Rating: 
Summary: A must read!
Review: An excellent in depth start-to-finish referance for Windows XP users. The 96 page fully illustrated Essential Skills section at the beginning of the book is a great getting started point for novice users. This book is very well written and concise. A must read for anyone upgrading to Windows XP Professional.
Rating:
Summary: As a network engineer, I found it an excellent addition
Review: Are the first few chapters designed for the beginner? Yes. Does he say that up front? Yes. So the beginner has an excellent starting point (I really thought the graphic shortcuts in the front of the book were a nice touch for those people), while the "nuts and bolts" stuff in later chapters were more suited towards people who do this for a living. But then if I find even a few tidbits that make my life easier when supporting MS products (which can be a royal pain), I consider the book to be well worth it. If you are looking at supporting XP, don't assume that its the same as 2000. Get this book, read it over, and find out what new goodies they put into this release.
Rating: 
Summary: Things that don't belong.
Review: Chapter 15 Windows XP Professional Networking and Network Design Primer does not belong in this book. Why? Because this book has the word "Mastering" in the title and if you need a Network Primer you are ways off from becoming an XP Master. Seriously the content of this chapter is very good for the TCP/IP Study Guides or Networking Essentials Books, but not in this book. Seems like the author had the chapter written and already on hand for those other books, and just decided to throw it in.
Rating:
Summary: Things that don't belong.
Review: Chapter 15 Windows XP Professional Networking and Network Design Primer does not belong in this book. Why? Because this book has the word "Mastering" in the title and if you need a Network Primer you are ways off from becoming an XP Master. Seriously the content of this chapter is very good for the TCP/IP Study Guides or Networking Essentials Books, but not in this book. Seems like the author had the chapter written and already on hand for those other books, and just decided to throw it in.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing, insufficient coverage of XP pro, irrelevant
Review: Don't waste your money on this one unless you never used any version of windows at all. While simple topics are given extensive and repetitive coverage, many advanced items are sketchy, if addressed at all. Many pages are devoted to such irrelevant subjects as how to start with scripting and HTML. At the same time it gives less than 1 page (yes, less than one!)to a subject like IIS. Overall, very poor coverage of admin tools and very few examples of best practices. Recently I had a chance to look through Windows XP inside out. I wish I bought that one instead..
Rating:
Summary: More than enough
Review: Have read the reviews and awed at some people who must not have read Minasi's other books. Yes there is a lot of introductory basic skills. Supposed to be in there. Just like his other books. Advanced topics are there too. I skipped through some of this because I knew it. And read the parts I wanted. Now it is a reference book. There may be mistakes in it...where...but if you ever read a MOC (Microsoft Official Curriculum) book, you would not believe the mistakes in those. This book is perfect for someone who has never seen a computer or someone who has been using them for as long as I have. This book gave me the little bit of extra info needed to pass 70-270. Good job Mark. Keep it up! Patrick--A+, Network+, MCP, MCSA, MCSE NT 4.0/2K
Rating:
Summary: More than enough
Review: Have read the reviews and awed at some people who must not have read Minasi's other books. Yes there is a lot of introductory basic skills. Supposed to be in there. Just like his other books. Advanced topics are there too. I skipped through some of this because I knew it. And read the parts I wanted. Now it is a reference book. There may be mistakes in it...where...but if you ever read a MOC (Microsoft Official Curriculum) book, you would not believe the mistakes in those. This book is perfect for someone who has never seen a computer or someone who has been using them for as long as I have. This book gave me the little bit of extra info needed to pass 70-270. Good job Mark. Keep it up! Patrick--A+, Network+, MCP, MCSA, MCSE NT 4.0/2K
Rating: 
Summary: Dispoinitng boo from Mark Minasi
Review: Having bought several of Mark Minasi's other books before I was really disappointed with how poor this one is. The book is full of non-XP related meterial which can be learned free from the web; such as VB, HTML and scripting. Who wants to learn Web surfing from this book. I do not want to know how to connect computers with twisted pair cables. Graphics are extremely poor. Mark, please return to your desk and re-write this book professionally. Atleast look at Microsoft's "Windows XP inside out" . Can I have my money back please?
Rating: 
Summary: Good book, but prefer Windows XP Inside Out
Review: I bought this book "Mastering Windows XP Professional" and also "Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out". I recommend "Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out". If you've never used a prior version of Windows, and are just looking for a book to get you started with XP, you will probably be happy with this book. Indeed, it may be the better book for beginners. However, I'd still recommend buying Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out instead. BOTH books address most questions you'll have from simple to complex, but "Inside Out", in my opinion, is easier to understand, easier from which to get answers and goes into greater depth in a clearer style on the advanced issues. Even if you're a novice, you may eventually appreciate the greater depth and the extra details that can sometimes make the whole picture fall into place. I ordered both books from Amazon because I wanted to learn how to use "Share-Level Access", available in Windows 95/98/Me, in Windows XP. Specifically, I wanted to assign a "Read-Only" and "Full Access" password to my hard drive on my Windows XP Professional computer and share it with my other Windows 98 and Windows ME computers on my Windows peer-to-peer network. In "Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out" I found the answer in "Chapter 31: Managing Shared Folders and Printers" at the top of page 947 under the heading "A Third Model: Share-Level Access in Windows 95/98/Me". The "answer" is that Share-Level access no longer exists in Windows XP Professional, and unfortunately the "work around" requires setting up appropriate user accounts on the XP computer for the 9X/Me computers that wish to gain access to the XP computer. I was unable to find this answer in "Mastering Windows XP Professional". Also, in researching this question in "Mastering Windows XP Professional", I found the following quote in the chapter "Connecting to Windows XP Peer-to-Peer Networks and Domains" on page 641 under the heading Creating Shares: "WARNING If you are using the NTFS file system on your computer and the other computers are using FAT or FAT32, they will not be able to access a drive on your computer even if it is shared." Since I knew from my own experience that this was clearly wrong, I notified SYBEX, the publishers. To their credit they provide their website address on the back of the book, and on the site they invite you to report errors via an easy to use online form. Imagine my great surprise when I got a speedy e-mail reply (in one day) and soon thereafter got a personal phone call from Sybex management thanking me for bringing the matter to their attention, asking for suggestions for further improvements, and promising a speedy correction, which I believe they will implement. To err is human, but for a company to admit it, correct it, and provide that level of customer service is divine. I'll be keeping both books.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, but prefer Windows XP Inside Out
Review: I bought this book "Mastering Windows XP Professional" and also "Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out". I recommend "Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out". If you've never used a prior version of Windows, and are just looking for a book to get you started with XP, you will probably be happy with this book. Indeed, it may be the better book for beginners. However, I'd still recommend buying Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out instead. BOTH books address most questions you'll have from simple to complex, but "Inside Out", in my opinion, is easier to understand, easier from which to get answers and goes into greater depth in a clearer style on the advanced issues. Even if you're a novice, you may eventually appreciate the greater depth and the extra details that can sometimes make the whole picture fall into place. I ordered both books from Amazon because I wanted to learn how to use "Share-Level Access", available in Windows 95/98/Me, in Windows XP. Specifically, I wanted to assign a "Read-Only" and "Full Access" password to my hard drive on my Windows XP Professional computer and share it with my other Windows 98 and Windows ME computers on my Windows peer-to-peer network. In "Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out" I found the answer in "Chapter 31: Managing Shared Folders and Printers" at the top of page 947 under the heading "A Third Model: Share-Level Access in Windows 95/98/Me". The "answer" is that Share-Level access no longer exists in Windows XP Professional, and unfortunately the "work around" requires setting up appropriate user accounts on the XP computer for the 9X/Me computers that wish to gain access to the XP computer. I was unable to find this answer in "Mastering Windows XP Professional". Also, in researching this question in "Mastering Windows XP Professional", I found the following quote in the chapter "Connecting to Windows XP Peer-to-Peer Networks and Domains" on page 641 under the heading Creating Shares: "WARNING If you are using the NTFS file system on your computer and the other computers are using FAT or FAT32, they will not be able to access a drive on your computer even if it is shared." Since I knew from my own experience that this was clearly wrong, I notified SYBEX, the publishers. To their credit they provide their website address on the back of the book, and on the site they invite you to report errors via an easy to use online form. Imagine my great surprise when I got a speedy e-mail reply (in one day) and soon thereafter got a personal phone call from Sybex management thanking me for bringing the matter to their attention, asking for suggestions for further improvements, and promising a speedy correction, which I believe they will implement. To err is human, but for a company to admit it, correct it, and provide that level of customer service is divine. I'll be keeping both books.
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