Mike Meyers' MCSE/MCSA Windows Server 2003 Environment Certification Passport (Exam 70-290)

Rating:
Summary: supplemental only
Review: Do not rely upon this book only. You will be disappointed. Also, the book assumes that the reader already has knowledge of this server. Statements like "spend some time looking at the group policies" are supposed to help. Come on there are over 160 group policies on the 2003 Server. I have taken the 70-290 twice and did worse the second time. The night before I reread most of this book which I don't think helped much. I really haven't found anything that matches the last test that I took (70-290).
I wish that I could find something that matches what Microsoft does on test day.
Don't rely on any one book.

Rating:
Summary: Good supplement to your other review materials
Review: I picked this book up as a supplement to my other study materials and as a quick reference guide, this is a decent book. Although it doesn't go into any great detail, it does touch on a number of subjects. Although I haven't taken the 70-290 exam yet, I did find more coverage of topics that are covered by the 70-291 exam, which were absent from those books. The book also comes with a CD containing a MasterSim exam, which has over 200 questions. I wouldn't use this for a stand-alone study guide, but I haven't found a book yet that could stand up to that challenge... Summary: brief and to the point.

Rating:
Summary: Good supplement to your other review materials
Review: I picked this book up as a supplement to my other study materials and as a quick reference guide, this is a decent book. Although it doesn't go into any great detail, it does touch on a number of subjects. Although I haven't taken the 70-290 exam yet, I did find more coverage of topics that are covered by the 70-291 exam, which were absent from those books. The book also comes with a CD containing a MasterSim exam, which has over 200 questions. I wouldn't use this for a stand-alone study guide, but I haven't found a book yet that could stand up to that challenge... Summary: brief and to the point.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book!
Review: There are only a small handful of computer books out of the many dozens I have purchased in my career that I not only wanted to read cover to cover, but have. "Mike Meyers' Windows Server 2003 Certification Passport" is one of them. As someone who uses Windows Server 2003 daily and teaches it to others in a college setting, this book is a refreshing change from the other Windows Server 2003 books on the market. The "Certification Passport" presents its content in a fun format as a "travel guide" to Windows Server 2003. I found that this book expertly crafts the material into something that you were reading because to have to, into something you want to. It injects humor into many topics, and makes material that would otherwise be rather dull, appealing to its readers. Students (and teachers) will find the end-of-chapter questions helpful, but it is the book's writing style, to the point, clear, and interesting, that will make you come back to it again.

Rating:
Summary: Not quite useless as a study guide -- but close
Review: This book is full of nagging little inconsistencies, as well as some big ones. I picked it up as a supplemental guide to fill in potential gaps on issues that might not have been covered (or covered fully enough) in a larger, more comprehensive guide I had purchased to study for exam 70-290. I had great success with the Mike Meyers' Passport A+ study guide, so figured this would be a great resource. And in the respect of giving me practice in being able to pick out the wrong answers in exams, this book was a great success. From the chapter review question that tries to get you to build a C: mirror set and a D: RAID 5 array with only four disks, to the inundation of "We don't have room to discuss this here, but log on to your server and check out..." (why even bother purchasing a guide?) to explaining how to use certain server functions without explaining how to actually bring up said screen, this book was a foray into the realm of misinformation and poor writing skills, and it made me quite happy that I read the other study guide first. Avoid this one at all costs; spend the extra ten bucks and get something that will provide far more assistance.

Rating:
Summary: Not quite useless as a study guide -- but close
Review: This book is full of nagging little inconsistencies, as well as some big ones. I picked it up as a supplemental guide to fill in potential gaps on issues that might not have been covered (or covered fully enough) in a larger, more comprehensive guide I had purchased to study for exam 70-290. I had great success with the Mike Meyers' Passport A+ study guide, so figured this would be a great resource. And in the respect of giving me practice in being able to pick out the wrong answers in exams, this book was a great success. From the chapter review question that tries to get you to build a C: mirror set and a D: RAID 5 array with only four disks, to the inundation of "We don't have room to discuss this here, but log on to your server and check out..." (why even bother purchasing a guide?) to explaining how to use certain server functions without explaining how to actually bring up said screen, this book was a foray into the realm of misinformation and poor writing skills, and it made me quite happy that I read the other study guide first. Avoid this one at all costs; spend the extra ten bucks and get something that will provide far more assistance.