Customer Rating: 
Summary: Basic but good!
Comment: I got this book because I was taking an introductory computer class for GE credit (hooray for easy classes!). Being an advanced computer user, at first I was dubious how much I would actually learn from the class. This book pleasantly surprised me. It goes through the basics of Windows XP Pro, MS Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint 2003. The book itself is well laid out, with plenty of screenshots to supplement text instructions. It also gives plenty of projects at the end of each chapter to test out your new skills.
The introduction to Windows is designed for someone who has never touched a computer before, but the sections on MS Office have proven useful. I just finished the section on Word, and a lot of the stuff in there I knew already, but there were some features and shortcuts that I had not previously known about. The layout of each chapter makes it easy to scan what each section covers, so skipping content that you already know is effortless.
My only complaint is that the book is very Microsoft-centric. When talking about web browsers it does not mention Firefox or any alternative browsers, and when talking about media players it only focuses on Windows Media Player. I suppose that's good for the novice computer user, as having too many choices of software can be confusing when one doesn't even know how to use a computer. However, once a user becomes comfortable with a certain piece of software, s/he is unlikely to switch to a different one. In future editions I would at least like to see an appendix included that explains popular alternatives to software such as Internet Explorer (Mozilla Firefox, Opera, etc.) and Windows Media Player (Winamp, JetAudio, etc.).
To sum up: great book, easy to read, contains lots of useful information. However, it is too MS-centric.
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