Windows XP Pocket Reference

If you've read my other computer book reviews, O'Reilly books are the gold-standard in my eyes. These pocket references filled the niche created by their "In a Nutshell" series. Back in the 1990s, the Nutshell books were "only" $15 - now most hover over $20. These pocket reference books are priced around $10, and hold enough to keep its utility as a bare-bones reference. The section that made it worth the cost was "Registry Tweaks." Quick instructions to disable or enable cool features on your system, allow you to better use system resources (e.g. making the Desktop icons disappear). Naysayers will state "You can find this stuff on the 'Net! Save the bucks!" Okay, true... but what happens when the system is not connected to the network, or your "online" reference is unavailable. O'Reilly books to the rescue! Don't mistake "bare-bones," as cheap or lacking coverage. If you're a power Windows XP user, there are plenty of features you may not use on a regular basis or even be aware of. Windows XP may have been superseded by Microsoft, but enough users will continue with it on their systems. This book is worth the low price.

Neat and concise, but now obsolete.

It's a simple book with the main reference in most common tasks. It's simply orientative, and it's ok for the most of the Windows users.

This is a great little reference book, but a little too technical for me.As I get more proficient with this computer it will become more useful.One never stops learning, a new short cut, a new activity, etc. I have a few friends, a lot cleverer than me, that may get to borrow it, but never will they keep it.

O'Reilly had a brilliant idea when they started their Pocket Reference series. These are small (about 5 x 7 inches) manuals that provide a terse explanation of all or nearly all commands available in whatever subject is being covered, Windows XP in this case. They are not for beginners: they are for experts, people who know the system, but need a handy prompt when they can't quite remember a command. This book serves as a memory jogger and provides the proper syntax but little, if any, explanation. A great tool to keep handy. Jerry

This book is okay, but it has no index. This is a cardinal sin, especially for a reference book. The publisher should be ashamed. They know better. They're just trying to save a few bucks. Also, in the Command Prompt Commands section, instead of providing the commands which have been added with XP, over the ones available in Windows 2000, it gives the commonly-used commands which are already provided in their Windows 2000 Commands Pocket Reference book.

At 180 pages, this is one of the longer O'Reilly pocket guides, but not a sentence is wasted and the information is organised in an accessible manner. The largest section is an alphabetic "component" reference, but there is also a good settings locator (better, I'd say, than the one in 'Windows XP Annoyances') and a fairly decent command prompt reference. Note, however, that this is book is not essential if you have 'Windows XP in a Nutshell' and, given the choice, I would spend the extra few quid on the 'Nutshell' book.