Microsoft Books

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good book for experienced MS Office users and noncomputer types.

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rating: 4 and 1/2 stars

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bharat Suneja
MCT

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

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

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

I like this book because this book takes the user from begining to expertise.

I would just like to say , that this book has been a real asset , in learning and developing my VB skills. - Couldn't put it down !!

I bought this book by accident thinking it was something else and I've never put it down since. It covers all the major points I wanted to learn and more. I read this before taking the MSCE training course. After reading the first 6 chapters I found I had covered the first 4 days of the 5 day VB course.

I recommend this book for all begining VB programmers even if you want to start using VB6, read this book first for all your ground work.

This is an excellent VB Book. I constantly turn to it for code samples and commands when in need. It contains almost all the common VB Commands. Aside from that, each chapter is a lesson in itself.

I consider this book to be a lucky find for me. It is one of those uncommon books that explains things very well, starts from basics, and works its way up through more advanced and very practical and useful subjects. I originally got this book just because it was the only one I could find that covered serial-port communications for Visual Basic. Since then (having done a lot of programming in Visual Basic and having looked through many, many other books of various sorts), I find that it's one of the best books I could have chosen for learning about Visual Basic in general. It got me up to speed on several topics (pictureboxes, file I/O, writing database front ends, the basics of ActiveX, just to name a few things). I heartily recommend this book for beginners through advanced intermediates -- and for folks who already have programmed a lot in other languages and are looking to broaden out into Visual Basic.

I have gone through several books on C. But I feel that anyone who goes through the first chapter of this book will say 'This is the book I needed'. Going through it was fun - right from the first to the last line of the book. (I forgot that C is a subject in my curriculum)

If I rate this book w.r.t any other book on any subject (comparing how much the authors are able to convey the subject to the readers) this book will easily be among the best.

The book is the best for begineers in C and will also be useful to those who know C but are not very clear about the intricate concepts(There are many to be learned in C).

However you should look for some other title if you are going for really advanced programming in C.

Even if you have another beginning text, the excellent review exercises alone are worth the price of the book. If you are hoping to learn C from scratch, this is the one. If you are hoping to learn C++, start here first and your future C++ studies will be greatly accelerated

This book was the best C book I've ever read. It starts with the basics and moves slow ahead... hard to understand sometimes, but that's C for you... goes on to explain unions, structures, and advanced data representation. I recommend it

This book will be very helpful for those who are new to C programming and, actually, for those who have never seen a computer before. It has clear and understandable explanation of different topics and method of programming, a lot of helpful examples and hints, and interesting quizes for those who likes "Teach Yourself...". 4 months ago I bought this book to my 12 years old nephew, and I'm afraid that now he knows C better than I do.

A solid tool for learning c programming. An excellent tutorial with very meaningful exercises as well as a handy reference. However, buyers should be aware that the publishers have not followed the trend of making the source code available via free download, but instead charge $15 for a disk.

Researching information and procedures for our W2K deployment, where I quickly grew tired of installing the OS & applications on each PC by hand. Half way through this book I was overjoyed, seeing a light at the end of the tunnel - and the tunnel is not on fire. The text is clearly written, helping me pull together all the other information I had read. Having a set of concise directions on using SysPrep was an excellent addition to the book. The information on Group Policy & the Group Policy Editor could be a godsend to locking down the customer computers and enhancing the user environment for my coworkers.
Most of the technology books I have read have been forced - forcing myself to read and understand the text, either for a work or personal project. This text was surprisingly an enjoyable read. It appears that this is the author's first book - I hope he keeps writing, and his results are as good as this title.

CONCISE, PRACTICAL, EXPERIENCED WISDOM. There were a few things that I picked up from this book that has really helped me. For example the xcellent utility called ScriptIt (I have since used the natural follow on to this called AutoIt) and did you know that sysdiff is not so great in installing complex apps like MS Office? Dont waste your time on methods that are likely to cost more time rather than saving it.

Very Useful file extension summary and the unattened.doc documentation rolled into Appendices.

One note of caution though the book mainly covers deployment methodology for windows 2000 only hence it is only useful for that purpose, would have been nice if Office 2000 config & rollout could have been covered also.

Adious

AK47

In preparation for deploying Windows 2000 for my company, I bought the Windows 2000 RSK, and I read the 1100+ pages of the RSK's Deployment Planning Guide. I spent many a frustrated day in the lab pawing through all of the dry reading Microsoft provides in the RSK, the on-line help and the KB - and then I discovered this book.

The book assumes you're an administrator and have experience in integration - and that Windows 2000 isn't a stranger to you. Almost every question you run into while you plan and test your deployment is answered in the 375 pages - in plain, simple English. When you move past the section devoted to deployment planning, strategies and options, the book delivers a great section on post-deployment policies and administration. To add the final touch, the reference section provides an invaluable resource for such things as the syntax to the automated install answer file and even common file extensions.

My only regret is that I didn't read this book first. I could have saved myself so much time. The knowledge this book delivers to you is essential and will assist you in a successful deployment. If you're planning a Windows 2000 rollout - you need this book.

This book is an invaluable resource if you are involved in the deployment of Windows 2000. It is well written with excellent examples provided. It is obvious that the author has a lot of hands on experience with the subject matter and is able to share them with his readers. A must read.

Windows 2000 represents a significant departure from previous Microsoft operating systems. The move from Windows NT 3.51 to Windows NT 4.0 was incremental. The leap from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000 will require a whole new set of skills. This is due in part to the number of new technologies being bundled with Windows 2000. Without books like the one written by Mr. Ferris, many technology professionals will be caught unprepared.Mr. Ferris uses his rapier like wit to cut through the Microsoft marketing machine exposing all of the triumphs and short comings of Windows 2000. Don't be surprised to find yourself "getting it" a page or two later. There's your world, there's the world according to Microsoft, then there is Mr. Ferris's world. Watch out when all three come together...

Mr. Ferris's book is well suited for Systems Integrators, Systems Engineers, technical Project Managers, and other technically oriented managers. If this is the first technology book you've ever read, or if you're just looking for a quick rundown of the Windows 2000 buzzwords, put this book down and move on down the shelf (look for the thin books with lots of color screen shots). On the other hand, if you're looking for an excellent Windows 2000 reference with lots of discussion and "how-to" mixed in, grab this book and run, don't walk to checkout stand! The technologists in the audience will not be disappointed. Mr. Ferris relates Windows 2000 technologies to existing Windows NT 4.0 technologies where appropriate, and uses a number of creative techniques to explain new technologies that have no good direct relationships to earlier technologies. This being said, the book does not suffer from techno-babble.

Even a "green" Systems Engineer should be able to implement a given technology using the straightforward step-by-step approaches provided in the book. Mr. Ferris does not miss an opportunity to point out where Microsoft and the real world differ on technology implementations. This book is full of real world solution to real world problems. Don't be surprised to find yourself using portions of this book as a blue print for a solution to a problem you are facing right now.

The Book's number one strength is a firm grounding in reality as opposed to relying on theory. The techniques presented in this book have been tested, and in many cases, implemented in a production environment. Another strength of the book is its flexibility. The book serves equally well as a technology reference and as a technology primer. You can quickly get a definition or an in depth discussion for any number of technologies. Finally, Mr. Ferris's writing style is both to the point and entertaining. It would be a stretch to say this book is a joy to read, but compared to many technology books that would have you trying to slit your wrists with the dust cover after the second chapter, this book reads like a Tom Clancy novel. O.K. ,in Mr. Ferris's case, maybe more like a Stephen King novel.

This book has been an absolute lifesaver. There have been many occasions when it has proved its value as a reference.

I have saved time and money by using this book's practical recommendations to increase performance. It is also the only book that I have seen that attempts to optimize Backoffice apps. Highly recommended!

This definitely has some great tips for making NT scream. I have referred to it several times. The Registry chapter is awesome.

Until now, I haven't been able to find any performance tuning resources that covered both Windows NT and MS BackOffice. This book has already helped me make vast performance improvements. I'm also already beginning to act on the book's recommendations to implement capacity planning procedures for the NT environment.

I was impressed with Gardinier's concise recommendations. This book not only gave me insight on where and when to optimize my NT systems but it also provided me with hard numbers to compare against. I also benefited immensely from the chapters dedicated to optimizing MS BackOffice applications.