Rating: 
Summary: Very good for starting out
Review: A lot of VB.NET books on the market jump straight into the deep end and assume you have a VB6 programming background. This one does not - it covers stuff that is essential to do most things as well as some other cool features.
Rating: 
Summary: Missing MSDN Discs
Review: As with many of the posts that I have seen, my Deluxe edition did not come with the MSDN CD(s). It would have been nice to see a "contents" list on the side of the box, as until I did some searching I was not sure if I was even supposed to receive them. I made a quick call to Microsoft and they have arranged to ship the missing material right away.
Rating:
Summary: Missing MSDN Discs
Review: As with many of the posts that I have seen, my Deluxe edition did not come with the MSDN CD(s). It would have been nice to see a "contents" list on the side of the box, as until I did some searching I was not sure if I was even supposed to receive them. I made a quick call to Microsoft and they have arranged to ship the missing material right away.
Rating:
Summary: Download Nightmare
Review: Great book but the software is not very easy to load to a laptop or other computer if you have a combination drive for both DVD and CD. I wasted many hours trying to load the MSDN library software with this dual drive. I contacted Microsoft but their technical support only caused more frustration. In an effort to salvage the install after a fourth failed attempt,I used an auxillary CD drive, with connection to a USB port, to install the software. I did not have a problem or get any error messages using the CD drive. My advice is to not try a combo drive for installing the software - go the CD drive route to stay sane.
Rating:
Summary: Get the help files from Microsoft
Review: I phoned Microsoft (here in the UK) and they admitted it was a mistake to omit the help files CD - they are posting mine. Still it took 30 minutes on the phone to find someone who knew what they were talking about ... The book is ok but I prefer the much larger Programming VB.NET.
Rating:
Summary: Complete package perfect for a beginner!
Review: I purchased the Deluxe Learning Edition and am very pleased with what I got. I was a little nervous ordering it at first because of the previous reviews stating that the bundle did not include all of the disks. My package did contain ALL the necessary disks. My box contained 6 disks:
1) Visual Basic.Net Standard Disk
2) Visual Studio.Net Development Environment Disk
3) Complete MSDN Library 3-Disk Set
4) Visual Basic.Net Step by Step Sample Disk from the Book
5) 'Visual Basic.Net Step by Step' Book. I am a beginner VB programmer and find the book very easy to follow. For those of you that may have learned Visual Basic 6, the author starts out each chapter by describing the general changes between VB6 and VB.Net. Overall, I find this Deluxe Learning Edition to be an excellent value. Let's just hope Microsoft now has their packaging right!
Rating:
Summary: Complete package perfect for a beginner!
Review: I purchased the Deluxe Learning Edition and am very pleased with what I got. I was a little nervous ordering it at first because of the previous reviews stating that the bundle did not include all of the disks. My package did contain ALL the necessary disks. My box contained 6 disks:
1) Visual Basic.Net Standard Disk
2) Visual Studio.Net Development Environment Disk
3) Complete MSDN Library 3-Disk Set
4) Visual Basic.Net Step by Step Sample Disk from the Book
5) 'Visual Basic.Net Step by Step' Book. I am a beginner VB programmer and find the book very easy to follow. For those of you that may have learned Visual Basic 6, the author starts out each chapter by describing the general changes between VB6 and VB.Net. Overall, I find this Deluxe Learning Edition to be an excellent value. Let's just hope Microsoft now has their packaging right!
Rating: 
Summary: No HELP Files included with software
Review: It is of little comfort that another reviewer highlights the serious oversight by Microsoft to not include the HELP files for the Visual Basic .net 2003 software in this training kit. I am new to this product and need as much help and reassurance to guide me through the product. Essential to this journey is the HELP file, which requires a MSDN CD to setup - but is not supplied with the CD. Does anyone from Microsoft care to comment as I would like the HELP file, but am at a loss as what to do? Unfortunately I agree with my fellow reviewer than without the HELP files this product cannot progress past 1 star. Sorry, but I cannot recommend this product at this stage.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Starting Point!
Review: Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Deluxe Learning Edition provides everything you need to start developing powerful applications for the new .NET platform. Although finding and reading a good Visual Basic book is an excellent start to ones Visual Basic career, I cannot over emphasize how important it is to get ones hands on a copy of the Visual Basic software/compiler. With both the book and Visual Basic .NET software you can quickly become comfortable with the Visual Basic Development Environment by typing in some of the source code in the book and test running it for yourself. Eventually, when you feel comfortable with your knowledge of Visual Basic you can begin writing and running your own programs. Visual Basic .NET Deluxe Learning Edition will allow you to do just that. This book/software package comes with an excellent Visual Basic .NET book from Microsoft Press. The book is titled, "Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Step by Step". This is an excellent beginner VB.NET book which will allow you to quickly begin creating professional Visual Basic applications for the new Microsoft .NET platform. Second, and most importantly, a copy of the Visual Basic .NET Standard Edition software/compiler on CD-ROM is included. As I mentioned above, a copy of the software/compiler is essential to mastering any programming language. The only way to truly master Visual Basic .NET is by eventually writing and testing your own applications.
Rating: 
Summary: Only for extreme beginners ...
Review: O yes, absolutely, I have always liked hands-on practice. I think it is one of the best ways to learn. In that perspective is 'Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Deluxe Learning Edition by Michael Halvorson' not a bad book, <whispering> it is actually a pretty good book if you only judge on that area. </whispering>. BUT ! (yes, there it is): This book is only effective for those who have NO (Too bad there can be no fontsize assigned, that's why I am just going to say it again) NONONONONO VB experience whatsoever, or rather, no programming experience at all for that matter. To be blunt: This book borred the living heck out of me ! If you had something or rather ANYTHING to do with VB 6.0 then skip this one. Unless you have no idea what a Timer, Class, Module or Collection is, in which case it turns out to be a pretty nice book for your person. Another thing: Because thing book is from the good people of the Microsoft Corporation, it loses (or has already lost long ago) any chance of having ANY objectivity whatsoever. So don't expect to read anywhere: "Indeed it is a bit strange that an Array declared like this in VB.NET holds 8 positions instead of the usual 7: Dim MyArray(7) As String", or "Maybe VB.NET would be better of NOT storing a Boolean as 0 and -1 under the hood" ... NOOOOOOO, not in this book you won't ... If you programmed in VB 6.0. I (humble opinion) strongly recommend reading "VB.NET and the .NET Platform" by Andrew Troelsen or "Moving to VB.NET" by Dan Appleman. Books that made a lot of things clear for me. (And no, I do not have any shares in Apress whatsoever). Overall a big disappointment.
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