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Rating: 
Summary: Weak attempt from Curtis
Review: First off, I must say I'm a big Curtis Frye enthusiast. He has penned some extraordinarily helpful computer books in the past. But, quite frankly, this is not one of them. Not to push the envelope, but, Curtis I'm deeply disappointed by your less than helpful latest effort(if you call it that). I wanted to learn about advanced filters, HLOOKUP, And VLOOKUP in Excel, but came away learning absolutely nada. While the individual Step-by-Step books are great, this insipid collaboration failed to advance my skills, let alone help me one iota.
Rating: 
Summary: Step by step, it doesn't get an better.
Review: I installed Office XP about a week after it was released thinking there wouldn't be any differences from Office 2000, I was right for the most part however some things have change and it's time for me to sit down and learn what has changed. Covering Word with topics like changing the appearance and tables, Excel with areas like formulas and filters, Access in topics like forms VBA and the query. To covering PowerPoint in adding and modifying slides and slide shows, to FrontPage with lists, tables, graphics and publishing. Also Publisher with topics business cards and printing and Outlook are covered. The excellent color photos make it easier to visualize what you are working with as you learn. Loaded with tips and tricks and the inclusion of the practice files make learn as easy a 1 - 2 - 3.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than nothing but not worth the Money
Review: I purchased this book, the day I bought the professional edition of Microsoft office for my XP computer. I had previously used, on occassion, Microsoft office for the Win95 system. I feel I wasted my $ on this book. This book is fine for someone who is new to microsoft office, but it is not a good investment for someone accustomed to using the intermediate level Que books-which I had purchased for microsoft office for Win95. I would never purchased his book, had the Q books been available to me, but I did not see any Que books on XP in April of 2002. this book is beautifully illustrated, and so if you are not a computer tech junkie-as I am, perhaps looking at this book will get you excited about computers of today. But I would not recommend this book to anybody but a rank beginner of Windows-esp the WinXP system, since this book does not address the advanced features of the program-which is why I bought the book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Similar to its predecessors, this book guides you through performing many Office XP tasks, however, it is not comprehensive and isn't enough to pass all the MOUS exams if you rely on this alone. Unlike its predecessors, every page is now in full color making it easier on the eyes and more enjoyable. Also unlike its predecessors, it includes a section on FrontPage (2002). The book is also much larger (over 750+ pages) compared to previous versions (ex. 400+ pages for Office 2000 Step-By-Step). The included CD-ROM with exercises seems to have corrected the bugs of their predecessors since I haven't encountered any yet. What would have made this book perfect is if it included the Office XP Step-By-Step Learning Kit CD-ROM, however, for [a little bit] more it may be worth the extra sacrifice to get a more complete training experience.
Rating:
Summary: Limited and misleading but useful if you need discipline
Review: Step by step is a great concept for beginners. And the pictures are truly worth 1000 words. The book is well divided into the products that compose office 2002. I have Microsoft works which contains Word 2002. I also bought separately FrontPage. The examples in the book and on CD follow what you would normally do yourself when testing a new product or update. There is no new insight or trick. The only advantage in buying the book is the discipline of going from "a to z" instead of jumping around a possibly missing a critical step. The big disadvantage is not learning the information that you need to complete your task in a timely manor. Rule one in any discipline, know your purpose then pick the tool (hammers do not work well with screws.) You are also lead down the garden path (especially with FrontPage.) Instead of picking a good commercial ISP that uses mainstream tools for web hosting such as Perl and with a proven operating environment as SUN OS, HPUX, AIX or even Linux. You are directed to anyone with a toy as long as it has the other half of the FrontPage functions on it (server side applications.) Bottom line this is a good beginner book but can lead you into a corner if you try to use it for anything but learning the basic functions of Office XP.
Rating: 
Summary: maybe for the very beginners
Review: This book explains not much of Office XP and often it explains only what you don't need. It's so hard to find what to do with XP and above all Microsoft Press is editing a book with nothing in it ! Believe me, Office 2000 was so much better !
Rating:
Summary: Good place to start for beginners
Review: This book is a good place to start to learn Office XP (which is the upgrade from Office 2000). Basically, this book has step by step lessons for beginners in the individual application programs in the Office XP suite (which are version 2002). For more advanced users, Microsoft Press used to have the "Running" Series - which has now been replaced by the "Inside Out" Series. The Step by Step series by Microsoft Press has improved significantly. Although I like this book, I would recommend buying the separate Step by Step book for each application program - for example, buying Word Version 2002 Step by Step, Excel Version 2002 Step by Step, etc. The individual books are more comprehensive and have additional features. But if you're on a tight budget, this book is a good place to start.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good for beginners
Review: This is an excellent book for beginners! Even if you think you know how use programs like Word and Access, this book is sure to show you a few new things. All examples and lessons are very easy and small (for ease of mental "digestion") and give you instructions Step-by-Step. Even if you mess up somewhere, they tell exactly what is supposed to happen, thus you can see where your problem is. I only have a couple gripes. One being that, since I am a web developer, I felt the Frontpage section did not address certain beginners problems. Also, I felt that there was not a plethora of seriously needed information in the Word section, but this could be because it is a beginners book. All in all, I suggest this book to anyone (although you might do well to get it from the library first).
Rating:
Summary: Very good for beginners
Review: This is an excellent book for beginners! Even if you think you know how use programs like Word and Access, this book is sure to show you a few new things. All examples and lessons are very easy and small (for ease of mental "digestion") and give you instructions Step-by-Step. Even if you mess up somewhere, they tell exactly what is supposed to happen, thus you can see where your problem is. I only have a couple gripes. One being that, since I am a web developer, I felt the Frontpage section did not address certain beginners problems. Also, I felt that there was not a plethora of seriously needed information in the Word section, but this could be because it is a beginners book. All in all, I suggest this book to anyone (although you might do well to get it from the library first).
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