Rating: 
Summary: Great if only for the evaluation
Review: After passing both Comptia criteria electives, MCSE was next in line. I chose these books for the 6 month evaluation copy of Server 2003 which is indubitably essential 'hands on' before the required examinations.Unfortunately these books are full of intellectual goobledegook - not geekspeak. I believe this was a deliberate attempt to confuse the reader. 2003's nature is an intuitive NOS - not that complicated. To be fair it is stated that you need over 12 months experience of installing maintaining Windows in order to start this course: yet from the start the authors fall short of any explanations of the "what's and why's" of 2003 environment; instead they compiled a short list of facts. In comparison the previous Windows 2000 server manuals [by microsoft] demand the same credentials yet are packed with charts details and easy to understand explanations. I contrasted each chapter of Windows manuals, ONLY the 2000 manuals are self explanatory. Note: 2003 is just a souped up version of 2000... This is given 3 stars, for its evaluations cd - 6 months of hands on will prepare me for the Windows Server 2003 exams. Also its logical step by step instructions covering all areas from setup and advanced configurations. I will need other books before taking the MCSE though...
Rating: 
Summary: Much improved--great buy!
Review: Earlier editions of the Microsoft Training Kits were not particularly thorough, well written, or real world. The three volumes I've used in these new editions, though, 290, 291, 294, are 100% IMPROVED. First, they are EXCELLENT as learning tools (I really wonder why others believe that they're too brief. And they include real-world case studies that did not exist in the earlier editions. But the best part of this new series is the extras, especially the exam practice and test prep information, READINESS REVEIW. This gives you the value of a "study guide" plus an entire "exam cram" type book. With the 10% exam discount vouchers and the eval software,this is a great package!
Rating:
Summary: Much improved--great buy!
Review: Earlier editions of the Microsoft Training Kits were not particularly thorough, well written, or real world. The three volumes I've used in these new editions, though, 290, 291, 294, are 100% IMPROVED. First, they are EXCELLENT as learning tools (I really wonder why others believe that they're too brief. And they include real-world case studies that did not exist in the earlier editions. But the best part of this new series is the extras, especially the exam practice and test prep information, READINESS REVEIW. This gives you the value of a "study guide" plus an entire "exam cram" type book. With the 10% exam discount vouchers and the eval software,this is a great package!
Rating: 
Summary: Dont' waste your time or money
Review: I am an MCT/MCSE/MCBDA and have read scores of technical books.
Don't let the fact that it's Microsoft Press fool you.
These books are shallow and do not offer the depth of information needed to pass these exams. There is no continuity between the books either. I read someone's comment posted below that said they had trouble with some of the technologies because the technologies are new to them. That is not the case; the fact is you are having trouble with the concepts because these books are horrible.
Craig Zacker - The author of two of these books is not even an MCP! This guy couldn't pass these exams if his life depended on it.
To sum up these books are shallow, plagued with inaccuracies, and have horrible explanations of many important concepts.
With these books you probably won't pass the exams, and you certainly won't be able to perform the job function of a systems engineer.
Rating: 
Summary: Sufficiently Detailed
Review: I am currently undertaking my MCSE 2003. I am using this set of books along with Transcender Practice Exams. So far, I have passed exams 70-290 and 70-294 using these books. They are sufficiently detailed and test your knowledge by end of chapter reviews/questions and a readiness review suite of questions at the end of the book. Along with this, there are also MeasureUp practice exams included on a CD that is included as well. Although I find these practice exams much more in depth and detailed as to what you will find in the actual exam (hence my recommendation to purchase the Transcender practice exams which are closer to the mark), they do ensure that you really do know your stuff. I managed to pass the 70-290 exam without any knowledge of Windows Server 2003 and studying for only three weeks using these books and Transcender.
Rating:
Summary: What a waste of money!!!
Review: I bought these books to prepare for the 2003 exams. I can't believe how shallow, and poorly written these books are. The practice exams are a joke, the material and the technical coverage of the books are for novices. If you don't know how to create a user or a group in AD, then these books are for you. But, don't expect to sit the exam and pass based on these books. If you think you can use these books as reference, then think again.
Rating:
Summary: Quite a bit different from professional reviewers opinion
Review: I really wonder if the people who have reviewed a few hundred books and wrote a review of this even read the books. I was shocked to go back after purchasing this bookset to reread the reviews that led me to purchase this set. When I read the reviews I also noticed how many other books some of these people read. I thought wow, they must read all day. Their reviews were nothing but glowing.
A friend of mine claims this book set is designed to force people into taking classes, I must agree with him. The chapter reviews contain questions that were not presented in the section. The companion CD has test questions that also contain questions that are not covered in these books. Every time I found these questions I had to question my own abilities. I asked others to prove me right. To further compound the difficulties were the format of the questions. In some questions the correct answer(s) was the "best practice(s)", this would exclude some answers as being not proper even though correct. Other questions had just the opposite and required any possible even though not a "best practice" response.
My point is that if you have only these books to help you pass the expensive tests then you might consider some classes. I don't feel that this set will allow you to pass the tests without a lot of other studying. I would hate to think that some people pass the test by learning the question pool instead of learning the subject matter. I claim to be no expert in any subject. I am sure I can get trained and certified despite the curves thrown to me with this set with a lot of extra effort and training matter. Thank you for your time.
Rating:
Summary: Great books for the price
Review: I think the books are very good. I am an MCSE currently upgrading my certifications. I dont know why some people are bashing these books, they are detailed, contain labs, practice questions and even a copy of server 2003 Enterprise. I am using these books in addition to Selftest exam sims. If you can find a better self-paced training kit for less I want to know about it.
Rating:
Summary: The Problem With this Book...
Review: Is that it simply does not do what it claims, prepare you for the 70-290 Exam. I read every page of this book, the readiness review sections and all 430 practice questions. I felt very confident going in to the test that I had a mastery of the concepts taught in this book. Problem is...the exam covers many topics which are not covered by this book. I cannot recall the exam verbatim but do remember the test included questions on subnetting, compostion of .vbs scripts, and webdav, NONE of which are covered in this book. What the book does teach it teaches in an easily comprehendable way. It does a good job of reinforcing the concepts it teaches through the included readiness review section and practice questions on CD. However, I cannot recommend this book, because it simply is not enough information to prepare you for the exam. Nice they give you a voucher for a discount on the test, not so nice to be using the money you saved to go towards a retake after buying a more comprehensive book.
Rating:
Summary: 1500 practice questions and 15% off exam fee discounts!
Review: Just the sheer number of practice questions alone makes it worthwhile to buy this set from Microsoft but adding the 15% off exam fee discount voucher makes it really hard to resist buying this set. If you actually take all 4 exams and buy this set from Amazon, your cost is 60% off the list price! But after comparing the number of practice questions from other vendors, I found that it is definitely worth buying this set. Even though these books are intended to train you in the Windows Server 2003 Operating System, I found that it is better to have either 'Windows Server 2003 Administrator's Companion' from Microsoft or 'Mastering Windows Server 2003' from Sybex as a reference guide and use this set mostly for review and exam preparation. After comparing the two reference books, I found the book from Sybex to be better as its coverage is more extensive than the book from Microsoft. The four exams covered in this set are 'Managing and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment', 'Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure', 'Planning and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure', and 'Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Infrastructure'. They are exams 70-290, 70-291, 70-293, and 70-294 respectively. The books are made of very thin paper and are all paperback editions. This makes it easy to carry the individual books around. This is especially important considering that there are 4000 pages in the whole set and imagine what the hardcover editions with heavy paper would feel like! There are 2 CDs that come with the set. One has a 180 day trial version of Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition and the other has the 1500 practice exam questions and several good ebooks. All four books are in searchable and printable electronic formats that are supposed to be Pocket PC-ready. The extra ebooks are 'Microsoft Encyclopedia of Security', 'Microsoft Encyclopedia of Networking, Second Edition', and 'Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Sampler'. This last ebook contains excerpts from other Microsoft reference books. But the first two are worth quite a few dollars if you purchase them separately! There are several white papers and miscellaneous software on the second CD-ROM on top of what I already described above. This training kit assumes that the readers have a minimum of 12 to 18 months of administering Windows technologies in a networked environment and an understanding of Active Directory. I am still looking for a good book on Active Directory Infrastructure. Each book has its own unique and specific hardware requirements but to illustrate, they recommend that you have two computers to learn from the 70-290 book. One computer needs to have the server installed with a specific name (Server01) and the domain controller in a specific domain. This may make it difficult to use a work computer for training purposes unless your boss lets you have a dedicated computer or these requirements don't affect what's already on the server. The other computer should ideally have a Windows XP client for the optional hands-on exercises. Each book follows a lesson style format with each chapter having several lessons. Every lesson has an estimated time at the beginning that may not be that accurate depending on your level of experience. Each lesson has several tasks with the concepts and the step by step instructions explained in a easy to understand manner. Beginners may be able to do okay with the 70-290 book but intermediate to advanced users will definitely be more comfortable with the other three books. I am finding the 70-291 and 70-293 the hardest probably due to my background. Overall, I think this set is definitely worth purchasing as I haven't run into any good competing books yet. But the price and the number of questions included make it extremely WORTHWHILE to purchase this set. Not to mention the additional free ebooks that you would have to pay for otherwise! If you are planning on taking the MCSA/MCSE exams, definitely get this set. If you are just trying to learn Windows Server 2003 from this set, I believe that there are better books out there. Good luck with your training and exams!
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