FRANK'S REVIEWS

for the NJPCUG


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Book:

Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows 95, 2nd Ed.

R. Person, R. Vossel, et al. Published by Que Corp.

This voluminous book, with 1174 pages, is intended to help and guide both intermediate and advanced users of Window 95. It does that very well. I’ve been using Win95 at home for about 2 ½ years now, so I’m probably an intermediate user. I found this book very useful as well as enlightening. It covers the complete range of Win95 applications, including many I didn’t realize were considered part of Win95. It also covers areas that are beyond my realm but rather directed toward advanced users. For instance, there is a section on laptops and an extensive section on Networking which is almost book-sized in itself. Indeed, there is much here for Win95 users of varied experiences.

In addition to the basic Win95 the book covers:

Internet Explorer, extensively;

Outlook Express for e-mail and Newsgroups, including;

Microsoft Exchange for control of e-mail and faxes;

NetMeeting for online real-time meetings between various sites;

NetShow for broadcasting multimedia over the Internet;

Address Book; Phone Dialer; and Microsoft Fax;

Front Page Express for creating and editing smaller web pages;

Notepad, and Wordpad, the small text editors used for cutting and pasting between applications;

Paint - you’ve used that I’m sure; Calculator; Calendar;

Using MS DOS

Task Scheduler for controlling operation such as Scandisk and Defrag;

Hyperterminal for direct interface between remote computers - used by service companies to help solve some of my computer problems; and

OLE for sharing information between applications.

Laptop computer users are provided information on power management, docking stations, infrared connecting devices and use of the Briefcase program for file coordination with a desktop computer.

The Network section covers setting up and using Peer-to-Peer networks, Novell Networking and Windows NT and includes discussions on networking printers, network management and security.

An included CD contains an evaluation copy of MS TechNet with the material including BackOffice and Enterprise systems, database and development tools, and the MS Knowledge Base.

Whew! I’m tired just reporting on this book’s contents.

The book’s discussions are very good. There are step-by-step instructions with numerous screen views. The book first previews material and then presents the discussion. There are emphasized Tips and Notes. This is a reference book which, therefore, can be entered at the section explaining a particular application. It is easy to find the information wanted or needed to solve a particular problem. Many times I thought there was too much information presented, only to discover later that it indeed was useful.

The discussion on Internet Explorer is quite long and detailed, ranging from connecting to an Internet Service provider, through searching, to printing web pages and making online purchases. Many hints are given on optimizing use of Iexplorer and make web cruising more efficient. Also included is a discussion of the Active Desktop option for display of Web pages and the ActiveX components and Java applets

Oh yes, use of basic Win95 is covered extensively - installation, configuration, navigating through Win95, using files, folders, toolbars and the taskbar, disk drives, backing up, using multi-media, controlling printers, using fonts and installing add-on devices, both Plug and Play and legacy [non-PnP]. I found the sections on installing devices very helpful when I changed a modem and installed a scanner.

I may have missed something in this review but the authors certainly didn’t miss anything in the book. For Win95 and its related applications, this book will be my bible.