Rating: 
Summary: This book is well worth every penny!
Review: This is a great book to own! I continuously refer to it, and occasionally sit down with it to learn new topics. It also gives a great description of how owner-draw items work (menus, etc.) and their differences between straight-Win32 and MFC. Great coverage on bitmaps and how to use the device context for drawing, with excellent straight-forward examples!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent and thorough book for non-Windows programmers.
Review: This is a great explaination of how to program in MS-Windows if you have not done it before. It's a lot to read, but then, there's a lot to programming in windows. The sample code ties in well with the text. It's pricey, but worth it. Stay away from the paperbacks and buy this book instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book with one caveat
Review: This is one of the most comprehensive books for learning Win32 programming , no doubt . The book has no leftovers from the win16 era and it points out differences between them wherever it deems appropriate. The range and depth of the material is amazing .Now let me get to the bottom line . This is region specific .In some countries like India this book is published without the associated CDROM. Since the book relies heavily on the source code on the CDROM I am wondering how to make most out of the book In short , the book with CDROM is 5 stars and without CDROM is 3 stars . So buyers , if you get the book without the CDROM please reconsider your options .
Rating:
Summary: This book is so good
Review: This is the best book for window programming and almost couldn't be better.
Rating:
Summary: This book sits on my desk, not the book shelf.
Review: This is the best SDK book I have ever read, I have read all of Petzold's books and they are also very good, but this one gets into the details like no other book I have read. The programming style and structure of the book is first class, it makes an excellent learning tool and reference.I have found that when a book gets only five stars or one star what we have here is a great book that is beyond the understanding of a few people. If you like watered down how to's with out detailed explanation then this book is not for you. But if you are looking to be a first class programmer with all the information you can get on the subject then this is a must have book. I had no problem compiling the programs, you need to know your compiler and adjust the make file but that takes a bit if thinking that some people just don't have. If you can not figure out a simple problem like compiling a program with out having your hand held then you are in the wrong field.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but needs editting
Review: Very good on the level of detail, and incredible on the pitfalls and specific problems they found when actually writing the code for the examples. Be careful, though - a number of the tables (and even some of the printed code samples) contain typos and other minor errors (like missing headings, making one table pretty useless!). You can figure out what's wrong, but if you just use this as a reference and happen to hit a section with an error you might not catch it without reading the accompanying text. I read it through, rather than as a reference, and it was clear which parts of the text had only been lightly checked for the latest edition. Again, 95+% of this book is really great! And the anecdotes and clear detail on where MS documentation is "flawed" are of terrific value - I definitely am glad to have purchased it, but I also want to point out that if something in it doesn't make sense - you're probably not crazy. It's quite likely to be a typo... Oh - one more thing. The "Explorer" samples they include were a fabulous idea, and have really helped me figure out what the heck some of the various style (and other) flags really meant. Extra credit for the CD! :-)
Rating:
Summary: Good, but needs editting
Review: Very good on the level of detail, and incredible on the pitfalls and specific problems they found when actually writing the code for the examples. Be careful, though - a number of the tables (and even some of the printed code samples) contain typos and other minor errors (like missing headings, making one table pretty useless!). You can figure out what's wrong, but if you just use this as a reference and happen to hit a section with an error you might not catch it without reading the accompanying text. I read it through, rather than as a reference, and it was clear which parts of the text had only been lightly checked for the latest edition. Again, 95+% of this book is really great! And the anecdotes and clear detail on where MS documentation is "flawed" are of terrific value - I definitely am glad to have purchased it, but I also want to point out that if something in it doesn't make sense - you're probably not crazy. It's quite likely to be a typo... Oh - one more thing. The "Explorer" samples they include were a fabulous idea, and have really helped me figure out what the heck some of the various style (and other) flags really meant. Extra credit for the CD! :-)
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reference
Review: Win32 Programming is probably the best programming reference book I own. The authors of this book do something that most writers of programming books fail to do - EXPLAIN the subject matter (not just give examples). I only wish that all of my books were this well done.
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