Special Edition Using Microsoft Office XP

List Price: $39.99 Amazon.com Price: $27.99

• Media: Paperback
• Publisher: Que (22 May, 2001)
• ISBN: 0789725134
• Average Customer Review: Based on 5 reviews.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: 5,545
  

This book is not the manual that was not included with Office XP. It is encyclopedic(1100+pages) in its coverage of the programs in Office and also include commentary on Visual Basic and Front Page which is not included as far as I can tell in the great majority of Office packages, if any.

Like many encyclopedias the book's detail often results in incoherence. The authors assume that the reader is familiar not only with the Microsoft Office program but with Office's many and sometimes arcane features. This results in descriptions of functions that are confusing and often uninformative. For example, the use of text boxes in Word is given very limited coverage with no clear explanation what a text box is and that you need to use the print layout view in order to actually see the text box in position. There are numerous other examples of poorly introduced and explained features and concepts.

Furthermore, the book integrates tips signed by the authors throughout the text. Some of these are useful, others however added little to my understanding--in my limited use thus far. However, the repeated faux signatures of Ed and Woody alongside the tips is distracting and frankly drives me crazy. How many times do I have to be told that this tip is from the authors-who else would it be from?

This book may be useful to very experienced Office users-though they probably don't need it-but is not a very helpful text to office neophytes and intermediate users.


No Better Reference Can Be Found

In my opinion Que publishes the best resources on the market and this book does not disappoint. Woody Leonhard and Ed Bott are two of the most highly respected authorities on Microsoft Office and Windows. The book is packed with solid instruction, readable, and written with a sense of humor. Woody pulls no punches and when something is quirky in the program application, he doesn't gloss over it. Loaded with tips and work arounds.

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Woody is still the best

There are dozens of doorstop sized books on the market. Use the others to stop doors. Use this one to get the job done.

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