Windows 2000 Pro: The Missing Manual

Rating:
Summary: This book sets on my desk
Review: Im just a home user of Windows 2000 Pro. I switched to Win2K because everyone said it was far more stable than other Windows operating systems. After using the other operationg systems Win2k had a somewhat familiar look and feel, but I needed some reference. I rapidly grew tired of trying to find answers on the internet.
Then I bought this book. It has been a great reference for me. I easily found what I was looking for in it. I learned a few things I wasnt looking for.
My advice, if your like me just a home user this book will serve you well. It now sets on my desk within easy reach.

Rating:
Summary: Not quite what I was expecting
Review: The little red ribbon graphic on the cover of the book says, "Mastering the Corporate PC". Since Windows 2000 is targeted at business users (Microsoft's offering targeted to home users at the time was Windows ME), I had expected more of an emphasis on the likely concerns of business users (i.e. networking, security, etc.) rather than how to use programs like Paint, Wordpad and Media Player. After purchasing the book, I discovered that most of the same information was available, organized in much the same way, on the TechNet section of Microsoft's web site. If Windows 2000 is your first exposure to any form of the Windows operating system, this would probably be an appropriate selection. If you have experience with Windows and are upgrading, I suggest you look for another book.

Rating:
Summary: A nice, basic, manual but no more
Review: This is a very nice book for someone relatively unfamiliar with the windows operating systems. As such it is well-written, well laid-out and nicely illustrated. It will take every novice through just about everything he/she needs to know and even a little bit further. As such, its ambition to be the "missing manual" seems justified.

However, if you, as a great many of us have, have been through various incarnations of Microsoft Windows and are looking for all of the new and exiting aspects of Windows 2000 as opposed to e.g. Windows 98, you're likely to be disappointed. Vast parts of the book would have been exactly the same in a book for one of the older operating systems. The book stops where, in my opinion, things get interesting. Do not expect any clever "insider"-information.