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Rating: 
Summary: It did the job
Review: I found the lessons easy to follow... a bit too easy sometimes. That was to be expected in this type of book. I have a lot of experience with Excel and I only bought the book so that I could prepare for the Excel Expert exam. So, most of the information was known to me, but there were several sections of new information. It filled in my knowledge gaps and I passed the exam. The book did its job.
Rating:
Summary: It did the job
Review: I found the lessons easy to follow... a bit too easy sometimes. That was to be expected in this type of book. I have a lot of experience with Excel and I only bought the book so that I could prepare for the Excel Expert exam. So, most of the information was known to me, but there were several sections of new information. It filled in my knowledge gaps and I passed the exam. The book did its job.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book!
Review: I read a lot of computer books, and normally they are about as exciting as watching paint dry. I can't claim this book is exciting, but it does everything it possibly can to ease the pain.The author is obviously a professional writer, not a computer guy who knows stuff and is writing a book about it. The structure of the book is impeccable and extremely consistent. Each section has a description and then extremely well written walk throughs. This allows people with different learning styles to access the book differently. I'm a very experiential learner, so I might do the walk through first and then read about what I did, others may like to do it differently. I have really enjoyed learning and growing in excel. At the time of reading this book I was progressively working on a real world spreadsheet. At the end of many chapters I would think "hey, what a cool feature, I could use it to improve my spreadsheet". As I spend a lot of time in this spreadsheet, this book has saved me lots of time by allowing me to streamline my work. Curtis, write more books please - the computer world needs authors like you!
Rating:
Summary: Less quantity, but more quality
Review: The 2002 version is much more user-friendly with its color pages and helpful organization than the bigger and less-organized 2000 offering. An added bonus for those looking to take the Microsoft Office Specialist Exam is the fact that this edition lists which core and expert objectives are covered when covering a lesson. Also, the interactive practice files make it extremely easy to follow and learn - for anyone. This book, in conjunction with the one by Barbara Clemens, helped me to not only garner Excel 2002 proficiency, but to become an Excel 2002 Expert. Now that I'm an Expert, I can tell you this book might be too easy for me - but maybe not for you. And that's the real deal.
Rating:
Summary: Less quantity, but more quality
Review: The 2002 version is much more user-friendly with its color pages and helpful organization than the bigger and less-organized 2000 offering. An added bonus for those looking to take the Microsoft Office Specialist Exam is the fact that this edition lists which core and expert objectives are covered when covering a lesson. Also, the interactive practice files make it extremely easy to follow and learn - for anyone. This book, in conjunction with the one by Barbara Clemens, helped me to not only garner Excel 2002 proficiency, but to become an Excel 2002 Expert. Now that I'm an Expert, I can tell you this book might be too easy for me - but maybe not for you. And that's the real deal.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars if it had fewer mistakes!!!!!!
Review: This book is excellent in many ways but it is also filled with too many errors.
I actually documented the errors and sent a letter to MSPress to notify them. These mistakes are no big deal but if you are truly new to computers or if you just follow along and do not really pay attention as you perform these exercises...you will get the wrong results at times. Most errors do not affect the outcome but in some cases they do. Such as.....page 99, step #14...just skip it. Go from step #13 to #15. If you perform step #14 you will not get the intended results. I also did not like the authors approach to explain what to click on. He does it in a backwards way like this - To cascade multiple workbooks select Arrange then choose Cascade then click OK under the Window menu option. He should say it like this - To Cascade multiple workbooks click on Window, then Arrange, then choose Cascade and click OK. Typed liked that it is easier to follow but most of the time he doesn't. This gets to be a royal pain!
Overall the book is great if you need to learn Excel 2002 fast and do not want tons of extra info and in depth details about the functions you are learning. He spends a whopping 13 pages on Macros and a measely 10 pages on working with database data. I did not expect heavy coverage and neither should you. Those subjects are worthy of their own books.
I train and teach Office products to clients and I would recommend this book. The practice files are excellent and makemit possible to work with real examples so you actually get to do Real Time exercises and not just read instructions. Let me add one more thing - The author of Outlook 2002 Step By Step was a better writer and made it easier to follow along and understand. If you need to learn Outlook fast I highly recommend it!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: For Business Users
Review: This book is heavily emphasized for business users. Almost all the examples and the features discussed in the book are business related. That's not to say that this is a bad book! It is a good book, but if you are looking for book for engineers, you might want to look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Learn Excel in 16 Hours
Review: This is a well written instructional book divided into 16 chapters that can each be completed in about one hour. The book includes plenty of interactive practice in the accompanying CD-ROM and includes an quick reference section and card for the many commands that we are all sure to forget. There is more here than most users will need on a daily basis, but this information is good to know for the occasional use they afford. Finally, this is not a user manual, and it will only touch on the many advanced features illustrated in comprensive manuals. However, as a tutorial to provide a solid foundation of spreadsheet skills, Excel SBS 2002 fulfills its purposed admirably.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Wow! This series has really improved since the 2000 version . . . and it is in color! (This series is for the version 2002 programs, which are part of Office XP - which replaces the Office 2000 programs.) I wasn't really planning to buy any of these books this time around until I looked a little more closely at them. They are very nice! So I bought them all! Basically, the Microsoft Press Step by Step series is geared to teach a beginner how to use each application program in step by step lessons. Even though they start from the beginning, these books are also great for intermediate and advanced users. More advanced users can also go to the Microsoft Press "Inside Out" Series, which is more of a comprehensive reference (the Inside Out Series replaces the "Running" Series). This book has several nice features: steps are clearly numbered; figures and screen images are in color; there is a comprehensive quick reference, glossary, and index; and a cd is included for additional study. One of the nicest new features is a section that lists all of the Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) objectives, and shows the page numbers in the book where the objectives are taught - this is a great help in preparation for the MOUS certification exams. This book contains 16 chapters: Getting to Know Excel; Setting Up a Workbook; Performing Calculations on Data; Changing Document Appearance; Focusing on Specific Data Using Filters; Combining Data From Multiple Sources; Reordering and Summarizing Data; Analyzing Alternative Data Sets; Creating Dynamic Lists with PivotTables; Creating Charts; Printing; Automating Repetitive Tasks with Macros; Working with Other Microsoft Office Programs; Working with Database Data; Publishing Information on the Web; and Collaborating with Colleagues. I also recommend Microsoft Office XP Introductory Concepts and Techniques; Microsoft Office XP Advanced Concepts and Techniques; and Microsoft Office XP Post Advanced Concepts and Techniques by Gary B. Shelly, et al.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: Wow! This series has really improved since the 2000 version! And it is in color! (This series is for the version 2002 programs, which are part of Office XP - which replaces the Office 2000 programs.) I wasn't really planning to buy any of these books this time around until I looked a little more closely at them. They are very nice! So I bought them all! Basically, the Microsoft Press Step by Step series is geared to teach a beginner how to use each application program in step by step lessons. Even though they start from the beginning, these books are also great for intermediate and advanced users. More advanced users can also go to the Microsoft Press "Inside Out" Series, which is more of a comprehensive reference (the Inside Out Series replaces the "Running" Series). This book has several nice features: steps are clearly numbered; figures and screen images are in color; there is a comprehensive quick reference, glossary, and index; and a cd is included for additional study. One of the nicest new features is a section that lists all of the Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) objectives, and shows the page numbers in the book where the objectives are taught - this is a great help in preparation for the MOUS certification exams. This book contains 16 chapters: Getting to Know Excel; Setting Up a Workbook; Performing Calculations on Data; Changing Document Appearance; Focusing on Specific Data Using Filters; Combining Data From Multiple Sources; Reordering and Summarizing Data; Analyzing Alternative Data Sets; Creating Dynamic Lists with PivotTables; Creating Charts; Printing; Automating Repetitive Tasks with Macros; Working with Other Microsoft Office Programs; Working with Database Data; Publishing Information on the Web; and Collaborating with Colleagues. I also recommend Microsoft Office XP Introductory Concepts and Techniques; Microsoft Office XP Advanced Concepts and Techniques; and Microsoft Office XP Post Advanced Concepts and Techniques by Gary B. Shelly, et al.
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