Rating: 
Summary: This book does not help with passing exam
Review: A few words based on what I saw (not what I dreamed?). The book seems to cover the bases, but my experience with the MS Press 70-100 book coaxed me into delaying making a purchase decision. Glad I did. Since I first saw this book, the Exam Cram book on the 70-300 exam has hit the street. It has much more interaction with the reader. There are sample case studies and questions that are formatted just like those on the exam. The Exam Cram book was more like an augmented Transcender practice test. Plus (I think its a plus - I haven't finished the book yet), the Cram book is a faster read.I'm sure personal preference will cause both books to have a good readership, but wanted to add my 10 cents.
Rating: 
Summary: not bad, but ...................
Review: A few words based on what I saw (not what I dreamed?). The book seems to cover the bases, but my experience with the MS Press 70-100 book coaxed me into delaying making a purchase decision. Glad I did. Since I first saw this book, the Exam Cram book on the 70-300 exam has hit the street. It has much more interaction with the reader. There are sample case studies and questions that are formatted just like those on the exam. The Exam Cram book was more like an augmented Transcender practice test. Plus (I think its a plus - I haven't finished the book yet), the Cram book is a faster read. I'm sure personal preference will cause both books to have a good readership, but wanted to add my 10 cents.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent source for certification
Review: A great book to pass the Microsoft certification exam. Good material for future reference.
Rating: 
Summary: vague and verbose introduction to a bloated "framework"
Review: Having recently taken this test, I will confirm two two things stated by other reviewers without hesitation. First, the Exam Cram book is much more pertinent to the actual exam. Secondly, this book gives you no guidance with regard to the format of the exam. The sample test bears no similarity whatsoever to the case-study structure of the test while the book barely mentions case studies and offers no suggestions as to how to deal with them. It's fairly pathetic that a third-party publisher, with evidently no inside information re the content and development of the test, can create a better study guide than Microsoft itself. It really makes me wonder about the whole certification game. Does Microsoft really want to develop a pool of informed IT professionals who can more effectively deploy their technologies within client enterpriese? Or do they just want to nickle-and-dime people on books, exam fees, and course tuitions? A huge portion of the book is dedicated to the "Microsoft Solutions Framework" (not to be confused with the .NET Framework). Personally, I felt the MSF seemed like a reasonable project management methodology, if only because it seems quite flexible. But the exam had abosolutely no questions regarding the details of project phases, roles, milestones, etc. that constitutes the bulk of the book's content. I'm really glad that I did not devote very much time to various exercises in the book that deal with creating UML diagrams and other project artifacts. Not only was it just too tedious and boring, but there was nothing on the exam that all that excruciating detail would have helped me with. There were no questions on UML (despite the fact that the book recommends you read two other books on UML). There was one question on ORM. This book is also full of chapter introductions, summaries, and other useless filler that servers no purpose other than an excuse for making the book look bigger. If you need to prepare for this exam, don't waste your time and money on this toilet paper. Get the Exam Cram book (also, I looked over an Osborne book that seemed reasonably good) and study MSDM articles on MSF (to a reasonable extent) and things like Security and Authentication, Globalization/Localization, BizTalk, SQL Server, Host Integration Server, layering, etc. Also, be ready to think through case-study problems that are too lacking in specifics to answer without guesswork, and keep your fingers crossed.
Rating:
Summary: Barely Relevant
Review: Having recently taken this test, I will confirm two two things stated by other reviewers without hesitation. First, the Exam Cram book is much more pertinent to the actual exam. Secondly, this book gives you no guidance with regard to the format of the exam. The sample test bears no similarity whatsoever to the case-study structure of the test while the book barely mentions case studies and offers no suggestions as to how to deal with them. It's fairly pathetic that a third-party publisher, with evidently no inside information re the content and development of the test, can create a better study guide than Microsoft itself. It really makes me wonder about the whole certification game. Does Microsoft really want to develop a pool of informed IT professionals who can more effectively deploy their technologies within client enterpriese? Or do they just want to nickle-and-dime people on books, exam fees, and course tuitions? A huge portion of the book is dedicated to the "Microsoft Solutions Framework" (not to be confused with the .NET Framework). Personally, I felt the MSF seemed like a reasonable project management methodology, if only because it seems quite flexible. But the exam had abosolutely no questions regarding the details of project phases, roles, milestones, etc. that constitutes the bulk of the book's content. I'm really glad that I did not devote very much time to various exercises in the book that deal with creating UML diagrams and other project artifacts. Not only was it just too tedious and boring, but there was nothing on the exam that all that excruciating detail would have helped me with. There were no questions on UML (despite the fact that the book recommends you read two other books on UML). There was one question on ORM. This book is also full of chapter introductions, summaries, and other useless filler that servers no purpose other than an excuse for making the book look bigger. If you need to prepare for this exam, don't waste your time and money on this toilet paper. Get the Exam Cram book (also, I looked over an Osborne book that seemed reasonably good) and study MSDM articles on MSF (to a reasonable extent) and things like Security and Authentication, Globalization/Localization, BizTalk, SQL Server, Host Integration Server, layering, etc. Also, be ready to think through case-study problems that are too lacking in specifics to answer without guesswork, and keep your fingers crossed.
Rating:
Summary: This book must be good
Review: I had a dream last night about this book being kind of good. So it must be good. Thanks.
Rating:
Summary: This book does not help with passing exam
Review: I just took the exam after studying the entire book and I failed. The questions in the actual exam are "case study" style but the included sample test (on cd) looked nothing like it. The book is very general, contains reams of extraneous information and does not focus on the material on the test. I wish I could return it.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre study aid
Review: Microsoft has a hard earned reputation of producing verbose self-paced training books that only partially cover the exam objectives. True to form, Microsoft has written a mediocre book that will not adequately prepare you for the new exam (70-300). Unlike the previous book, which was pathetic and laughable, this one is merely mediocre. Gone are the fictional character dialog, bad jokes, full page meeting agendas, and concerns about late employees. This book covers, in depth, MSF. Other exam objectives are basically ignored or given little coverage. Included is a CDROM with solutions documents in the form of excel spreadsheets, word documents (specifications), and visio charts. Basically, you walk away with word and excel files you can adapt for your own use. Unfortunately, the samples and documents are only a subset of the MSF templates you can download from Microsoft's website. Still, the book tries to explain the MSF architecture approach, which makes use of UML, specifications, interviews, memos, and group hugs (MSF Team Model). As a result, much of the coverage is how to produce project documents and artifacts. I would second the recommendations of the exam cram book.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre study aid
Review: Microsoft has a hard earned reputation of producing verbose self-paced training books that only partially cover the exam objectives. True to form, Microsoft has written a mediocre book that will not adequately prepare you for the new exam (70-300). Unlike the previous book, which was pathetic and laughable, this one is merely mediocre. Gone are the fictional character dialog, bad jokes, full page meeting agendas, and concerns about late employees. This book covers, in depth, MSF. Other exam objectives are basically ignored or given little coverage. Included is a CDROM with solutions documents in the form of excel spreadsheets, word documents (specifications), and visio charts. Basically, you walk away with word and excel files you can adapt for your own use. Unfortunately, the samples and documents are only a subset of the MSF templates you can download from Microsoft's website. Still, the book tries to explain the MSF architecture approach, which makes use of UML, specifications, interviews, memos, and group hugs (MSF Team Model). As a result, much of the coverage is how to produce project documents and artifacts. I would second the recommendations of the exam cram book.
Rating:
Summary: vague and verbose introduction to a bloated "framework"
Review: This book describes the Microsoft Solutions Framework [MSF]. MSF is a non-code-artifact-heavy application of the waterfall model, with the proviso that a computer-based solution is expected to be deployed, one hopes with improvements, repeatedly during its service lifetime. Essentially MSF is just one waterfall after another. MSF reminds me of Accenture's ponderous development process, something I've seen up close and personal (and that I admire for its single-minded emphasis on obtaining funding commitments from clients before doing anything whatsoever). Having just failed the 70-300 exam I have a bad attitude about this book, purchased specifically to prepare for the exam. I read it cover-to-cover, wading through the review questions in detail, and can tell you from experience that this book contributes almost nothing to one's preparation for 70-300. If all you want is a long-winded discussion of MSF, with now and then a useful nugget of information, this is the book for you. The book gives the impression of having been designed by a committee who took concepts and practices from many published methodologies and duct-taped them together to create the MSF. If your goal is passing the exam, look elsewhere.
| 
