Microsoft Books

I use this book and also the author's AD cookbook daily to help with supporting our global Active Directory server infrastructure. This is an absolutely indispensable reference.

This book is a great resource covering a wide variety of interactions with Windows Servers. Whether you are new or experienced, this book is an invaluable tool.

We're a software engineering company, and I maintain our internal servers (6-7 servers) as well as provide customer support on our products. A lot of that involves asking for information from the customer - and this book helps in putting together scripts that I can send out that will send back information to us that avoids us asking to exchange 5 emails to get the same result. Anything that saves my time - and our customers time - is worthy of purchasing. Well done, well organised book - and the author returns emails!

This book is not one for beginners who don't know what they are doing and are looking for detailed explanations of topics. This is made purely for the admin who needs to get a job done, and quickly, and knows already what they are trying to accomplish. I really appreacieate all the scripting examples and also how Rob puts in some great building blocks for scripting (like how to redirect your output to an excel file rather than just the usual Wscript.Echo output that you can redirect to a text file or to stdout). Great Job Robbie!!

This book has a sound foundation for managing a windows 2003 server. The chapters are logically organized. I used some of the examples in the book to migrate some file shares in my network from unix to windows, the book was there for the rescue (the fact that the author has a solid windows/unix experience makes this book even more attractive). The solutions in this book include windows scripting, an area that is seldom talked about in windows literature. If you are serious about managing a windows 2003 server competently then you want to have this book in your arsenal.

Es verdaderamnte confiable comprar por amazon, pense que iba hace mas complejo pero fue lo contrario, el producto llegó excelente.
recomiendo ampliamente las comprar online por este site.

Very condensed and abreviated, "little" Windows Vista Bible.Only required some technical knowledge.But, hey if you want to find something quickly
this is it. Period.
Thanks

If you are already into Windows XP Pro, this book will take you to the next level. Good book, well written, with lots of new techniques.
If Microsoft does not dump Vista in the near future, buy the book.

Several days a week I travel to our branch offices. This book is always in my backpack. It is the only Windows Vista book that I refer to constantly. I don't see how you can go wrong with this one. A good value and a good resource to have at hand on the road and in the office.

This book is well written and organized. As a network admin, I found it very useful getting me familar w/ Vista. It has enough info to help me do my job, but not too much to be bored or too detailed on some common taks/commands/procedure. Indeed, a good admin guide, not for study in more detailed level for tests/exams --J.L., MCSE, MCT, CCNA

A good book, very complete and full of infos. All topics are well and deeply explained. I give only 4 stars for two main reasons
1. I don't like the writing style. It is too friendly, I prefer a formal and clean one.
2. Some explanation is 'obscure' and needs to be rewritten, for example the SelectWith extension method.
Anyway it really worths to have a copy on your desk.

I read a lot of tech books and only write reviews on the ones I really think offer value. This is one of them. If you want to learn LINQ from some guys that know their stuff, this is the book for you. It's very readable with great code examples..VB coverage is much appreciated by me! I've also looked at some of the other LINQ books. This is the only one I took the time to read cover to cover. Very easy to read with great coverage of the topic. Highly recommended.

Mark Dunn, MCT, MCAD, MCDBA, MCSD.NET
Microsoft MVP, Visual Basic
Microsoft Regional Director
President, DUNN Training and Consulting, Inc.

If you want to learn Linq, whether its data stored in a database, in XML files, DataSets or just in-memory objects this is the book for you.

I found it so easy to understand, and really comprehend. There are lots of examples, but not too many. After reading the first few chapters you become comfortable with the concept and syntax of the new language extensions.

The authors style had just the right combination of light humor and serious programming. He seems able to express complicated issues with the greatest of ease, and obviously has enoumous knowledge on the subject.

If that was not enough, there are forums avalable where you can raise queries and doubts and the author will do his best to accomodate you, again with a nice and easy flowing style.

The book is a 'must have' to any serious Linq programmer (or want-to-be Linq programmer!) and will certainly occupy a prominent place on my bookshelf.

Highly recommended!

Regards,
Martin.

I've read every LINQ book that i"ve come across and on the whole, they are all really good. As a subject area, the coverage is amazingly well done. This book is a natural fit b/c in every important respect, it's excellent.

First off, it's easy to read. Learning the basic mechanics of LINQ isn't all that difficult. Learning advanced LINQ mechanics is still pretty straightforward. However understanding why certain approaches should be used over other ones, understanding potential pitfalls (getting something back you weren't expecting) and ensuring your code performs well after you get back more than a few records, well, that takes some effort. I think this book helps you accomplish each of those in a manner that's very clear and very straightforward. [As a stylistic note, I think really understanding Lamda expressions, which admittedly aren't a linq feature per se, is challenging at first. This book did not shy away from them and went at them head one. B/c learning them isn't a linear process (at least it wasn't for me or anyone i know), you often make no real progress, then have a moment of understanding that gets you to the next level. That type of learning is best facilitated by seeing several examples - seeing several ways to accomplish something and then reverse engineering the differences. The extensive number of examples really makes that process a lot simpler].

Another really strong point is the examples themselves. In the LINQ to XML coverage, there's an example of how to create a RSS feed from a collection with one linq query. It's beauty is its elegance and b/c most developers have given writing RSS a try, it's a great juxtaposition to show how powerful and useful LINQ can be. That example isn't alone though - there are several others that extend beyond the cliche'd Hello World samples that leave people wanting for more.

The coverage of each topic is superb as well. At no point did I finish a chapter with unanswered questions in mind. Often, authors will make an assertion "you should do it this way b/c otherwise you'll open up security vulnerabilities" or whatever without explaining what the downside is that they are talking about. I know it's a seemingly unimportant thing, but I found that they always explained the points they make, even the minor ones. It's a typical example of the attention to detail the authors put into this book.

Having co-authored several books, I know how hard it is to write a book with a unified writing style. The editing for this book is done in such a way though that it looks like one author wrote it. Yes, there are some differences in their individual writing styles, but it's all close enough that it really does feel as though one person wrote it. That is a huge plus and again, it's just one of those small things they do that shows a serious attention to detail.

So it's easy to read, they cover everything really well, they selected great examples and explain them well and they start out with general coverage and move onto very detailed coverage - making it ideal for both a LINQ newcommer or a seasoned vet.

It's a great book and IMHO, the authors are to be commended for putting it together. Although I've found all of the LINQ books I've come across to be very good - this one made an impression and it's excellent from start to finish.

I am a newbie both in visual basic and Linq, and I have to say that this book is really great. It provides a LOT of understandable explanations, that are so useful for who's not a guru already.

There are tons of examples, plus quite a lot online resources that can be extremely useful.

Great book, probably one of the best on LINQ subject, and it's definitely worth the price

Like many people who develop ASP.NET applications for a living, I was extremely interested in learning about ASP.NET AJAX. This is the only book I bought on the subject, and it has been extraordinary. I can't recommend it highly enough. Read this book and you'll be an expert.

This book was a great introduction to the ASP.NET Ajax Extensions and Control Toolkit! Extremely well written. I especially appreciated the practical, real-world samples that were given throughout the book that actually worked.

If you are after further exploration and like to know how things work underneath the hood a bit more, I recommend Dino Esposito's book as a companion.

I have been reading this book for a while. While at Border's or B&N, I used to grab other ASP.NET AJAX books and used to read them too. But, no other bookes close to this books CLARITY and Detailed and Simple explanation. It starts from the absolute basics and chapter by chapter it brings the developers skill set at par with the pro's. Most ASP.NET developer's client-side scripting needs some work. This book understands it and addresses them in a very simple and elegant verbals.
I had been debating for a while which book to buy. After a lot of work, I decided to go for this book. And I am happy I made the right decision.
It also has the sneak peek of the CTP Futures too.
5+ Stars. Definite YES.

Take this book and the ASP.NET AJAX Framework with two grains of salt, if you're serious about AJAX then learn JavaScript and look into the alternative AJAX Libraries like: jQuery, Scriptaculous, Dojo, Mootools, and YUI.

This book lacks objectivity and often suffers from hype. The authors came across as lacking proficient experience with the JavaScript language, or exposure to other AJAX Frameworks / Libraries, or sufficient experience using the ASP.NET AJAX Framework in real world situations.

Comments like: "we recommend that...", "because it makes no sense...", "you must understand X,Y,Z to run complex client-side code without writing a single line of JavaScript" were discouraging, and always left me hanging. Good books answer more than the "hows" - comments like "you must rely on a special..." are a cry for more research.

The book skims over the technical details of why or how the ASP.NET AJAX framework is implemented. Instead it presented many examples of "how-to" implement the various ASP.NET AJAX constructs and patterns. It would have been nice to see some real world examples of why the ASP.NET AJAX client-side typing system is useful, or why the AJAX Framework's extended JavaScript objects are useful and how these contrast to what JavaScript already provides, or what happens behind the scenes when a class is registered through client-side code, or why the AJAX Framework prefers declarative syntax (XML) over imperative syntax, and to have some real in-depth discussions on performance implications.

In addition to these disappointments, the ASP.NET AJAX Framework itself has some serious technical flaws, it's too heavy weighted (bloated) for practical use. I fear it's a short lived framework, since many of the other AJAX Libraries already offer superior performance and better user experience. I was disappointed with the server-centric approach the ASP.NET AJAX Framework and this book take, and was disappointed to have JavaScript continually swept under the carpet as magic.

Very well written. Great examples. In depth as well as plain spoken author. Much to learn and easy to learn. Recommended.

I won't do a lengthy review... just read the other 5-star reviews and you'll get the drift. This book is so easy to understand you can learn without a PC in front of you (if you're a VB6 developer looking to understand .Net). The explanation of what ADO.NET is all about is worth purchase price alone. No chapter is super comprehensive, but it's a great text to get you rolling in VB.Net right quick. As an MCSD and MCDBA certified developer, I wouldn't write such a great review on just any book. Buy it.

There is so much that is lacking in this book. First, it is not user friendly. It is difficult to follow. Second, it simply does not cover enough information that one needs in order to truly be able to use .Net technology.

Cover to cover this book sails through the hype dispensing nuggets not to be forgotten!!! .Net and C#-aholics had breathed so much hot air, I was having trouble find a place to start. Once received I put everything else aside. I used to use arrays, types, RDS, and ADO to get the plumbing done but now its OOP, and serialization from now on!!! I got so many good pearls from this book its ridiculous.

I have been programming in VB since 1992 and decided to move to VB.NET when it was released but found the learning curve was immense - until I bought the book of VB.NET. This book is my Bible, it sits besides my computer all the time. Without delving into the VB language, it simplifies the transition to VB.NET for the experienced VB Programmer. It's not for VB learners nor does Matthew propose that it is. If you know VB this is the book to ease the quantam leap from VB to VB.NET - explained in logical steps with excellent examples. I have had to EMail Matthew with a few queries and the response is always prompt and helpful.

There are certainly other books you need in your arsenal - such as Francesco Balena's Microsoft Reference - but this one is a must.

This book has a very good intention and concept - to introduce VB6 developers to VB .Net. In general it is a very good book. Not very deep, but good enough to start working with VB .Net and bee reasonably productive. So, if not for sloppy writing, I would probably give that book all 5 stars.
What do I mean by sloppy? For once, author uses terms object and class interchangeably throughout the book. Sometimes it is contextually understandable what he means, but often it might be very confusing, especially for people relatively new to OO. Then there are errors and typos in code examples. Some of them are also very confusing. For example: on page 80 author introduces the new VB concept - delegates. For VB6 folks this is something fundamentally new and strange.
In code example author defines delegate type and calls it ProcessFunction. Then he defines variable of this type and calls it ProcessDelegate. After that on the same page he shows how to use delegates and assigns value to ProcessFunction and retrieves value from ProcessFunction.
From the context one should understand that in the last two cases the variable ProcessDelegate should be used instead, and that this is just a typo. Yet, given that VB .Net now supports shared properties and methods, when Class (Type) name can be used where one expects to see Object (Variable), this types of mistakes are very confusing and annoying.
I would not go here into more examples of books imperfections. There are some more. Not terribly many, but enough to frustrate.
Would I recommend this book? Yes, if you have patience and some other VB .Net book to resolve inevitable confusions.
This could become a great book in its next edition if author takes time to make it a bit more accurate and precise.

If you're a moderately skilled programmer, a self-learner, and you want to get beyond just "getting started" deploying and using Sql Server 2000 Reporting Services, this is the book for you.

I especially found the chapters on customized set up extremely helpful. The installation wizard doesn't offer a whole lot of options, and most of teh time you don't know fully how you want to configure it until you've tried it out. You'll get some good starters on rconfiguring your installation here.

You'll get enough basics to be ready to dive in, and then some tricks well enough beyond that to give you well on your way to devleoping customized solutions.

For a total beginner (which I definately was) this is a FANTASTIC introduction to Reporting Services. Three months after starting my first job as a programmer straight out of University, and now I'm the main person in the firm with Reporting Services knowledge - and it's all thanks to this book.

The writing style is actually excellent for beginners, as I was terrified by the prospect of reading such a mammoth. But these guys make it fun and interesting to read (right down to the jokes and sidenotes) and really do touch on everything you need in a useful manner without boring you.

And excellent resource that now never leaves my desk. I can only hope these guys do a SQL Sever 2005 one. I cannot recommend this book enough for those starting on Reporting Services. It really is the book to read.

And if you are looking for a book on SQL Reportin 2005 - I would still recommend this book to give you the basics and introduction which is unbeatable thus far.

I really the beginning part on the setup and installation of the reporting services themselves. At my firm we needed to set up a seperate server for this purpose and the IT group was swamped with another project and this helped a great deal. I still am workign on development but the book has been very usefula and easy to understand.

This book has been written from a VB programmers point of view. If you want to just start creating reports or if you're not a VB programmer (ie DBA etc) you may find this hard work.As another reviewer mentioned, you may find the authors' jokes and writing style to be a hit and miss affair.

Nevertheless, there is some depth on Reporting Services not to be found elsewhere that is quite handy.

Now that all the friends and family have promoted the book...

In order to understand something new, we all must relate that which we're learning to that which we already know.
Pete and Bill have a difficult time transitioning from campy comedians to thoughtful educators. To this extent, their writing style lacks any useful analogies whatsoever which might bridge the gap between the known and the unknown.

The book is full of droll and distracting fantasy references which are completely irrelevant to the subject matter, and are prone to taking the unsuspecting reader off task.

The potential purchaser should also be forewarned that the authors tend towards another immature trait of attempting to impress the reader with their linguistic abilities. Yet, to be effective at teaching they should have remembered to never use a complicated word where a simple one will do.

Many examples are rambling and inconcise, where step-by-step quickly degrades into an ambiguous and vague path.

Not every developer can obtain DOMAIN Authority in order to issue SSL certificates and it's too bad that the authors don't allow for this type of scenario, especially when a reporting system is on a VPN.

All of the content is there, but it's up to the reader to filter and translate most of it from the pitfalls aforementioned into something more to the center of the bell curve.

In my opinion, this is THE best book I have ever read (and I have read a few) on security in a Windows network. It is very well written; unlike a standard security book that simply has configuration guides and checklists. These guys are not only security gurus, they are very good authors who know how to write. They not only offer explanations on various security best practices, but they also dispel many myths about Windows security "recommendations" by so-called experts. The book has a definite Microsoft bias (as it's title would suggest), but I found very little that I would disagree with. As a long time Windows Administrator (MCP NT4, MCSA 2000/2003 and CompTIA Security+ certified) and also being a security minded individual (though not a security specialist)I highly recommend this book.

Great people these two authors and very charismatic. If you happened to visit one of the IT forums or speeches you'll know what I mean.

Really a great book with a logical processing of different topics. One of the great things is that they create awareness by giving everyday examples of hacking attempts and how to take the right precautions. Things you'll recognize in your daily work. It's easy to read and while the book is a couple of years old, the practical site of it hasn't changed a lot. I hope they update this with Vista and Server 2008 in mind. So certainly worth buying!

Rob Faber [CISSP, CEH, MCSE]
The Netherlands

The simple truth is that if you're directly responsible for the health of a Windows network, you need to read this book. It contains a wide enough breadth to be applicable to all Windows administrators running a variety OS and application levels, while still managing the depth required to be truly informative and serve as a good everyday reference. It provides an incredible amount of detailed theory and hands-on practical advice that will give you the background information, tools and motivation to improve your defenses and keep hackers away from your data.

Those directly responsible for securing the network should read this book through and then read it again, perhaps discussing it with a peer. There's a lot of information to unpack, so a critical study of how to contextualize the recommendations to your environment would benefit from a team of individuals dedicated to understanding and carrying-out the guidelines that are given. In contrast, high-level managers and decision makers who have a more hands-off role would be well served by taking a half an hour to read the first two chapters, giving them a sobering first-hand account of the ease with which a knowledgeable attacker can subvert an entire domain. It will be 30 minutes well spent! A final group, the technically-savvy supervisors who don't actually implement (but monitor those who do), should quickly read the entire volume and hold their employees accountable for upholding at least the principles, if not the specific practices, mentioned throughout. All three groups should read it with the goal of acquiring a security mindset, filtering all their projects and goals through the "lens" created as a result of the truths learned from this pair of gurus. It is the unique combination of sufficient depth with comprehensive breadth that gives this book the edge over most recent Windows security titles from other authors. If you have to pick just one printed manual to take with you into battle, this should be your weapon of choice. I heartily recommend it as a great read for now, and as an investment for your go-to shelf later on.

Jesper and Steve begin the journey with the same eye-opening SQL injection attack you may have seen in one of the talks they present around the globe in their roles as security experts for Microsoft (Jesper has since changed employers). They exploit a poorly-written web application by feeding SQL code directly through the web form, eventually compromising the entire network, even though it's fully-patched and even somewhat hardened. They describe the intricacies of the attack from beginning to end, laying the groundwork for the defense techniques described in the remaining chapters. After taking over their victim network, they round out the section on fundamentals with a chapter on patch management. This was the low point of the book and, in my opinion, it glosses over the realities of just how time-consuming and complex change management and regression testing can be in a heterogeneous environment. Don't get discouraged by this chapter; slog through it and enjoy the informative--yet surprisingly fun--chapters that follow.

Having established the basics, more groundwork is laid with above average, but not spectacular, sections on administrative policies and physical security. These are the most "CISSP-ish" pages of the whole book and should look very familiar to members of the (ISC)^2. While the advice in these early chapters will stand the test of time, there's not much in here that won't already be a part of your daily arsenal. If you haven't figured out such basics as having a written security policy and that users will always choose convenience over security, then study this section hard. For the rest of us, you will find yourself saying "Amen" a lot as you review these four well-written and comprehensive middle chapters. The real epiphany comes at the end of Chapter 7 when they declare that the days of having a notion of a "perimeter" are over. If you haven't realized by now how incredibly porous your network is, this book should help bring you back to reality.

With the first half of the book used as an appetizer, the authors start serving the main course of practical, detailed advice about how to protect every aspect of your clients, servers and network infrastructure. Their incredible insight into password theory and how exactly a real password attack would work is so refreshing--these guys are experts, and it's demonstrated most profoundly in their chapter-long advice on the subject. Here and throughout the book they constantly bring you back to reality by refuting myths common in "security theater" and give you the best advice, with enough background to understand why it works. One particularly sobering moment was the sweeping dismissal of biometric authentication because of the myriad (often foolishly simple) flaws that can defeat even über-expensive fingerprint readers, retina scanners, etc. In the next two hundred or so pages the give you just enough instruction about IPSec, 802.1X, two-factor authentication and server/client hardening to help you understand the critical pieces of theory and find the detailed implementation instructions for yourself. You'll feel like you finally know the reasons to do all these things instead of just getting a litany of the individual steps to implement a particular setting or policy. Microsoft has published a lot of dry technical guides on every registry setting and tweak imaginable; these guys tell you the background information of why any of this stuff matters and they do it in a winsome, often satirical way that makes you want to keep reading.

The key concepts I took from reading this book were: a healthy skepticism about merely doing tweaks or checklists that have an air of sophistication but don't actually improve security; a sense of empowerment about how to untangle my network from a web of dependencies caused by shared service accounts (they even provide a handy utility to make their advice doable); and renewed sense of encouragement that least-privilege is actually obtainable. They end each chapter with an immediate call-to-action that addresses the most important steps you can take to do the most good quickly. If you can force yourself to do these challenging tasks for every area they address, you'll be well on the road to a more secure installation.

The problem with some computer security books is that they are nothing more than pages of checklists with myriad dos and don'ts. But after all the checklists have been dutifully completed, readers still don't understand the underlying concept of how to secure a computer. Within a short time, their computers and networks are insecure, and they are back where they began, as fodder for hackers.

The distinctive nature of Protect Your Windows Network : From Perimeter to Data is that it suggests ways to secure your Windows workstation and network, but it also takes a much broader approach to security and shows you how to address the issue of securing systems as a whole. This panoptic approach to securing systems is quite refreshing, and it makes the book a fascinating read.

The theme of the book is that there are three elements of a successful security program: people, processes, and technology. In 17 chapters covering the gamut of security from server hardening to password protection, the book details how to use these people, processes, and technology to ensure that Windows networks stay secure.

Early chapters deal with the basics of how attacks work and show the reader how they progress from low-level social engineering to the code manipulation that leads to the exploitation of software and vulnerabilities.

The book is filled with easy-to-understand practical and tactical solutions that can be implemented by everyone from nontechnical end users to system administrators, helping them to ensure that their Windows-based network is as secure as possible. Even at 550 densely packed pages, the book is quite readable.

I received a copy of Protect Your Windows Network (PYWN) almost one year ago, and I immediately put it aside. I figured it was another "security configuration guide," with lots of descriptions of settings and other tweaks that makes for boring reading. Recently I decided to give PYWN another look, and I am exceedingly glad I did. PYWN is one of the best security books I have ever read, and that includes nearly 200 titles over the last six years. Incredibly, even non-Windows users will find plenty of sound advice for their enterprise. Although the book is highly opinionated (and at times perhaps not on my side of the issues) I strongly recommend reading PYWN.

When I read and review books, I underline sections of interest and take notes in the margins and on separate sheets of paper. I dried out a pen underlining text and took three pages of notes while reading PYWN. The amount of good advice in the book is staggering. PYWN is incredibly engaging and clear. It is superbly organized, taking a layered approach to enterprise security. The book's strength derives from the authors' consulting experience, and they deliver many stories based on their interactions with customers.

PYWN is not a Microsoft marketing person's dream, either. In many places the book is very frank. For example, p 19 says IPsec in Windows "is the poster child for user unfriendliness." The authors correctly recognize the goal of a "protected" network by explicitly telling customers "no, your network is not secure" (p 15). They are critical of "Return on Security Investment": "following the [security] policy does not increase revenue, it does not increase productivity" (p 116).

This book is definitely not afraid to offend the reader. I do not mean the use of foul language; rather, the book takes very strong stances on certain subjects. Some of these directly contradict guidance given by others. Ch 12 even features 10 Security Myths. In many cases, I believe the authors take the right position, and they adequately defend their assertions. In other cases, I must disagree. The authors are not fans of detecting intrusions, and their monitoring advice in Ch 4 is particularly shaky. They also tend to use an example of compromising a host-based IDS deployment as an excuse to attack all detection mechanisms.

The authors are sticklers for accurate language, which I believe is required in our field. They are keen to point out that "IPSec tunnels" don't exist per se; there is, however "IPSec transport mode" or "IPsec tunnel mode." They repeatedly state that L2TP+IPsec is the only "IETF-approved" remote access solution. This stems from their requirement that such a solution authenticate the user and give his/her machine an IP address. Obviously IPSec alone doesn't fulfill those requirements, hence their promotion of an alternative.

In some cases this desire to use the right word doesn't work so well. I disagree with some of the terms used in the threat modeling discussion in Ch 9. I wonder why the authors (and other Microsofties) call this "threat modeling," instead of using Bruce Schneier's older term -- "attack trees." Sometimes the authors confuse threats with vulnerabilities. For example, p 237 says "Although a threat to an application many times can be eliminated with a patch..." That should read "Although a vulnerability in an application many times can be eliminated with a patch..." Threats can only be eliminated by incarceration; vulnerabilities are flaws which can be patched. On p 254 we read "the config.sys file poses no threat." That's right, but it's not what the authors meant. They should have said "the config.sys file poses no vulnerability," or perhaps "exposure." Finally, p 236 says "you use the model to communicate the current structure of the network and the threats created because of it." That is wrong; building a network doesn't create threats -- it creates vulnerabilities and exposures. Threats are independent of the network.

Similarly, the STRIDE model on pp 242-3 is mostly about attacks, not threats. Read any government report about threats to learn about organized crime, foreign intel services, script kiddies, corporate spies, and so on -- those are real threats. "Denial of service" is an attack; "information disclosure" is a security incident, or a consequence of an attack.

I should note that sometimes the Windows focus of the book blinds the authors to other, better security approaches -- some of which Microsoft is adopting. For example, Ch 14 recommends users "uninstall unnecessary components." This is obviously true, but it's a limitation of Windows. It's much better to start with a bare system and "add necessary components." On p 422 the authors say the Windows Backup Operators group are unsafe for backup. If that is the case, why do they exist, at least as currently configured? The advice in Ch 14 also results in an "unsupported configuration" for SQL server. The authors admit this is for "high security" needs, but this indicates a problem with Microsoft's approach. PYWN pulls no punches in some places regarding Windows, but in others it holds back.

PYWN is definitely not a security configuration guide, of which the authors are highly critical. In some places they do list ways to accomplish certain goals, but most everywhere else they refer readers to previously published books or documents on the Web. Bravo. The book contains numerous footnotes which I appreciated.

I found only a few errors in the text. On p 38, the text implies the three way handshake starts with SYN, ACK instead of SYN, SYN-ACK. On p 84; ISO is not "International Standards Organization." On p 121, the text implies SOX doesn't apply to all publicly traded companies. Since I read every word very closely, I am really impressed by PYWN.

This review is long enough. Let me conclude by saying you will absolutely not waste your time reading this book. It took me a week to finish it because I tried to make the best use of the authors' recommendations and insights. Keep my earlier comments in mind, then enjoy PYWN. I hope the authors produce a sequel or at least a second edition. They are exceptional writers, and this book could easily be called "Protect Your Computing Enterprise." Windows is an example implementation, not necessarily the core focus of the book.

I liked this book and it provided allot of answers to the new functions of what in my opinion are good products for what each are suppose to do and MS usually does a good job at patches as needed. The book was informative and laid out well and is a good reference when needed.

I am a long-time subscriber to Woody's Access news, so I expected to find an enthusiastic, simplified approach and am not disappointed. Great resource.

Very specific and detailed. best for persons who already have used Word 2007, and are familiar with its layout and tools.

Every "Using" book I own (more than a dozen) has been valuable, well written and packed with good information. This is no exception. The authors know Office. I started with Word and quickly absorbed the "flavor" of the new interface. This book will cut my frustration time dramatically.

If you are upgrading to Office 2007 from an earlier version of Office this book is a great help. Microsoft has made a number of changes in where basic tools are located and how to access them. This book makes the learning process a lot simpler and a lot quicker. However, I don't recommend you try to read the book cover-to-cover in one sitting. It is the thickness of a New York phone book. The Index at the back of the book is well done and is a good way to problem-solve individual issues.

If you have Word 2007 or plan to get it, this book is a must have. Word 2007 is DIFFERENT and then some, but all the answers are here. The large heavy tome is indexed and divided so that the answer to almost any question can be found. It may even tell you more than you care to know. Not a beach read, but a very helpful desk reference.

If you know little to nothing about Word 2007, this is not the book for you. It too often assumes you know the answer to the question you are trying to answer. Common terms that you might use if you are familiar with 2003 are not used here, so the index is useless. Save your money.

This text is excellent if you already know something about using Word 2007. Has many details especially about technical actions needed when you are composing book files.

I'm in love! I bought digital access to this book as well as ordering a copy. The day after ordering it, I was able to clean up some serious formatting messes after reading the chapter about styles online. "Using Word 2007" gives clear descriptions of how to use the basic and advanced features, including things like the Style Inspector that Microsoft seems to avoid telling you about in the Help files. It also explains the good and bad points of different options - for example, warning you that if you set a style to Automatically Update and then make a minor formatting change to the text in one location (e.g. applying italics), ALL examples of the style will change to italics whether you want that or not.

If you are forced to work with Word 2007, or support people who have to work with it, you need this book.

I needed a quick reference guide to get a crash course using Word 2007. As a graduate student, I have weekly deadlines for papers. I got a new computer with the Windows upgrade. The learning curve was high, and I did not have a lot of time to learn how to use Word. This reference guide was exactly what I needed. The reference is a valuable tool, and worth the money!

This book is very suitable for readers who already have some programming experience on other languages. It positions right there between beginner level and advanced topics. It also makes perfect balance between tutorial and reference book. It is one of the best C# books that I have read so far.

Good balance between a reference book and one to learn from. I agree with most of the other reviews. The organization is great and progressive.

Overall this is a very good book for both beginners and advanced C# programmers. I would like to rate it 5-stars, however, I found the examples with some errors. The editing team should put more effort on reviewing the examples. Eventhough, I still recommend this book.

Hi Everyone;

I've read many C# books and I love this book. Mark's approach and ease of communicating a point, is great. There are many people who are very knowledgable, but have no skill of teaching a subject. As if they have closed their ears and kept talking.
I actually look forward to reading the next page/chapter, rather than see if I'm done.

Highly recommended!
..Ben

Even if I rated 5 out of 5, the book contains a lot of *very serious mistakes* in the code samples (I have found out more than 10). I'd like to think they are typo mistakes, and the code does not contain what the author intended to write. A very bad rate for the reviewers, who either do not know C#, or they did not review the code samples at all.