Microsoft Books

Very good book, lots of useful info that goes beyond the normal documentation.

The content reveals a lot of details of RS. However, I had a hard time to make the samples running.

Being a Microsoft trainer, and needing to get up to speed in a hurry, I found this book - luckily. This book was able to give me the answers to the "how do I do..." questions I had, and then enabled me to explain these concepts to my students.

Teo's style is easy to read, and he makes it easy to see how you can apply his examples to your reporting needs.

If you need to get up to speed on Reporting Services in a hurry, and need a book you can refer to in the future, this is the one.

The project: create a secure, distributed, Internet-facing, interactive ASP.Net reporting application for a Very Large Customer. The schedule: short. The budget: low. Amazingly, we got it done, and I credit Teo and this book with helping us meet our requirements.

The Microsoft Reporting Services 1.0 documentation is not very useful to the newcomer, and with 7 months' experience now, I can also say it's not very useful to the rising journeyman. The product is quirky, with surprising gaps and baroque security features. Without expert guidance from someone who has worked with the RS dev team I don't see how anybody would get much done with Reporting Services 1.0.

Teo Lachev worked intensively with the Microsoft dev team and the book shows it. Perhaps one of the reasons other reviews here gripe about the examples is that the most useful examples are the non-trivial ones in the second half of the book. Report authoring is the easy part! Delivering your reports to your users in the ways they demand is the hard part, and in my opinion this is where Teo's book shines.

It is no exaggeration to state that without Teo's book, and in particular his discussion of custom security extensions for Reporting Services, we would have failed to deliver the goods. But we succeeded... thanks Teo.

I found this book to have lots of information, but if you learn best by hands on examples, this is not the book for you. The author shows you a report already done and gives a quick explanation of how he got there. It is not a step-by-step type of book. As a lot of the examples shown do not have a how-to to go with it, I found this book not a good place to start. There are others that are more hands-on and step-by-step which are easier to learn from.

Having said that, if you've had some Reporting Services experience and are just looking to brush up on techniques and/or learn additional techniques, then this book will probably save you the tediousness of having to go through a step-by-step example that you have already done in the past.

When you're working with Group Policies or Profiles, it's simple: you must read this book. Jeremy Moskowitz learns you the tough parts of Windows in his own matchless style.

This book isn't for beginners but if you're a network or systems administrator it is an excellent source of group policy information for Windows servers and workstations (2000, XP, and 2003).

Great read and very informative. I've been using it as a reference ver since. Keep up the great work Jeremy!

For managing GPOs for locking down servers, this is not a complete book. This is an excellent book for managing desktops or workstations, laptops and terminal servers. There are many user rights assignments and security settings that are left completely out of this book.

Updates:

Since the author commented, I feel it's only fair to elaborate on some of the items, either as a thought for a "Group Policy - locking down your servers" book or possibly a future update to this one.

Most of the User Rights Assignments are the most sensitive rights you can grant. Several of them provide the ability to impersonate other users, including the obvious ones (Impersonate client after authentication). Other rights don't actually provide the functionality that users likely think (Create permanent shared objects - you wouldn't believe how many application teams thought this would let them share folders and printers). At the very least, a detailed list of rights that should be granted per setting for complete OS functionality(changing Impersonate Client... without granting the right to the Service builtin object will break a server running Windows Server 2003 with SP1, but have no effect on other versions of the OS) would be very helpful - the defaults for Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 Server are completely different.

Personally I think that another book about securing your servers via GPO would be nice. Not everyone should be securing their servers via GPO and it may add a certain level of complexity to an application environment that is not desired, but for larger environments that require an automatic mechanism to correct any security deficiencies or changes, GPOs are an excellent solution. A book that would cover Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008 (or whatever Longhorn ends up being called) and the differences between the OS versions, would be fabulous for a security/AD/GPO admin in any environment that is much more complex. Particularly in a complex environment, all 3 versions of Windows Server that GPOs apply to should be covered. Many larger companies are slow to adopt new versions of software or upgrade that which they already have (if it ain't broke, don't fix it!), so finding OUs that have Windows 2000 Servers and Windows Server 2003 machines in the same structure of your organization is definitely far from abnormal and providing the reference to effectively secure all of the GPO functional server operating systems (or at least the MS ones).

I understand that the intention of this book is to talk about basically the user environment portions of the GPO, but the name doesn't define that, so won't update my rating. Maybe if it had a companion for the machine-side security related settings...

Jeremy Moskowitz books are easy to read. He gives you great examples.

I read this book and Couchman's Oracle 8 DBA Certification Guide (from Oracle Press). The Exam Cram book did a great job covering the bases needed for the Oracle networking exam. It is very concise and to the point. If you ignore the number of silly typos, the book attacked the topics very well from examination point of view. I think it was a very poor proofreading effort!
I gave a 5 star because the topics are laid out well and details are to the point.

This book contains everything you'll need to pass the Oracle8 Network Administration. It has the good standard Exam Cram format, but it contains more info than the usual Crams do. It's more like a study guide than a study guide companion, without repeating the classic mistake of being too wordy. This is one of my favorite Exam Crams.

Very good book, started from basic knowledge of net8 to advanced options.

Nice to have before you take the DBA Net exam.

This book has very useful tips and is excellent exam guide. Highly recommended.

I bought this book as a complement to Couchman's Oracle 8i DBA Certification Guide (from Oracle Press), because the latter's networking coverage was clearly a rushed effort. The Exam Cram book does an admirable job covering the bases needed for the Oracle networking exam. In general, the material is explained well and concisely. Overall the test questions in the book matched the breadth of those on the real test. There are a couple of notable exceptions. My test had FOUR "fill in the blank with the name of the parameter or view" questions. (Giving V$SHARED_SERVERS instead of V$SHARED_SERVER is wrong). There are no questions of this type in the book. Additionally, the actual test generally asked more demanding questions regarding CMAN and MTS than are in this book (in my opinion).

If you're taking the 8i exam, be sure to look over the Oracle docs on load balancing, which is not fully covered in this volume (which is designated for 8).

This book loses a star due to the sheer volume of silly typos and cut-and-paste errors. A look at Coriolis's errata page (on their web site) for this book reveals over 50 reported errors. I found many more, about one every other page. And on the web site errata page the utility "lsnrctl" is spelled, in multiple places, as "1snrct1" (digit 1 instead of letter l)! Doesn't anyone proofread this stuff? (The author works at the Washington Post!)

I agree with all of the above positive reviews. Excellent book. I just wanted to comment on the publisher. This is my 3rd book(my other two were a book on WPF and C++/.Net) published by Apress and they have all been very good. I don't know if that is just dumb luck but they do an excellent job.

This is a great book for learning LINQ. Lots of code examples, fairly exhaustive and does well at explaining concepts. However, the first chapter must have been given special attention knowing it would be the sales pitch for the book. The rest of the book falls into a more rushed fashion, evidenced by typos (mostly in code), and sometimes condescending tone. Also, if there are two extension methods with the same signature, and one has the word Descending tacked on the end, please don't take another four pages to describe its usage. LINQ to Entities is not covered at all, and they don't claim it is, just a heads up to the potential buyer. All that said, this is overall a great book on the subject, but it could use a little polishing.

No doubt about it. If you are learning/using LINQ, this is THE book to have. Author did an excellent job explaining the material and giving numerous examples, that work, about the material. Had to mention the "that work" part as I get so frustrated when I buy a book and the examples do not work. I could tell this book was a "labor of love" and he didn't just crank out a book to make $.

This book is very well thought out. The author helps you understand some subtleties of relational algebra (without really saying it) and helps you think like a LINQ head. It's a different way of doing things, but he shows that if you get a basic understanding of a handful of concepts you can grow it from there.

awesome book!

Microsoft must be under new management, we are getting a slew of new, truly useful tools that are making pretty big strides forward for faster more enjoyable C# development and ease of maintenance. The latest technologies seem well worth taking the time to master. I find the combination of LINQ and the Sync framework couldn't have come at a better time. While the book mentions that LINQ to SQL only supports SQL Server, that is no longer true as you can also use (at least) MS SQL Server Compact Edition 3.5 (which is required for the Sync Framework). You can't use the visual object relational designer with SSCE but the book documents SQLMetal, and you can use that to create your context.

Overall I found this to be a very good book but it has a few flaws. If like me you are interested in LINQ for a current or upcoming database project here is what I would suggest. First don't start with this book, finish with it. Start with the ten excellent screencasts by Mike Taulty. Then read this book. Your reading will go much faster and you'll get a satisfyingly sated feeling. The author will probably hate me for saying this, but if you already know SQL or ADO.NET 2.0, I would suggest reading Chapters 1-3, then skim 4 and 5 just to get an overview of the operators available. Then read part 5 (Chapters 12-18) on LINQ to SQL. After you digest that I would suggest whichever topics interest you the most, then I would finish with a more thorough read of Chapters 4 and 5 on Deferred and Nondeffered operators, which in my mind are really a thoroughly documented reference section.

The reason the author will hate that, is he doesn't want readers to use LINQ for just database purposes, and he states that many times in the book. In fact, I think that is why he put the LINQ to SQL section at the end. However, he seems to have made a significant effort to make any part readable on its own, so I see no problem with skipping to the end so early.

The book doesn't really cover data binding, but there is a lot of good information on that available on the internet (the above mentioned screencasts show some of them, and an overly long video on Channel 9 with Young Joo from August 2007 shows even more).

I also have a few nit-picky things that drove me crazy. The most significant one being the amount of repetition and unedited console output. I was also none too happy that the author didn't mention that the Visual Studio Command prompt was under the START menu not an IDE menu. But then again without the author I wouldn't even have known there was a Visual Studio 2008 command prompt.

The weakest part of the book is the index, it is downright anemic. In the several weeks since I've finised the book the index has NEVER helped me find things I remember reading. If you find items of interest you better pencil them into the back cover if you want to find them again later. If one book ever needed a free PDF, this one is it, but they charge $10 for it. Maybe that is why they made the index so bad, to encourage you to fork over another $10.

That said, I also found a good half-dozen or so gems in the book that saved me significant time. Now I could tell you what those are but I think you should buy the book to find out.

I'm an intermediate coder, familiar with programming and I have about 1.5 years programming C#. I've already used this book(C# Cookbook 2nd edition) to write C# code navigating in and around directories and files. The examples in the book regarding "Directory Info" and "File Info" were so clear and concise, I was able to complete my programming task with almost no lost time to the learning process. What I like most was that there was not one example, but many examples for the most used functionalities. This book has already paid for itself when I consider the time it saved me the first time I needed it!

Being an advanced programmer I was looking for books to use as references or to further my skills. This book has proven a valuable asset.

I came across a project that had to do with XML, and I came to love this book. It has a lot of suggestions that helped me jump start my project.

I wouldn't recommend this book to learn C#- (pick up John Sharp C# step by step for that.)

If you are just coming into C# or have been doing it for a while - it doesn't matter - BUY THIS BOOK!!! Oreilly as we all know, makes very good tech/programming books and this one is one of the best I've had so far. This will be a book that will spend much less time on my shelf and much more time next to me on my desk.

The C# Cookbook, Second Edition has been updated and revised for C# 2.0 and version 2.0 of the .NET framework, and despite the fact that version 3.5 of the .NET framework is imminent, it remains a must have book to have on hand. It is essentially a collection of examples showing how to solve specific programming problems (some of which you might not have even realised you have, such as boxing/unboxing and efficient string handling, to name just a few...)

The C# Cookbook has over 1100 pages and is arranged into 20 chapters, each of which focuses on a particular area in C#. Despite its size it is not daunting to read. Here are the topics covered:

1. Numbers and Enumerations
2. Strings and Characters
3. Classes & Structures
4. Generics
5. Collections
6. Iterators and Partial Types
7. Exception Handling
8. Diagnostics
9. Delegates, Events and Anonymous methods
10. Regular Expressions
11. Data Structures and Algorithms
12. Filesystem I/O
13. Reflection
14. Web
15. XML
16. Networking
17. Security
18. Threading and Synchronisation
19. Unsafe Code
20. Toolbox

This book is in O'Reilly's `cookbook' series Problem-Solution-Discussion format, and like other books in the series can either be read from cover to cover, or be used as a reference to shed light on a particular problem. Each `recipe' starts with a description of the problem, followed by a complete, documented code sample showing you how to solve it, along with a detailed discussion of how and why it works, and any drawbacks. This format can also serve as an excellent way of mastering aspects of C#.

Like the other O'Reilly cookbooks, this book manages to strike a perfect balance between reference and instruction on real problems developers encounter every day. Hats off to Jay and Stephen for creating such a useful resource.

If you are a developer who writes C# code for a living, I would be surprised if you do not find something useful the first time you pick this book up. If you are thinking of buying just one book on C# 2.0, make it this one. Highly recommended for beginners and experts alike.

[...]

This book was a big help in passing my TCP/IP exam, but I do not recomend it as a single source. My strategy, which has served me well, is to read the book once, take a practice test (eg Transender), figure out what concepts you do not get, study those areas of the book, take practice exam, repeat untill you are scoring high on the practice exams. This book work out great for that and it is cheap and a quick read. Perfect.

Only get this book if you're already experienced in the TCP/IP world. Passed the test with flying colors! I used this book to review beforehand. Wished it had a little more practice questions, but overall good material!

This is a great book. Even if you're not interested in takingthe test, this book is worth the price. It seems to cover almosteverything on the test. Buy the book if you want to take the test.

It is a very good book. It is not a thick book, but it contains many materials relevant to the exam, and you can get the main points from this book. I would say its content is even better than other training guide in the market. Of course, it is just a revision book, you cannot get any training from it, just get the facts only. In addition, I also find that its content is even same as the live questions that can help me pass the exam.

If you already know TCP/IP this book will help you slam-dunk the test! Its explanation on subnetting is the best I've seen. If you're new to WINS, DHCP and DNS then you better try another book. New Riders Training Guide on TCP/IP (ISBN 1562059203) is great- know this book and you know TCP/IP on NT! I studied both of these and scored a 966.

I think based on the reviews below - you get the drift. Those reviews speak for themselves (and the book). I don't need to repeat every thing noted by the other reviewers. It's a great book and I learned more than I would have ever thought.

Don't let the 800 pages scare you off. The diagrams and the tutorial flights are just awesome. I have been flying MSFS since way back in the early days. The interest over the years has come and gone and I would skip a version here and there... then FSX hit the market. I since have turned this interest into a full fledged hobby. Everything from a TrackIR, Matrox (3 screens), Rudder pedals, yokes,good PC and a full set of navigational charts and IAPs - I thought I had it all together and knew everything there was to learn. What I found out from this book, I had barely scratched the surface. What I was missing was real world knowledge. This book has tied it all together and has made my hobby seem almost as authentic as the real deal. Now I can go any place at anytime in any aircraft.

Great great book! Do yourself a favor and invest the tiny expense (relative to the rest of this hobby) and enjoy. Remember, it's all about the journey and not the finish line. Soak up the knowledge that these authors have penned for your simming pleasure!

If you would like more information or would like to discuss simming in general feel free to contact me at fly-bman2006@hotmail.com

Bman.

I've had all the Microsoft Flight Simulators since 1985 and have always winged it when it came to flying. That works but I never really knew what I was doing. I think this book is the best I've seen so far in helping one to learn to fly with the reasons why. Links to downloadable files are an extra bonus that expand the contents. The author also ties his content in with the lessons in the Simulator Program. Very comprehensive coverage.

I got this book and was amazed! It is a huge book and has everything in it. I have only started and this book has all the details and covers pretty much everything you need.

My opinion is anybody who gives this book less than five stars is REALLY hard to please or has some pet peeve they can't turn loose of.

I have spent (wasted in many cases) lots of money and time on GA training books in the past and ignored this one for quite a while as "just another book on flying." When I saw the price drop below $20, I decided to take a risk. Wow! This could be the best training book I have every bought. I hate to be dramatic about that but honestly, I probably have fifteen books of this nature and this is the clearest, most well laid out of any of them. I love the way the authors bring FSX into the training as yet another tool to help you practice your technique. The online material (especially the films) are very helpful too. It is obvious these guys did not write this book because they are "professional authors" but because they really do love flight training.

This book is a labor of love and you would do yourself a disservice by passing it by.

This book is what I was looking for and did not find in Bruce Williams'Flight Simulator as a Training Aid. The authors are Real Pilots who have painstakingly incorporated their vast experience into a very readable and often entertaining soup to near nuts FSX-based teaching tool. I have been using the book for the last three weeks in preparation for a ten day intensive IFR training course. The proof of the West Cummings book's success will come with my flying pudding a few more weeks hence when I get checked out. I get the feeling I'll do ok which will be in no small measure due to the comprehensive and well organized approach taken in the book.
Hightly Recommended for real or simulated piloting.

This book was an oasis in the desert of COM/CORBA obfuscation and confusion. This is the most fair, useful and easy to comprehend overview of these two models that I've come across. The author has the ability to convey the material in a way that makes it almost painless to comprehend...buy the book NOW.

Though not explicitly meant to be this book might also serve as an introduction to both CORBA and COM: quite an achievement. The authors waste no words and keep a neutral standing between the poles. I hope the next edition will contain some information about Microsoft.Net too.

A concise and comprehensive analysis of two technologies that are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Mr. Pritchard did an excellent work of dissecting each one and at the same time, achieved a perfect balance between theory and code examples that is so rare on this field. If you need to decide between COM and CORBA on your next eBusiness or back-office integration project, this book will set you on the right path.

If you're in the process of architecting a new system or planning to rearchitect an existing system, this book will prove invaluable in helping you evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Even if you're just interested in both technologies and want to dig deeper into each, this book is a sure bet!

This book is quite thin, and yet it includes so much. The open mind towards competing technologies is important, we should all look at facts in an objective way. The book gives an excellent view on COM, CORBA and the differences between them. It also shows programming examples (not in depth) and explains things like "push" technologies very good. I would expect the first book in this subject (side-by-side approach) written by a technician, to be too detailed, with a poor language and not very educational. I was very wrong. An amazing book!

This book is clear, concise, interesting (almost like an unputdownable novel by Sidney Sheldon). I'm not joking. You can read it in one or two days, do the transcenders, print out your transcender results. Before the exam review the transcenders and walk out with a 900 like me. I must mention i have six months admin and six months support experience. Just to let you know the experience level. Good luck to all.

This book is clear, concise, interesting (almost like an unputdownable novel by Sidney Sheldon). I'm not joking. You can read it in one or two days, do the transcenders, print out your transcender results. Before the exam review the transcenders and walk out with a 900 like me. I must mention i have six months admin and six months support experience. Just to let you know the experience level. Good luck to all.

Exam 70-073 is now the 1 exam most people take in order to become MCP and this book will make a big difference in the attempt. This book covers each exam objective and gives the detailed information you need in order to pass the exam on the first try.

The book of over 600 pages gives you exam tips, study tips, hands-on exercise, case studies summaries and review questions, exam questions and practice tests all to help you obtain your certification ....................

The book sis loaded with diagrams, pictures, tables and figures to make the learning process easier. The author takes out the mystery behind the NT Workstation and uncomplicates the technical jargon thus enabling to retain more information, and remember information is the key to passing the exam.

The book includes Top Score Software exam simulation; this allows you to try the exam before you go live. Overall the book is one for the technical library even after passing the exam.

As good as it gets - do not look farther....

I have looked at few of the books on this subject - this one is make you understand the subject in plain English - you do not feel stupid reading it.

Combine with a good exam test questionary - and you will make it...

I have right know - 5 books on this subject and I just passed the test on the first try with a 866 when only a 700 is required. I believe this book is what put me over the top and gave me some error room to boot! It is very easy to read and reminded me a lot of a textbook but thats a good thing, those "other" books try to make things much harder than they have to be. This book lays it out in a GREAT format. I found no errors unlike many other books and I recommend this with 5 star! - something I rarely ever give out. Good job to the author, keep it up! Highly recommend!

If you want to understand and write professional Windows Service programs, buy this book. You will find good C++ examples and best practices in Windows Service writing.

There has been so much written on the reviews for this book that I don't think I want to repeat all the good stuff said about it. The author has presented the various topics clearly and I like the style of writing. This book has been a great help. If you need to understand NT Services and how to program something decent; this is the book. Not for someone new to Windows programming. Just hope he comes out with another book soon.

The book is comprehensive, clear, and easy to read. The source code works and it is easy to follow (the code is available on-line.) The discussion on ATL COM servers is truly enlightening and by itself worth the price of the book. If you are writing an ATL COM server this book is a must, especially if it will be a multi-threaded server.

From the beginning the author has the attitude that NT services are easy to understand and his "prophecy" becomes self-fulfilling throughout the book. The book is well organized and it pays special attention to service design and usage patterns.

Also notice that the book does not cover hardware drivers. By the way, do read the previous review titled "One of a kind" as it gives very useful tips on installing ATL services (using "myservice.exe -Service") and housing COM objects in a service; I have not found that information in the book.

This book addresses all the issues related to such complex problems as NT Services. The author explains them in very great details, and makes you understand how all this works. The sample code works and you can use the classes from the book to start coding NT Services very fast. The author is very talented in explaining difficult concepts. Funny enough, this book has the best explanation on MSMQ, as well as apartments. As an alternative to the classes provided in this book, I recommend the CodeGuru NT Service C++ wizard written by Joerg Koenig. But even with a wizard, it is good to know how all this works.

No other source compares to the quality and convenience of Professional NT Services, either in book form or on the Internet. The only other way to get this information is to read sample code on MSDN, which is a less-than-optimal way to learn the subject.

Professional NT Services describes the issues involved in writing services, such as security and threading, and provides sample code every step of the way. The book also details how to build a service with ATL and even tells you how to improve ATL's implementation. It even talks a bit about Microsoft Transaction Server (now part of COM+).

Here are three bits of information that I discovered elsewhere that I wish were more evident in the book -

1. If you create an ATL service, the default registation code registers the EXE as a COM server instead of a service -- run "myservice.exe -Service" to register the service.

2. The easiest way for multiple clients to be able to use a single COM instance that's housed in the service is to implement the COM class using DECLARE_CLASSFACTORY_SINGLETON. This is your typical "server" pattern.

3. Clients that want to connect to COM objects housed in the ervice should use CLSCTX_SERVER in CoCreateInstance

Perhaps this information is buried in the book somewhere, but I didn't find it. At any rate, without this book, I wouldn't have known where to start.

Finally, for all its great qualities, the book needs to be revised for Windows 2000. It mentions some new features of "NT5" but I wonder how accurate this information really is.