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Software Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Software
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Advanced Administration
Published in Paperback by Sybex (2006-05-01)
Author: Jim McBee
List price: $49.99
New price: $23.28
Used price: $23.35

Average review score:

Network Admin
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-25
Book arrived on time and in proper condition.

Just another in a collection of books needed to make a Microsoft world function.

Of course the reviews are good if you pay people to rate your book
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-17
This author appears to be paying people to write glowing reviews of his works. Take a look at some of the reviews for his other works. Before purchasing this book I'd recommend checking out reviews on other sites.

The LAST Exchange 2003 book you'll ever need!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-04
This is, by far, the best Exchange 2003 book I've ever studied!

Great resource for the professional on the field!
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-19
Firstly I'd like to say hello to Jim, I had the pleasure of attending a personal workshop by the man himself in KL for Exchange 2000...since then I've been a true follower of his books!

Ok lets get down to this book...it's been well written from start to end with concise information from the field, I've used a lot of his advice during my design and deployment phases.

It also provides great information if you are venturing deeper into the world of Exchange...so I'll say this book is for Intermediate to professional. A must have for Consultants planning on designing, deploying and migrating to Exchange 2003.

Overall it's a great book to carry around as a reference. Once again Jim...great book...can't wait for the Exchange 2007 copy!!

Great Book for both new and seasoned Exchange admins
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-11
Jim McBee has done it again by writing an amazing book on Exchange 2003 administration.
That was kind of a generic statement, right? I will dive into it in a bit...promise.

I own a small library of Exchange books, accumulated over 12 years supporting Exchange, and around 15 in the IT biz. If there was one Exchange 2003 book that I had to put on my shelf, this would be it. Many of the principles that Jim goes over may be easily applied to Exchange 2000.

Diving into the "amazing book" stuff a bit further...

Essentially this book bridges the gap between the printed architectural and design books and answers the question "What do I need to know in order to run my day to day operations?" as well as "What can I do to troubleshoot my environment and make it better?"

Many admins are plagued with not having a single book which delves deep into the guts of administering their Exchange 2003 servers and improving their environment. There are plenty of great books out there which will teach you how Exchange functions, how to architect Exchange servers, and how to plan your environment. However, books regarding the operation of an Exchange 2003 infrastructure are limited.

This book brings this type of information and melds it into a single source for operating a production Exchange environment as well as provides a great set of fundamental learning.

While all of the chapters are great and the information is enlightening, the Clustering 101 chapter is my favorite. As organizations need to plan for continuity of operations (COOP), clustering and clustered systems are gaining in popularity. This chapter provides some really great information regarding clustering Exchange.

I am a former Microsoft MVP, who participated with the LCS and Exchange MVP teams. I also participate in the Exchange forums of Experts Exchange. As such, it is easy to see when a great book is written. Jim McBee has written another winner and a great time saver. This book was definitely worth every minute.

-Bob

Software
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Administrator's Pocket Consultant Second Edition (Administrator's Pocket Consultant)
Published in Paperback by Microsoft Press (2008-05-10)
Author: William R. Stanek
List price: $34.99
New price: $17.83
Used price: $23.89

Average review score:

Exchange 2007 Pocket Consultant
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-11-03
Very helpful. I don't have to filter through unnecccesary pages of text to find how to performa task. I love it.

Exchange 2007 SP1 is like a different product from Exchange 2007
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-17
The BEST Exchange book I've found. Essential reading. As William tells you in the opening pages of this 2nd edition, Exchange 2007 SP1 is practically a different product from Exchange 2007. Exchange 2007 SP1 is in fact a full product re-release with service pack 1 integrated. SP1 uses the latest Powershell, the original used monad, the precursor.

Covers Exchange SP1 and later
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-29
Another excellent book from William Stanek! I nearly wore the first edition of this book out I used it so much. I bought the second edition as soon as I saw it was available.

The definitive Exchange 2007 guide
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-11
I'm always amazed at how much useful information William Stanek can pack into his books, and this is no exception. With 600 pages, packed with details, this handy pocket consultant is the definitive Exchange Server 2007 guide. Excellent for administrators, developers and anyone who works with Exchange.

Terrific resource from the #1 Windows authority
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-20
William Stanek is the #1 Windows authority and for good reason: he's the best at what he does. I love his books. They are always clear, concise and useful. The book is packed with everything admins need for Exchange administration and has been the book I use all the time.

Software
Microsoft Office Automation with Visual FoxPro
Published in Paperback by Hentzenwerke Publishing (2000-06)
Authors: Tamar E. Granor and Ted Roche
List price: $49.95
New price: $38.96
Used price: $33.12

Average review score:

Microsoft Office Automation with Visual FoxPro
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-17
The built-in vfp report writer, is with no question a powerful tool, but when it comes to end-user report customization, MS Excel is still the report writing tool of choice. This is a great book for those starting to get acquainted with office automation specially for those who wanted to make use MS Excel as the report writer via VFP. The accompanying ebook makes it a lot better...

A Model For Others
Helpful Votes: 17 out of 17 total.
Review Date: 2000-08-04
After 28+ years in this business I have finally stumbled upon an author who knows how to write technical books. This one should be a "how to write" example for other alleged authors.

The book, is clear, concise, and well designed. No assumptions are made; yet it is structured in a manner that one can easily skip over items of familiarity. It is an ideal book in that it spans the needs of users at all levels of expertise and is loaded with real "meat and potatoes" practicality and minimal blue sky theory. No matter what your level of expertise (or the lack of it), you can be creating quality applications within the first hour!

My hat is off to these writers and editors!

All 'how-to' books should be this good
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-04-09
This may be one of the best 'how-to' development books on the planet.

Generating complex Office output from any development language (be it VFP, VB, etc.) can be a daunting task. The first time you try it on your own, invariably you hit a wall and think to yourself, 'how do I do this, how do I get around that, etc.'

Tamar and Della do an incredible job of covering the details. I recently finished a project where I had to generate some of the most complicated formats in MS Word that I've ever seen. (Anyone who is 'new' to Fox should also check out Tamar's "Hacker's Guide to VFP", another strong title).

99% of the time, if I did a search through the PDF version of the book, I came across a meaningful code sample that helped me out...or at least pointed me in the right direction. This book could have sold for three times the price and I'd still feel the same way about it.

Even 5 stars doesn't do this book the proper justice. It has an almost endless supply of tips and techniques. The examples cover so much of Office Automation that the book is a 'de facto' reference manual as well. I've been in the business since 1988, and average about 8-10 book purchases a year. Along with Allen Holub's compiler books and Ken Henderson's 'Guru Guide to SQL Server', I'd rate this as one of the best technical 'how-to' books I've ever seen.

I wish someone would write a good .NET applications book along the lines of this book. The difference between a valuable reference book like this one, and a good % of the junk that's been published on .NET, can only be measured in conceptual light years.

Incredibly Easy
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2001-06-28
Prior to this book, I had been dreading my foray into automation. Literally, within minutes of opening the book, I was automating Excel. And within a couple of hours, I had already built my first automation component for an application. These guys make it so easy!

Every book and article I have ever read by Granor and Martin has been superb, and this book is no exception.

Better Automation
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2000-07-30
A good book for combine two powerfuls application like vfp and office

Software
Microsoft Project 2007: The Missing Manual
Published in Paperback by Pogue Press (2007-08-17)
Author: Bonnie Biafore
List price: $39.99
New price: $22.84
Used price: $22.83

Average review score:

The New Bible for Microsoft Project
Helpful Votes: 15 out of 18 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-23
I used to have the Bible book for Microsoft Project as my reference for making the most out of this software for managing projects, until The Missing Manual came out. This title in now-popular Missing Manual series takes you through the basics and not-so-basics for Project Standard and Project Professional, allowing you to understand the when and the why behind its features and helping you better build and refine your project plans, track progress of your projects and succeed as a project manager.

Goes far beyond the usual `how to' guide.
Helpful Votes: 20 out of 22 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-02
Any who own Microsoft's Project 2007 needs Bonnie Bafore's MICROSOFT OFFICE PROJECT 2007: THE MISSING MANUAL guide, which should really be in the box alongside the program. It offers easy step-by-step instructions that cover both Project Standard and Project Professional, explaining how and why to use some features - an approach which goes far beyond the usual `how to' guide. From using Project in a variety of business applications and incorporating other programs such as Word and Outlook to practically guaranteeing project success, MICROSOFT PROJECT 2007: THE MISSING MANUAL should be on the shelves not only of any serious computer reference library, but any business library and any individual who owns Project 2007 and wants to get the most out of it.

How to look good at work
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-29

Microsoft Project is an unmatched tool for managing all aspects of a project, and the power of its integration with other MS tools is awesome. But its potential is very complex and not for the faint of heart. Before you start blithely loading your milestones and allocating your resources, you really need to understand the concepts of defining your project and conceptualizing the plan. The software won't teach you that and it's the easiest thing in the world to wind up with a Gantt chart that looks like the head of Medusa in no time flat.

That's where this manual makes its mark. Yes, it's a good primer on the software; yes, it's a good reference manual as long as you can guess the term for what you want to do. "Unhide columns," for example: that's what I wanted to do this week, and two minutes with the index and a page reference got the job done for me. (Hint: it doesn't behave exactly like Excel.)

Since I tend to shun manuals, I had not picked up this book until now. I took a moment to flip, and was impressed, and wound up starting at the beginning and going all the way through, reading here and there, checking the book's organization and the points it made about project management. What a great resource! It's an introductory project management course that will get the user started on the right foot.

Despite its name, Microsoft Project 2007: The Missing Manual is much more than a manual. I recommend it for anyone who wants to brush up on the key points of project management, and especially for anyone using the software for the first time (or the first time in a while, which is my situation). It can't guarantee that your project will be a success, but it will greatly increase your understanding of what's going right and wrong. This book is going to make you look good!

Linda Bulger, 2008

Fantastic Resource
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-25
I've always hated "How to" manuals written by people who know the application, but not the work. This book shows how to use MS Project from the perspective of a Project Manager.

It's alway been ironic when I've used other resources that the person who wrote the book explains all the buttons, but not when/why they are really used. "The Missing Manual" is the perfect marriage of function and purpose.

Microsoft Project 2007- The Missing Manual: Excellent Reference
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-27
This manual is extremely helpful for both the novice and the veteran user. The introductory section on project management is one of the best I have seen, and worth the price of the book by itself. Entertaining yet concise style. Book is well organized and information is easily found.
Highly recommended.

Software
Microsoft SQL Server: Planning and Building a High Performance Database
Published in Paperback by Prentice Hall (1996-12-16)
Author: Robert D. Schneider
List price: $39.95
New price: $29.95
Used price: $0.09

Average review score:

Simply Excellent and NO NONSENSE BOOK
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 1999-04-05
Its a must have book

Great book for getting under the hood of MS SQL Server 6.5
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 1998-09-23
This book builds on a basic understanding of SQL Server, showing real-world scenarios and advice on what to look for to make database application perform optimally.

Best book I've found on SQL/Server
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 1997-12-19
I've read at least a half dozen books on MSC Sql/Server at this point, and this was by far the most useful. It's both a good guide to general DB development practices and a tutorial on SQL/Server. This book and the MSC manuals is enough to get someone started on SQL/Server. I took the time to write this review in the hopes of saving someone else all the effort I expended buying and reading the useless books.

A must SQL Developers and Administrators
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 1998-01-01
This is, by far, on of the most usefull books on Microsoft SQL Server I have seen. It covers important information about optimizing queries, indexes and the database itself. A must read for SQL developers and administrators.

Very good book
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 1997-12-22
Really covers SQL tunning well. Gets a little too much into general DBA stuff in the end. I would recommend the Ken England book over this one, simply because it is more concise.

Software
Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Language Reference (Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Reference Library)
Published in Paperback by Microsoft Press (1997-03)
Author:
List price: $39.99
New price: $45.93
Used price: $1.99

Average review score:

It is what you would expect from a language reference
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-03-12
This book is a compilation of various functions and commands available to the VisualBasic 5 environment. It provides examples and supplimental information to help users with different levels of expertise.

Recommended if you want to really program in VB 5.0.

This book is a great source for commands and code layout.
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 1998-07-24
I found this book to be helpful with my everyday programming. This book contains example code for every command in it. This bok also gives you the correct arguments for each command. I find this book to be one of my best developement tools in my arsenal. I recommend this book strongly to anyone looking to do serious VB programming.

A must-have for VB programmers
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 1999-08-20
This reference book is a mirror image of the online help, but a lot more convenient. It contains pretty much all you need to know...and unlike the majority of tutorial books out there, the example code actually works.

This book is invaluable
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 1998-10-01
How can you not love the VB5 Language Reference.

I teach VB for a living, and I tell my students to re-read this Reference guide every 3 months---there's always something new that you'll see in it.

Others will tell you that this information is provided with Books Online (and it is), but I prefer the printed version.

A Staple In My Reference Library
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 1998-08-24
Though you can get the exact same information online, I find that sometimes it's just better to have the hard copy in front of me. The book does a good job of not only showing the syntax, but what arguments to use and situations where the item applies. It's proven to be very, very useful and people would do well to pick this up if they prefer to use hard copy as I do.

Software
Modeling Derivatives Applications in Matlab, C++, and Excel
Published in Hardcover by FT Press (2006-12-28)
Author: Justin London
List price: $179.99
New price: $109.99
Used price: $134.58

Average review score:

Describes the Modelling Procedure and Gives the Code
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 21 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-08
Derivatives are not simple things. It almost seems that complexity was a design goal when they were being set up. In order to determine their real value either today or in the future you almost have to model them on a computer.

This book covers dozens of different types of derivatives, including the common ones and some of the new even more esoteric ones. It talks about the structure of the derivative, and then presents models of them. The models are presented in the most common modelling 'languages' in use today. There is a lot of code involved, but there is not a CD included with the book. Instead, an access code providing a one time download for the code. Note, a one time download. Be sure and save the code quickly and on several media. This procedure allows the models to be updated as needed without regard to the time it takes for the book to move from being written to being published, but if you have a disk crash....

The biggest things this book provides are: first, you get to see what an expert in the field has done, and second, you get the code to run his models on your system, and of course you can modify them if you find some other aspect suits your needs better.

This is a new book, first printed in December 2006, so it is current with the derivatives being marketing at that time.

Justin London did it again
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-19
I highlight two points:

1. The inclusion of Matlab and Excel code in almost all topics of the book.
2. All the content is new and more advanced, there is no recovered topics of his previous book.

State of the art derivative modeling book
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-10
Great book. But the code downloading process is a bit weird. Don't know why they just attach a CD.

Offers prebuilt code for immediate use
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-28
This book offers prebuilt, modifiable code that you can use for energy, power, weather and many other derivatives applications. The download process is fast and easy. For those who use Matlab, C++, or Excel, there is no competition. A great book with unique content and code.

Excellent resource for coding derivatives
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-16
This book was my ultimate go-to resource on several financial engineering projects (on the buy side). It covers many different derivatives and provides example MatLab and C++ code that is easy to modify and extend.

The instructions for setup and downloading the code could be more clear, perhaps on a CD.

Software
Modeling Dynamic Biological Systems
Published in Hardcover by Springer (1999-07-20)
Authors: Bruce Hannon and Matthias Ruth
List price: $79.95
New price: $63.26
Used price: $48.90

Average review score:

A superb text for learning dynamic modeling
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-13
Having never taken a course in computer-based dynamic modeling, this text proved to be an excellent introduction to the topic - and then some. The opening chapter clearly explains the reasons modeling is so important in our complex world, and subsequent chapters in the opening section walk the student through the basic processes of using STELLA and MADONNA to explore dynamic biological systems. (The text is supplied with a run-time version of STELLA.) Later sections build students' modeling skills by adding layers of complexity as a wide variety of biological questions are examined.

The presentation style permits exploration of so many topics by first presenting the basic elements of a model and then guiding the eager student to adjust the model to answer additional questions. Thus, the text truly has something to offer anyone interested in biological systems. Furthermore, it is not necessary to study the chapters in order. Yet the text is carefully woven with analogies so that the skills and knowledge gained from one chapter's model can easily be directed to building and solving those in other chapters.

I also found the text easy to follow during lectures. As the models were presented in class, the equations and the figures in the text - both models and graphs - allowed me to focus my attention on the discussion rather than on getting the "pictures" down in my notes. The text contains plenty of white space around equations and figures so that the student can simply take notes directly onto the pages. One of the most useful features in each chapter is the box showing the equations "in the basement" of STELLA that drive the model. The text is definitely a learning tool, not simply a book to be read but not used.

"Modeling Dynamic Biological Systems" is a text that will be kept close to my computer and pulled from the shelf often. The systems thinking and independent learning encouraged by this book will be very useful as I complete my education and move into my new career.

An excellent, hands-on book for learning dynamic modeling
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-08
I have used this book to learn dynamic modeling both as part of a class and in research work. This is an excellent book for beginners and professional modelers alike. The book uses STELLA, an iconographic modeling software, as the platform for learning. However, the knowledge gained through the book and the software is based on more general modeling philosophies that can be applied using other modeling software or programming languages as well. The approach used here is to learn by hands-on training through examples. One does not need to study a lot of theories to start developing models; rather the theories and principles evolve through the modeling exercises. It is not required, though advisable, to purchase the software to go through the examples as the book comes with a run-time version of STELLA.

Another aspect of the book that I found to be interesting is that after going through the initial few chapters, the rest of the book can be studied in any order. It includes a host of examples from various areas of biological sciences and it is possible to focus on one's area of interest - be it population dynamics, genetics, environmental pollution or epidemics. It gives a fair introduction to spatially dynamic modeling as well. I must also mention that one does not need to be a biologist to use this book. I have had friends with economics and engineering backgrounds who used this book to learn dynamic modeling.

One of the most important strengths of this book is that it is easy enough to be accessible to people from a wide range of disciplines and at the same time advanced enough to expose the user to moderate to highly complex modeling challenges. I strongly recommend this book to academics who are teaching dynamic modeling and anyone else who is involved in research that include dynamic processes and interactions. This book teaches dynamic modeling as a versatile tool - so much so that I even used it (for fun) to model my personal finances!

I suggest that the reader take a systematic approach to study this book while sitting in front of the computer and doing the examples as you go along. This will maximize the learning from this book. This is certainly one of the most practical books on modeling that I have come across.

The means to an improved understanding of biological systems
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-18
The increasing interconnectedness and complexity of ecological and biological systems is undoubtedly increasing the potential environmental consequences of our decisions. Thus the growing importance of improving our understanding of the characteristics and internal relationships that govern the system's behavior. Hannon and Ruth clearly illustrate how we can think about problems from a `dynamic systems' perspective, and how we can use technical programs to apply this new way of thinking as a tool to model biological systems. They present the means to build a greater understanding of the phenomena we see, the context of the problems that confront us, and the potential and expected effects of any interventions we may make.

Like the book's theoretical foundations, the modeling software used is both user-friendly for easy up-take by beginners, and sufficiently powerful for those at a more advanced level needing a robust software package. The reader is actively guided through the model development, simulation and interpretation process. This learning by participation and experience increases the readers understanding of the wide variety of contexts in which modeling techniques can be applied, and how to apply them.

Those interested in biological issues will find this valuable from the practical biological examples that are used, and the novel approach in which these issues are addressed. These range from spatial and population dynamics, to models of organisms, genetic movements and physical systems.

Further, the clarity of writing, and the familiarity of the examples and problems addressed, makes this an enjoyable educational experience for all people interested in developing a new perspective of the environment in which they live and work.

Perhaps most importantly, the analogical strength of the techniques used and models developed is such that researchers in all fields of academia, from economics to sociology, will benefit from it. It challenges us to re-examine how we define the problems we seek to solve, and to discipline our existing conceptualization of systems. It presents us with tools that challenge, yet compliment and strengthen traditional scientific approaches.

A great dynamic modeling book
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-16
Modeling Dynamic Biological Systems is a wonderful book for students and researchers interested in learning about dynamic modeling. I used this book in the first class I took dealing with dynamic modeling and found it very easy to understand and follow. The basic design of the book is to introduce the basic concepts of dynamic modeling and how to get started designing models in STELLA. Descriptions for designing models and the example models are based on STELLA modeling software, an intuitive iconographic program that allows even non-technical readers to begin modeling quickly. After the introduction to dynamic modeling the book is divided up into parts based on different areas of biology: Physical and Biochemical Models, Genetics Models, Models of Organisms, Single Population Models, Multiple Population Models, and Catastrophe and Self-Organization. In each of these parts there are a number of models dealing with different issues. The models are clearly explained and both the iconographic diagram and the equations are given so users can create the example models from the book or check their own work.

This book is a great resource for both novice and experienced modelers. Biologists from all areas will find this useful if they are interested in learning about dynamic modeling. Even if one's area of interest is not exactly one of the areas focused on in the book, the skills and basic method of dynamic modeling will be learned and the reader can then apply these to their area of interest. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in dynamic modeling, even non-biologists. With its great examples and clear explanations this makes a great resource for learning about dynamic modeling.

Demystification of modeling
Helpful Votes: 9 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-29
This book is a concise, effective introduction to dynamic systems modeling
and how it can be used to provide insight to biological problems. The use
of dynamic modeling is demonstrated through example models, a new model
each chapter. The authors walk the reader/student through each model and
then make suggestions as to how it can be further exploited for greater
understanding of the problem. The greatest aspect of this book lies in
its demystification of computer modeling in general and shows that any
person, no matter their quantitative skills, can effectively model a
system by adhering to certain fundamentals. The models that are provided
range from ecosystems to individual cells, espousing a 'systems' approach
to every level of biology. Overall, this book is easy to understand; providing a mental tool by which one can bring greater clarity to complex, dynamic problems.

Software
More Math Into LaTeX, 4th Edition
Published in Paperback by Springer (2007-08-23)
Author: George Grätzer
List price: $49.95
New price: $33.10
Used price: $33.10

Average review score:

a good tool for using LATEX
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-07
The book 'more math into Latex' is a good tool which helps somebody without experience in Latex to start using it as soon as possible and reach an adequate level for simple enough articles very fast. I would not be able to judge this book for difficult Latex applications.

Very Helpful Starter for Graduate Students Wanting to Publish in LaTeX
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-16
The book is very helpful for graduate students who are first learning LaTeX for publishing their dissertations or for submitting articles for publication. It is especially helpful for users of LaTeX that are using pre-made style guides. This book is not for the advanced LaTeX user who is trying to create their own style guides or document class files, all though the book does have a little on the topic. The book also includes a chapter on using LaTeX for making power-point type presentations, which is helpful in math and statistics where presentations have to include equations. Power-point does not handle equations well. The statistics department at my university recommends the book to all our graduate students for writing their dissertation. I have also contacted the author of the book for additional assistance and found him to be very willing to help with LaTeX problems outside the realm of the book. He helped our department create a document class file for publishing dissertations, a more complicated procedure in LaTeX than the typical LaTeX user will have to encounter. This book is a good introduction into the world of LaTeX.

The one LaTeX book to have
Helpful Votes: 11 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-14
What new can I write about a book that is in its fourth edition, and has served the LaTeX community for almost two decades?

There is a new chapter on presentations and an appendix on installing LaTeX on a PC and on a Mac, so you get help from the get go. Also, for the first time, this book merges TeX, LaTeX, and the AMS packages into one, smoothing the learning curve for beginner and advanced user alike.

If you are new to this book, I should start by pointing out that you get two for the price of one. A sixty page Short Course gets you ready to type your first article in an afternoon or two. The plentiful sample files help you get started fast.

The rest of the book presents a detailed survey of LaTeX: how to type text and math, document structure, presentations, customization, and long documents.

Gratzer teaches by example: each new concept is introduced with examples and sample documents, so you learn by doing.

Multiline math formulas is the most difficult topic of LaTeX. This is the only LaTeX book that dedicates 40 pages to this topic, trying to make it accessible with a Visual Guide and a verbal guide of how these multiline structures can be classified and understood.

Gratzer teaches by distilling the most important information you need. For instance, Beamer, the presentation class he presents, has hundreds of commands and its documentation runs to hundreds of pages. The Beamer chapter selects twenty commands, so you should be on your way writing your first presentation in hours not weeks.

This book has served me well when I started, and it is my constant companion, placed next to my computer when I type LaTeX.

Az expert's take
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-19
I am a LaTeX programmer and instructor. This weekend, I finally had time to read Part I of this book, Short Course, and paged through the other parts.

What a pleasure! Grätzer has an amazing talent to say exactly what is important, without putting in extras that will distract a reader.

You'd think that by this time I'd know enough LaTeX to, at least, get through the Short Course without learning anything new; but instead I ran into trick after trick that I didn't know. I use Beamer but I didn't know FoilTeX, the presentation package used in the Short Course. It's a great idea to let tell users very early on how to make a presentation from their papers, and then leave Beamer for full treatment later.

I very much like Appendix A, holding the reader's hand as LaTeX is installed. Then the three "productivity tools" are introduced, explaining how to use these tools on both platforms, and leaving the rest of the user interface for later, leisurely exploration, making it really quick for users to start using LaTeX.

Very early in the introduction, Grätzer talks about "the three layers" (TeX, LaTeX, and the AMS packages) and, from the beginning, use all three seamlessly. This is a radical new idea. It will substantially reduce the learning curve -- my students will appreciate it. The wonderful foreword by Rainer Schöpf (one of the two lead programmers of AMS-LaTeX) makes the role of the AMS packages clear in the historical development of modern LaTeX.

I really like the way you got to "Lines too wide" so early in the Short Course, explaining to the user the cause of the problem and solutions. Why do most books postpone this?

I better not go on and on. Just wanted to write these few lines about my enjoyment as I read this wonderful material.

A beginner's perspective
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-17
I was a graduate student in math and faced the daunting task of typing my thesis. It was bad enough that I was inexperienced in writing math, but I was also a novice in LaTeX.

I tried two well-known books. In one, there is a Part I, Basics. This is for me, I thought. Unfortunately, it is 200 pages long and does not cover such elementary topics as the "cases" structure. For that, I had to go to page 288. The other book had "cases" hidden on page 238, under the title "Matrix like environments". Not very helpful.

What a relief it was when I came across this book. It helped me set up LaTeX on my Dell notebook (why do other books assume that you already have a LaTeX installation?). Then I downloaded the sample files as instructed and read the really easy 60 page Part I (Short Course). I worked through the text and examples in less than a day. Then I started writing my thesis.

In my spare time, I gave the rest of the book a cursory reading. Occasionally, I need to go beyond what is covered in the Short Course. For instance, as an analyst, I need complicated integrals not covered in Part I. (They are easy to find: in Part II, in the chapter on typing math.) And when the time came to give a presentation on my thesis, I went beyond the Short Course's section on presentations to Chapter 14, and I used Beamer!

Everybody was impressed.

Now I am Jim Whitby Ph.D. Thank you George for the help.

If you are a beginner, this is the your book.

Software
MOUS Essentials: Excel 2000 with CD (MOUS Essentials)
Published in Paperback by Prentice Hall (2000-04-23)
Authors: Marianne Fox and Lawrence C. Metzelaar
List price: $86.67
New price: $30.00
Used price: $0.15

Average review score:

If you want to build and broaden your Excel skillsets this is a great resource
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-05
There are many good reasons to want to enhance your skill in using Microsoft Excel. One might be for getting certified my Microsoft as an expert in Excel in order to enhance your employment opportunities. Another might be for a person who hasn't used Excel to learn about the package from the ground up. Yet another might want to add some specific topics such as pivot tables or to begin learning about the statistics features in Excel. For any of these reason (and others0, this is a great book to get well grounded in Microsoft Excel 2000.

This book is organized by "projects". Each project covers a broader collection of specific skills such as modifying a worksheet, improving the appearance of a worksheet, working with functions, creating pivot tables and pivot table reports, and many more. There are 18 of these projects and each has eight lessons. Each lesson is short and focused to one task. For example, in the Working with Functions project, the eight lessons are: Analyzing Data with AVERAGE, MAX and MIN, Calculating a Loan Payment with PMT, Creating a Loan Payment Table, Evaluating Investment Plans with the FV Function, Using IF to Display Messages, Using IF to Calculate, Using MOW to Display the Current Date, and Using VLOOKUP to Convert Data.

Although this is a book, it is very visually based and uses images of the screens discussed in each lesson with many labels pointing to the specific portion of the screen it identifies. Each project begins with a short introductory statement under the heading "Why Would I Do This?" and ends with a brief summary. Each project also has a few true or false questions and some multiple choice questions to help the reader check their understanding of concepts and terms. If you are unclear about the correct answer, a reference to the appropriate lesson in the project is provided so you can go look it up.

Each project also has a Skill Drill a Challenge, and a Discovery Zone. Some of these use files that are on the accompanying CD. Since this book is also focused on helping its readers prepare for certification testing, the CD also contains PinPoint Assessments that help the reader understand where he or she stands in mastering the skills necessary for successfully passing the certification exam.

The introduction to the book provides good orienting material including a chart of which projects and lessons focus on specific skills. The end of the book also has information on how to use the PinPoint software, how to register for certification testing, a glossary, and an index.

This is a very helpful book.

Excellent exam prep material.
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-28
Excel 2000 was my last exam on my way to master certification. Before I purchased this book I was very lacking in my excel knowledge. This book helped me gain a better understanding of excel functions. I passed my excel 200 exam and missed perfect by only 40 points.

Give you what you need for the exam
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2001-08-28
If you want to know the essentials of Excel, not just to pass the MOUS Exam, but also for your daily use, this book should be on your library. The clear illustrations help you to quickly navigate through the lessons. Furthermore, CD-ROM is especially useful if you want to take the Exam.

Great Book
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2001-07-12
I am a computer instructor at a local college. This book is a wonderful book to prepare for the MOUS and the CD is a must also!!!

Fantastic Preparation for the Expert Exam
Helpful Votes: 9 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2001-09-28
I highly recommend this as a study guide for the Expert Exam.


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