Windows XP Secrets

Rating:
Summary: This Secret worked for me!
Review: I haven't been using Secrets books (or a computer for that matter) since Windows 3.x, so I don't have a frame of reference for this new Secrets book like some of the other reviewers.

All I can say is if you are a moderately good computer user and want to find out a bunch of cool and (sometimes) weird things about XP, this book is great. It covers system items well and points out configuration things you might not notice on your own.

Rating:
Summary: No secrets
Review: Just standard mumbo jumbo. Extremely elementary. The only secret is that it has none.

Rating:
Summary: A Shell of What "Secrets" Use to Be
Review: Over the years, I found the Windows "Secrets" to be the best book about Windows (3.1, 95 and 98). This book is by a different author, and it is a mere shell of the old series. Too short, too shallow, too bad. Just look at the begining, and view the description of the differences between Home and Professional editions of XP. The book told me no more than an advertisement would have.

Rating:
Summary: The Secret is Out!
Review: The Secret is out: This is not a very good book.. I was very disappointed with Windows XP Secrets.

I had previously bought Windows 95, 98, and Me Secrets along with several of their Office Secrets and was very satisfied.

The first thing I noticed was the length on the book. In "Me Secrets" the author writes: "...Windows Me is a minor upgrade-not a major departure from Windows 98...." Yet the Me book takes up almost 1,500 pages. Windows XP is the greatest change in the system since Windows 95 yet But the book has only about 700 pages, half the size of Me. Some things have to be left out. And they were. This includes the CD ROM that came with other Secret's books.

The Windows secrets Book usually contained:
Extensive instructions on nearly every aspect of the program.
This is sorely missing here. The instructions seemed rushed and incomplete. If your computer does not align itself exactly to the instructions, which often do not start at the beginning, you will find few alternatives or suggestions. More than just the instructions are missing; large sections of what Windows XP can do are missing too. This book is definitely not for the beginner.

Personalization Tips and Secrets:
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that there aren't that many secrets in general and in this area in particular. What I had like best about the previous Secrets books is that they gave me large amount of suggestions of how I could make Windows "my own". They offered 'secrets" that allowed me to personalize and enable me to feel comfortable with my computer. In addition they offered additional tips to speed up many tasks. There were chapters entitled: "Making Windows Your Own" and "My system." One example: A secret I looked forward to each Secret's book to instruct me on how to change the opening and closing logos of my computer. Using their secrets, I had made, with tier instructions, my own personalized logo on boot up. No longer. This book just doesn't cover the areas it used to. This book is definitely not for the intermediate user.

There are more "tips" than secrets.
Matter fact there are really very few useable secrets and the tips are run of the mill. Since there is little space given to advanced subjects as the registry, and few secrets that you can really use, this book was obviously not written for the advanced use either.

No fun, no sense of reality in the writing.
The previous books were written with a sense of reality, a sense of humor and a sense of fun. All this is missing here. The sense of reality was often a tongue and cheek way of expressing the "secret" deficiencies of Windows and the ways of getting around them. There were even chapters called "Fun." In a field that is very serious, these books took the time to point out that these programs do not all have to be "heavy lifting", there was some fun here too. No longer.

Finally, the previous editions of Secrets came with a CD. For example, entire book, with a searchable database, was able to be loaded on your computer. This was great. You were able to get help instantly. No such book here.

Rating:
Summary: Overall, it's good
Review: This book provides a lot info on Windows XP - more out of the way kinds of things than you might find in other books. I used the Windows Me Secrets book, and frankly, though it was fully of a lot of junk. This book is very focused and I've found everything in it useful. Lots of good info on 3rd utilites. I do wish it had a CD, but I think it was worth the asking price