NT 5" books knee-jerk their way to market, Microsoft revamps the whole nomenclature of the operating system. Everything is NT from hereon (no more successors to the 3.x, 95, 98 line) but the root term is "Windows 2000." So far the lineup looks like this: "NT 5" Workstation is now Windows 2000 Professional. Three other editions include Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server (same as Enterprise), and Windows 2000 DataCenter Server (best guess: a large-scale enterprise package). Oh well, what's important is the contents. Anyone heard word of certification beta exams?

Check out chapter 15 on ADSI, if you have trouble deciding which chapter is the most intriguing. Well written. Concise. There's no CD, but who cares! This book really gives you a look into the NT crystal ball - the future as it relates to past versions of NT. Extensive coverage of new technologies coming down the pipe from Microsoft and the industry as a whole, and how NT will facilitate it and support it. If your company is already on NT, feeling the NT gravitational pull or you make a living supporting NT - you'll want to get your hand on this one. My humble opinion...

Although based on beta 1 code, the book takes the right approach of providing breadth rather than depth coverage. This provides an excellent rounded view of Windows 2000 and doesn't really suffer from the fact that now it is nearly a year old. If you were going to nit-pick, then yes some of the detail is now no longer correct....but this really is totally outweighed by the books "complete" approach to the subject.

This book is a well-written and accurate overview of Windows 2000 and its significance. Many people will find that it tells them all they will ever need to know about the features of Windows 2000. For the more technically inclined it is a superb overview and introduction to Windows 2000. It was written before the second beta release became available, so it is based entirely on beta 1. This in no way diminishes its effectiveness or value, but does mean that certain later developments are not included, including the name change from Windows NT 5.0 to Windows 2000 and details of the different varieties of Windows 2000 (Professional, Server, Advanced Server, etc). I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking an understanding of Windows 2000 from either a business or a technical perspective.

For those of us coming from an MS world, it helps with any new software to have assistance to overcome the learning curve. OOoSwitch jumpstarts the "trial and error" learning curve methodology by showing the differences and similarities between MS Office and OpenOffice.org.

The PDF feature in OOo would be reason enough to endure the learning curve, but OOoSwitch makes the transition fairly painless. By pointing out tasks I've already mastered in MS Office, I'm becoming reasonbly proficent in OOo.

Good book for experienced MS Office users and noncomputer types.

Yes it does answer questions for those that are switching from MS Office. More to the point, in doing so fulfills the need for a very good "how to" for OOo.
Even though it's becoming a bit dated, there is much still relevant to todays Open Office program. We can sit around waiting for the software author's (Solveig Haugland) publisher (Prentice Hall) to see the necessity for the long anticipated OpenOffice.org 2.x Resource Kit. In the mean time this book as well as some of the other published books on the subject actually can help and do so well. The price is ridiculous even though Amazon has the best price. You might try one of the second-hand sellers with good reputations on Amazon Marketplace. READ DESCRIPTIONS, READ FEEDBACK. My free advice / open source contribution. Even with shipping you'll save.
John Row
in1ear

I've been a unapologetic Microsoft Word fanatic since 1991. But OpenOffice 2.x got good fast, and with its adoption of the universal and ISO-certified OASIS OpenDocument Format (ODF), suddenly it has the upper hand against Word 2007 -- in format, usability (yes, I said it), and power, having the ability to create documents twice the size of Word 2007. But "OOoSwitch: 501 Things You Want to Know..." demonstrates how OpenOffice can match Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and make switching a breeze. The price is steep, but surprisingly, it's worth every penny to this former Word fanboy.

Few of us have time to read a guide book cover-to-cover, so it's nice to find one that's well-organized. This one is! OpenOffice.org is a new product/project that's still ironing out problems and making improvements. If you can't find what you need within this book, it also gives the website for the reader/user to ask questions and even invites their input.

If you know how to do a task in Word, then you can quickly look up how to do it in Write. The language is simple and easy to use. My Mother liked it so much, that she took my copy.

Pro T SQL Programmers Guide is an excellent resource to jump start your SQL Server 2005 development efforts. Michael Coles presents clear, concise examples that will guide the reader from T-SQL fundamentals to the use of the new xml data type,http endpoints, sqlclr programming, encryption and more. A clear read with great practical examples.



I would highly recommend this book as a reference and guide book for t-sql developers, dba's and development professionals

This book is is easy to read and does an excellent job of introducing the new features and tools in T-SQL 2005. The book covers all the new features of SQL 2005 very well and I was especially impressed with the section on encryption.

This book is well written with clear examples and excellent coverage of T-SQL. Great to read cover to cover but also very useful as a reference source. I highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book. It presents the essential new features of SQL 2005 in a well written easy to read manner. If you are a SQL Developer and want to get up to speed quickly on SQL Server 2005 this is the book for you.

The chapter on encryption is excellent and worth the price of the book by itself.

Short Summary:
Pro T-SQL 2005 Programmer's Guide book examines SQL Server 2005 T-SQL from a developer's perspective. It covers a wide range of developer-specific topics in SQL Server 2005. This book covers many newly introduced topics in depth. This book is written as a practical and useful guide to help database developers who mainly deals with T-SQL. This book is really hit the spot with appropriate .NET code at few places where needed. This book assumes a basic knowledge of SQL but it is really easy for new beginners developers to understand and advanced developers to enjoy further reading.

Detailed Summary:
One thing I really liked about this book is that it can be either read cover to cover, or it can be used as a reference guide for one particular topic. Index of this book is extremely well organized and aids to find the right topic very quickly. Books is structure is many chapters and each chapter justifies the chapters with good details and proper amount of examples.

Each chapter has excellent advice and knowledge and filled with sample code (available online). The book is targeted specifically at SQL Server 2005 and the innovative ways to code T-SQL, new functions and commands. If is very easy to get started with this book and it immerses in comprehensive reading in no time. This book addresses many details and comparisons with T-SQL in very organized way. The examples are in very accurate and useful as well sufficient to targeted topics. This book addresses many of the real world issues with examples, discussions and solutions.

This book start with providing a brief history of T-SQL and the ANSI SQL standards. SQLCMD and SQL Server Management Studio are new tools to explore SQL Server 2005 and are covered in depth in beginning of the book. Chapters which covers Common Table Expressions (CTEs), new datatypes, operators, keywords, functions, and control of flows are really interesting and with necessary explanation. Readers of my blog are very well aware of my interests in Error handling and debugging. Interesting enough for me there is one whole chapter dedicated to that. The regular T-SQL concepts which I write a lot about Stored Procedure, Triggers and Dynamic SQL each have their own chapter. One thing many T-SQL book does not cover in depth is XML, XQuery and XPath which are properly discussed and their importance is explained properly. Last three chapter of the book which covers SQLCLR, .NET Client Programming and HTTP Endpoints requires the Microsoft .NET FrameWork 2.0, as it contains some code which are written in VB and C#.

One thing which I always liked in any database book is, use of sample database AdventureWorks. I strongly believe that all the example should be independent from previous examples and should use default database. If you have not installed default database AdventureWorks, you can get its latest location by searching in my blog SQLAuthority.com. All the script of examples are available to download online. No book is free from the errors and website for this book have errata list, which is surprisingly very small.

I will list few tips from book which interested me. This will give brief idea how good this book is.

"TABLESAMPLE always returns an approximate number of rows because of the way it samples data. The required percentage is the number of data pages SQL Server retreves in full to fulfill your TABLESAMPLE request. The number of rows returned by TABLESAMPLE will often be slightly less, or greater, than the specified amount."

"Anytime you use dynamic SQL, make sure that you take precautions against SQL injection, that is, malicious SQL Code being inserted into your SQL statements. In this instance we're using the QUOTENAME function to quote the column names being dynamically generated to help avoid SQL injection problems."

Following one example really caught my eyes while reading the book. It seems Author accurately described the situation and put his suggestion regarding syntax.
"The ANSI SQL:2003 standard includes a MERGE statement that performs the same function as the upsert type of SP. The prerelease versions of SQL Server 2005 included the MERGE statement. Though it was well-publicized during the prerelease period, the MERGE statement was unceremoniously dropped from the production version. We can only hope that Microsoft brings it back sometime in the near future."
Good news is Microsoft have included the Authors request in future version of SQL Server. SQL Server 2008 CTP 4 has included MERGE Keyword.

Rating: 4 and 1/2 stars

In Summary, A book for every developer who want to take full advantage of the power of T-SQL on SQL Server 2005.

Pinal Dave
Principal Database Administrator
(blog.sqlauthority.com)

Judging by the number of reviews, MacDonald's fan base is similar to that of Alison Balter-Mastering Access 97 Development (one of SAMS best). The learning and example experience is fairly similar. I got Pro WPF before the VB version came out. Migrating from VB to WPF is difficult enough without dealing with C#. The downloaded code of the VB version is only for examples but they are generally relevant to me. I still break out Visual Basic 2005 (.NET or Bust) for a succinct reorientation.

This review is a comparison between
Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed (WPF) (Unleashed) by Adam Nathan

and

Pro WPF: Windows Presentation Foundation in .NET 3.0 by Matthew MacDonald

I have been using both of these books for learning WPF. What I like about "WPF Unleashed" is the quality of the pages with the color printing. I believe this higher quality is a great step in the right direction and I know a lot of developers appreciate good quality printing such as this. But as good as the printing is I still find myself spending more time in the "Pro WPF" book.

I think it has to do with the flow of the book and how the information is presented to the reader. I'll do my best to explain my experience. In the "Unleashed" book I found myself reading a bit of knowledge, looking at the example, try to work with it in Visual Studio and struggling. Then going back over the knowledge, going to the internet, find out some more, work with it in Visual Studio, back to the book and in some cases giving up because I couldn't achieve some result.

In the "Pro WPF" book though I didn't have this happen nearly as much. In the Pro book it had a really nice flow to it where he would present some basic information, give and example, present some information, give an example. So here I found myself reading some knowledge, do it in Visual Studio like his example, read some knowledge, do it in Visual Studio. I didn't have to reread nearly as much and the knowledge seemed to build upon itself nicely; taking you from simple to more complex. He was really good at NOT introducing newer topics (WPF class/methods) that he hadn't already covered.

The books work well together though and that's how I used them. I use the "Pro WPF" as my main and the "Unleashed" book for more examples.

The "Pro WPF" book has also been updated since publishing and split into two books for C# and VB.NET in .NET 3.5:
Pro WPF in C# 2008: Windows Presentation Foundation with .NET 3.5, Second Edition (Books for Professionals by Professionals)
Pro WPF with VB 2008: Windows Presentation Foundation with .NET 3.5 (Pro)
I haven't read these books yet so I cannot comment on them. I just wanted to include them as a note to the reader.

I really didn't need another book on WPF, at least that is what my girlfriend would say. I already own "Applications = Code + Markup" by Charles Petzold, "Essential Windows Presentation Foundation" by Chris Anderson, "Foundations of WPF: An Introduction to Windows Presentation Foundation" by Laurence Moroney, "Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed" by Adam Nathan, and "Professional WPF Programming: .NET Development with the Windows Presentation Foundation" by an assortment of Wrox authors.

But I saw Pro WPF: Windows Presentation Foundation in .NET 3.0 on Amazon and decided to investigate the possibility that I need to have it. After reviewing the TOC I still wasn't sure. But after downloading the code from Apress I was sold. I have been a fan of Matthew MacDonald for some time. He has definitely worked his magic on this title.

Some of the highlights I like:
His in-depth coverage of printing.
His Custom Elements chapter.
His approach with 3-D drawings makes extensive use of the 3DTools from CodePlex.
The chapter on using ClickOnce with WPF.
Everything is gone into in depth. This is not a brush over the topic book.
The usability of the code makes the book all that much more valuable.

He also has a great site named ProseTech that has a companion site for the book. It contains all the links found in the book

For extreme coverage of Expression Blend you will have to by a book specifically on Blend. Too bad no good ones exist yet. One I have seen that is out has bad reviews. None of the books I have listed above cover Blend in-depth at all. The Wrox book has 2 high level chapters on it, but I have been playing with Blend 2 a lot and find myself in the XAML most of the time because I don't know how to get to what I want to do in Blend. On that note, this book is excellent for showing you how to work XAML to the maximum.

This book also does not cover Silverlight. It is a book about Windows Applications, not Browser Applications.

I highly recommend this book as addition to any developer's or designer's (those who need to know XAML) library. It was definitely worth buying.

Books stated purpose: This book is an in-depth exploration of WPF for professional developers who know the .NET platform, the C# language, and the Visual Studio development environment.

This book introduces the developer to the WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), which is a new graphical display system for Windows. This book is well written from beginning to end, and takes the developer through the process of learning how to utilize the capabilities of WPF. The author provides references to outside sources throughout the book. These either provide a more in depth look at the current topic, or point to a tool that would be useful. The author introduces WPF in a manner that lets developers of any level understand what WPF is and the benefits of using WPF. Then chapter by chapter he provides instructions and examples that take the developer through the learning process about WPF.

System Requirements;
* To run WPF applications, you must be running Windows Vista or Windows XP with Service Pack 2.
* To create WPF application, you must have either Visual Studio 2005 with .NET 3.0 and the WPF extension, or Visual Studio 2008.

The early part of the book is about the basics in and about WPF. The author gives basic, but understandable examples that lead the developer in a growing understanding of WPF. Once the developer has the basics of WPF down, the author begins to build on this base.

One of the basics covered is the creation of the Application object. This is the foundation for all the code throughout the book. Another basic operation covered is the layout of the forms. WPF provides the ability for Windows forms to dynamically grow and resize based on data and language, similar to Web Forms. It takes more work to set up a form, but it will give the user a much better experience in using it.

Now that the developer has the basics, the author moves along the path for using them. The developer is introduced to the WPF controls and how to develop with them. There are a number of features added to familiar controls. Some examples include: Tooltips can now contain both images and text. Multi-line text boxes can grow dynamically and text does not have to always break where it fits the textbox edge. You can add a dynamic spell check to textboxes.

There is a chapter on building control templates or modifying existing controls. This feature appears to be more powerful, and quicker than the old method of building a new specialized control from scratch.

The following topics are part of what is covered as the book continues. Data Binding to a database, Printing, Animation, Sound and Video and 3-D drawing.

The author wraps the book up with a short tutorial on using the ClickOnce Deployment. If the developer has already learned to use the ClickOnce Deployment, this chapter can be skipped. However, it is a useful conclusion to the book if the developer has not yet used the ClickOnce Deployement.

The book is pretty detailed. This review only touches on a few of the highlights from the book that specifically caught the reviewer's eye. It is worth adding to any developers library if they are looking to do new development for Windows Vista or Windows XP SP2.

I already have several WPF books now, each of them has something to offer and it's a rare day when you can find all the information you need on a complex, wide ranging topic like WPF in one book.

Without detracting from the other books that I admire, I think if one book does come closest to being a one-stop source then possibly it is this one. Coverage of topics is comprehensive, detailed and accurate. At just under 1000 pages it's definitely a heavyweight, although you're unlikely to want to be parted from it long enough to use it as a doorstop.

The author's writing style is clear and friendly without being patronising. If I have a gripe about the book, it's the same complaint I've been making since the middle of 2007 - this is yet another WPF book that only has code behind samples in C#. However I understand that there will be a VB2008 version out early in 2008.

Of the books I have on WPF, I turn to this one early in most researches. I consider this book to be a good investment. I have several of Matthew MacDonald's earlier books, which I have always found relevant, well-written and useful; this book is in the same mould.

A comprehensive survey which will be useful for Exchange admins, but also allows others (CIO's, CSO's, business folk) to understand the issues and solutions available for Exchange security.

I'm NOT an Exchange admin, I focus more on compliance and security, and found the chapters on this the best summary I've seen. Very valuable to anyone dealing with compliance issues for corporate email.

If you've read the 'Security Operations for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server' guide from Microsoft, what value can this book possibly add? That's the question I asked myself before digging into this book. Answer: A LOT!

For starters, it's a very well-written book - starts with some great explanations of Security Fundamentals - the buzzwords, the protocols & algorithms, threats, risks, and vulnerabilities. I've read many security books, but seldom have I found just the right balance - as technical as it needs to be, but still interesting enough for the non-techies.

The section on Installing Exchange With Security in Mind is particularly interesting. Everything you want to know about messaging/Exchange security is covered - SMTP Relays, spam, content filtering, antivirus, SSL, MAPI/RPC security, et al. Great coverage of email encryption and Public Key cryptography, Outlook client security, POP/IMAP security. Can never get tired of readng about securing Outlook Web Access.

Overall, a must-read for Exchange admins. The only thing I would've liked to see is: i) this book to be released at least a year ago.. this one's at the tail end of the Exchange 2000 lifecycle - too close to the Titanium (Exchange 2003) release. ii) Perhaps some more coverage of specific vulnerabilities of SMTP and Exchange, and how secure Exchange is compared to other messaging systems - Notes, Sendmail, etc. THE TRADEOFF (or benefit rather) is we have a book that can still be carried with one hand... still under 400 pages without the index. Remarkable! (A round of applause for Paul Robichaux..)

Bharat Suneja
MCT

If you maintain or administer Exchange servers, this book is a must for you. It covers a borad set of security topics specific to Exchange server, secure messaging and even secure IM. Very valuable guide for IT. Does not dive at too low a level for practical use.

This book has enough information about security, both of the messages and the messaging environment, for a good Exchange administrator to build and maintain a rock solid secure messaging environment.

Paul wrote the book, but the people who helped review the book contributed much of their real-world experience to the content. A number of the reviewers are heavy hitters in the Exchange and security fields. What you get is "This works in the real world" solutions to security problems.