BKWNXPPT.RVW   20041221

"Windows XP Personal Trainer", CustomGuide, 2005, 0-596-00862-7,
U$29.95/C$43.95
%A   CustomGuide
%C   103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA   95472
%D   2005
%G   0-596-00862-7
%I   O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
%O   U$29.95/C$43.95 800-998-9938 fax: 707-829-0104 nuts@ora.com
%O  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596008627/robsladesinterne
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596008627/robsladesinte-21
%O   http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596008627/robsladesin03-20
%O   tl n rl 1 tc 2 ta 1 tv 3 wq 1
%P   452 p. + CD-ROM
%T   "Windows XP Personal Trainer"

The introduction indicates that this is a graphically oriented
presentation, similar to the "Windows XP Killer Tips" (cf.
BKWXPKLT.RVW).

Chapter one contains very basic preliminaries.  A complete novice
could easily start with this work, and it is heartening to see that
there is much more explanation than is usual with texts of this type. 
The fact that the illustrations are all in black and white may,
however, create some problems when dealing with the highly coloured
screens of Windows XP.  In addition, I noted a number of errors in
identifying different items.  The windows themselves, and various
components and operations, are covered in chapter two.  Standard tools
and functions are explained in chapter three, although it seemed
rather odd to include activities such as font and paragraph
formatting.  Chapter four starts with some basic explanations of files
and folders before moving on to explain the use of Windows Explorer to
deal with them.  This extends to coverage of alternate views (such as
Details and dual pane) and also includes a bit of material on the
DOS/cmd command line interface.  Basic desktop customization is
reviewed in chapter five, and augmented in chapter six.  Some entries
(such as adding entries to the Startup sequence) use procedures that
may not work in all cases or in broad application.  Chapter seven has
brief introductions to the standard utilities, like Notepad,
Calculator, and Paint.  Some aspects of dealing with digital
photographs, and a very terse presentation of Windows Media Player,
are in chapter eight.  Maintenance and optimization are outlined in
chapter nine.  These types of activities have inherent risks, and
while the book makes an effort to explain the options, the
implications of some functions are not made clear.  A short exegesis
of the Internet and service providers is followed up with fundamental
documentation for Internet Explorer and Outlook, in chapter ten.  An
elementary precis of accounts, passwords, and logging on is provided
in chapter eleven.  Using a network (mapping and sharing drives, etc.)
is described in chapter twelve, while the more complicated issue of
setting up a network is in chapter thirteen.  (Some careless examples
and wording in the latter material might preclude the ability to
successfully set up even a small home network.  255.304.649.3 is
definitely not a valid IP [Internet Protocol] address, and the
importance of the non-routable numbers is not mentioned.)

For rank newcomers to the computer world (and for the field-dependent
learners), this book does provide more explanation than is common with
all too many "beginner's" guides.  However, as it moves into more
sophisticated areas, the material is questionable.  This would
probably be my choice to present to someone completely new to Windows
XP, but I would want to warn the reader about errors and some of the
later topics.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 2004   BKWNXPPT.RVW   20041221