Microsoft Windows XP Power Toolkit

Rating:
Summary: A fairly Good Reference
Review: After literly reading though this book cover to cover I found it to be almost generic. Nothing intialy stood out for me. It seem no different then any of the other books related to XP tools, tweaks, and registery hacks that you can find almost anywhere on the Internet. But I have to admit I have returned to this book many times since I've purchased it in October 2002. When ever I need something to tweak I've managed to find it in the book. I would hope that they will continue to ehance the book by releasing a newer edition maybe ...more Windows XP Power tool kits book II.

Rating:
Summary: Call it Windows XP Marketing Toolkit
Review: It used to be that when you picked up a book with the words "Power Toolkit" in it, you were getting a collection of utilities, scripts, and advanced information to really take you to the next level of mastership over your environment. In those days, had I purchased a utility book and discovered that one of the "power tools" recommended and covered was Sound Recorder (page 179-180) I would have demanded my money back. Evidently those days are long gone, replaced instead by titles such as this.

Three authors wrote the book and three sections separate the environment. The first section would have been better titled "An Overview of the Accessories Menu" as it serves little more than to educate the user on how to use the basic OS tools to manage their environment and really shows itself off as a continued marketing strategy to convince everyone that XP is the multimedia platform pre-equipped with the best tools out there. It does follow itself up with a few chapters devoted to listing the syntax of many networking and TCP/IP command-line utilities; handy but a strange combination of things to cover in one section. Did I mention the plug for Microsoft Office? The second section spends 113 pages telling you why you should use spend time on the Microsoft XP Downloads page for (usually not free) add-ons such as Tweak UI, Windows Media Bonus Pack, Microsoft Plus!, and Microsoft Producer. You then get a lesson on the Windows Messenger and .NET passport use, before they go back to the Accessories menu. The final chapter is for third party software. 220 pages dedicated to plugging multimedia-enhancing shareware, virus protection, and security enhancements.

Teaching users how to become proficient with the OS and its bundled software and features is a good thing and I think everyone should learn it. There are many better books out there to do that (ISBN 0782140769 or 078214067X for example) than this one. Arming users with advanced knowledge and tools to configure and administer then environment is also beneficial for users already familiar with the OS; again better books (ISBN 0782141145, 0596004168 and 0735619743). In short, keep looking.

Rating:
Summary: Good but Often Incomplete Reference
Review: Windows XP Power Toolkit is a 650 page reference manual for Windows XP Home and Pro. On the positive side, the book very clearly describes dozens of XP features that aren't documented in the online help. Without a doubt, any user of Windows XP will learn about several useful features. It covers backup and encryption well, and it takes a long time to describe the digial image, audio and video features. It documents most of the networking tools in a reference-like fashion, and I expect I'll use them at some point.

On the negative side, I have two complaints: First, the book skimps on details about about file encryption, networking and Remote Assistance, and instead refers you to other Microsoft books. It generally describes how to use a feature without explaining how it works. Second, about 1/3 of the book documents third-party utility products. Most of this 1/3 lists the products features, gives you a few screenshots, and gives very long step-by-step installation instructions for each program. This portion of the book is much longer than it needs to be.

This book provides an end user with easily understood, detailed explanations of most XP features, most key utility products, and oodles of tips for customizing XP. It's very easy to find and jump through various topics. But if you're looking for information about networking or managing several Windows XP computers, look elsewhere.