Editorial Review

Apple's iPad is the perfect personal media center. It lets you search the Web with WiFi, helps you stay in touch with its built-in email application, and allows you to read books, magazines, and newspapers in full color. You can also play games, listen to music, watch videos, view photos, and create documents, layouts, and slideshows with iPad's iWork suite.

With iPad: The Missing Manual, learning how to use this new device is a snap. The clear step-by-step instructions, undocumented shortcuts, workarounds, and lots of practical timesaving advice help you learn each feature and application -- presented with the renowned Missing Manual wit and easy-to-read format.

• Learn how to shop in the iPad's integrated, custom-designed bookstore
• Use its full-color, large-screen eBook and ePeriodical reader
• Create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with the iWork "lite" productivity suite
• Use iTunes to organize and manage media files
• Get connected to the Web with built-in WiFi and the Safari browser
• Orient yourself with the iPad's GPS and map technologies
• Locate and download custom-built games
• Use the iPad's built in email, calendar, and contact applications
• Run any and all iPhone apps on the iPad

View Pictures on Your iPad
By J. D. Biersdorfer

To see the pictures you synced from your computer, tap the Photos icon on the iPad’s Home screen. Then tap the Photos button at the top of the screen to see your pictures in thumbnail view, filling the iPad screen in a grid. If you chose to copy over specific photo albums, tap the name of the album you want to look at. Mac syncers can also tap the Events, Faces, or Places button to see photos sorted in those categories, as page xx explains.

On the thumbnails screen, you can do several things:

• Tap a photo thumbnail to see it full-size on the iPad screen.


• Double-tap an open photo to magnify it.


• Spread and pinch your fingers on-screen (those fancy moves described in Chapter 2) to zoom in and out of a photo. Drag your finger around on-screen to pan through a zoomed-in photo.


• Flick your finger horizontally across the screen in either direction to scroll through your pictures at high speeds. You can show off your vacation photos really fast this way (your friends will thank you).


• Rotate the iPad to have horizontal photos fill the width of the screen or to have vertical photos fill its height.


• With a photo open, tap the iPad’s glass to display a strip of itsy-bitsy thumbnails of all the photos in the current album at the bottom of the screen. Tap or slide to a thumbnail to jump to a particular picture.

When you tap the ^ icon in the menu bar, you can set a photo as wallpaper, assign a picture to your iPad’s Contact’s program, send a pic to MobileMe, or start a photo slideshow. To get back to your library, tap the Photos or album-name button at the top of the screen.

Email Photos

If you want to share your photographic joy, you can email one or a bunch of pictures right from the Photos program:

• One photo. To email the photo currently on-screen, tap the iPad’s glass to make the photo controls appear, and then tap the ^ icon in the upper-right corner. Tap the Email Photo button. The mail program attaches the photo to a new message, ready for you to address.


• Multiple photos. To email a bunch of pictures at once, tap open the album containing the photos. Tap the ^ icon in the top-right corner and then tap the pictures you want to send (blue checkmarks appear in the corner of the thumbnails to show you’ve selected them). Tap the Email button to attach them to a new message. If you have a draft message in progress, tap the Copy button, then switch to the mail program, open your message, and hold down your finger until the Paste button appears. Tap it to paste in the pictures.

Delete Photos

You have two ways to delete photos from your iPad. If you synced photo albums from iTunes, connect the iPad to the computer, open iTunes, hit the Photos tab, and turn off the checkboxes by those albums. Click Apply and then Sync to “unsync,” or remove, those pix from the iPad’s gallery.

If you have pictures in your Saved Photos album you want to ditch, you can delete a currently open picture by tapping the T icon and then tapping the Delete Photo button. To delete multiple pictures from the Saved Photos thumbnail view, tap the ^ icon, then tap the unwanted pictures to assign the Blue Checkmarks of Selection. Tap the small red Delete button on the top-left side of the menu bar. There’s a blue Cancel button on the other side of the menu bar if you change your mind.

Reviews

Great for beginners!, July 7, 2010
The extensive features in Apple's newest creation, the "magical" iPad, deserve this new book in The Missing Manual series. In addition to its paperback version, iPad: The Missing Manual is available from the publisher, O'Reilly, in four different electronic media versions including ePub. This reviewer downloaded the ePub version to the iPad in order to read it there while exploring the very device it described.

A veteran author of books in The Missing Manual series, Biersdorfer, a New York Times tech columnist, provides clear, detailed explanations and helpful illustrations of the iPad's many features in a very readable, often entertaining way.

Experienced Apple users and iPhone users will find much of the text very elementary (e.g., "Turn the iPad On and Off" and "Find the Home Button," in Chapter One). The five chapters devoted to the multi-media iPod functions of the iPad, music, videos, audiobooks, podcasts, photos and the newest addition, books, will be very helpful to those who come to the iPad without any prior experience with Apple products. But for those who have used a Mac, an iPod or an iPhone even for a short time, they seem superfluous. Not only do all these Apple devices have an easy and intuitive user interface, but also they are similar.

Justifiably, an entire chapter is devoted to the newest feature on any Apple device, books. Helpful sections on how to find books in the new iBookstore and elsewhere, ways to make the reading experience pleasant (changing font size, searching within a book, using bookmarks, etc.) are included in Chapter 8.

Owners who rely on the iPad as a productivity tool will welcome the chapters on email, the internet, and the iWork apps (Pages, Numbers, Keynote). There are many useful explanations and tips such as "all the programs in the iWork suite can export files as PDF documents [and] can export files in their native iWork formats...[but] although Pages can export to the native Microsoft Word .doc format, Numbers and Keynote can't export their contents as Microsoft Excel or PowerPoint files. Yet, anyway." Important information to know--and not obvious.

A very helpful feature of the ebook version of iPad: The Missing Manual is that tapping on any entry in the Table of Contents and/or the Index takes the reader immediately to that precise point in the book.

iPad: The Missing Manual will be most valuable to those with little or no previous Apple device experience. Nonetheless, even those who have used Apple products for years will find insights and tidbits that make using the iPad a more productive and pleasurable experience.

Kindle version needs work!, July 15, 2010
However great the iPad is, and however much you like the Missing Manuals series, don't buy this book in the kindle format until it is fixed. I downloaded the kindle sample, and was shocked by how badly formated this version is. The figures are all mixed up, the cover is missing, symbols seem to confused with figures, single paragraphs can take up entire pages, etc..

Before you buy this book for the kindle, try the free sample and see if you have the same problems I had.

I even tried reading it on the Kindle for iPad app. The colors looked nice, but the formatting was just as bad.

Not the value of previous books by Pogue and company., July 26, 2010
iPad, The Missing Manual (May 2010 First Edition) by J.D. Biersdorfer with David Pogue doesn't hold up to the usual standards of the Missing Manual series published by O'Reilly Media, Inc.

The book attempts to cover the latest and greatest from Apple, Inc, the iPad. While it follows the previous format set out by Mr. Pogue it lacks the value of previous titles. Ms. Biersdorfer seems to have taken much from the earlier work entitled: iPod, the Missing Manual. The reasoning is pretty clear. Once you've learned a skill on the older iPod it translates immediately to the iPad. With the possible exception of button placement everything is very similar. Her coverage of the iPod was considerable and here she struggles to define the uniqueness of the iPad over the iPod.

She does cover almost everything the beginning user will need to operate the iPod. If you are totally a novice in regard to Apple's iPods then this may help. I doubt, however, there are that many folks who have not experienced the iPod before purchasing an iPad. Therefore if you have purchased the Missing Manual for the iPod you will find it difficult to justifying purchasing the iPad book.

There were opportunities for improvement that could have made this book more productive. The mere mention of supportive programs like HandBrake do not suffice. A small tutorial on use of programs that are integral to fully benefiting from the iPad would have been nice. A section on best applications would have helped. Suggestions on alternatives to Apple accessories would be most useful and help defray the cost of the book too.

Unfortunately, opportunities did slip by and duplication of information from other books were the hallmark of this work. The new knowledge could have been better contained as a website update or pamphlet added to the back of the iPod book. Equally disconcerting the information may prove to be completely out of date by September when Version 4.0 of the software arrives from Apple.

Probably a waste of money, though there are some nuggets, September 3, 2010
I've not been a huge fan of the missing manuals series. I wouldn't say I dislike them or think they are useless, but I'm just not the target audience. Odds are you may not be said target audience either.

Before continuing check:[...] odds are whatever you were hoping for from this book has been addressed by Apple's Supplied Manual.

So who is the target audience? I'm an IT professional, I work primarily on Linux servers and know painfully little about Windows desktop computers. I use a Mac for most of my work/day for the last ~3 years, and have yet to hit a real wall on Windows (though mostly I'd install Linux if it came to that). I bought the OS X missing manual for 10.5 and found a few nuggets of useful information which I mostly don't use because that isn't what I use the computer for anyway.

If this sounds somewhat familiar in theme, this book may be for your relatives, whom you help because compliance is quicker than resistance followed by compliance anyway. So, they have little incentive to look in the book ... so ... not them.

I've had my iPad for 2 very busy weeks at work and here is what I got out of the book:
- Google Maps: I was missing how to switch map view. Once i found that I didn't know what "traffic" was. This is covered in two paragraphs (maybe 1?).
- 3G & WiFi - turn off what you don't need to save power.
- Bluetooth headphones - make sure they are stereo.

What I felt was missing:
- keyboard shortcuts: for the external bluetooth keyboard ... that info is quick to google anyway, but ... why isn't it here?
- deeper information.

The iPad is an appliance, you are locked in and really there is not much freedom in how you use it. Given the competing devices don't exist (Samsung's Galaxy tablet was announced the week I'm writing this) and IOS 4.2 is apparently going to be the first version for iPad is due in November, not much is going to change here. The user interface is easy to use and Apple has made sure of this. Criticisms here are not with the (apparent) lack of a manual, which this book addresses, but with Apple's practices and frankly if that is what upsets you, you don't need help to drive this product, and likely you don't buy an Apple product.

So who would benefit from this title. My parents probably wouldn't. They got their first own computer about 2 years ago. There are occasional questions but they seem to actually try to work out solutions, so odds are they'd not have any show stoppers of problems. So, again, who would benefit:

If the person in question has never used an Apple computer proficiently, and they are likely to look up their question, this book is for them. Alternatively, if they've never used a computer and don't know the associated lingo, then they need to read (or at least attentively browse) the book cover to cover and they will be learn. Odds are they will enjoy the read, if they want to learn that is.

This book is a reference and as the title implies, it should have been in the box. But really it was, go to [...] I would estimate at least 80% overlap. This book is not bad. It is well written and organized, and tries to anticipate real world needs. This is obviously great, but ... I doubt that's worth their asking price. Also, significant portions are dedicated to Pages, Keynotes and Numbers, which are not installed on the iPad by default anyway.

Add to that, that IOS 4.2 and above will likely change a few of these things, and more importantly ADD features that weren't there, which means this book will be out of date before 2010 is over.

Ultimate reference, December 4, 2010
If you are searching for a fairly complete and detailed iPad manual, this is it. If you want a quick reference with tips, don't choose this book. It is more detailed with lots of information and therefore is not a quick and easy reference guide. However, I love it and found it very useful.

Hit's the mark for a new user, November 12, 2010
The entire "Missing Manual" series is dedicated to providing a solid users manual for a given product. This one is dedicated for the iPad and it does a very good job at providing a broad overview of the device, it's software, and basic functionality.

If you are an experienced iPhone or iPod Touch user you will not find a lot of value with this book. If you are new to iOS devices or are buying one for some then this book is a great starting point.

The chapters are organized to progress you through the usage of the device. The earlier chapters walk you through the iPad itself while the later chapters cover how to work with it.

The only criticism that I have is that I wished the author would have include a chapter regarding things you can't do or can't do very easily with an iPad. Topics like printing, website downloads, and other are thing real people will run into and need to know where they can go or what are the limitations.

An Ongoing Resource For New iPad Owners, November 6, 2010
Apple electronics owners are keenly aware that Apple devices seldom come packed with a useful operating manual; instead, they usually have a short "how-to-turn-on" the device and instructions to refer to online operating information. The Missing Manual series is a very useful and meaningful addition for Apple newbies and the "iPad" addition to this series provides an excellent how-to reference work characterized by clear, concise, easy-to-understand instructions supported by hundreds of photos of screen shots useful in its explanations.

Apple devotees understand that ease of use and intuitive interfaces and software are a hallmark of Apple products. Certainly Apple regulars or Apple iPhone users will quickly adapt to the iPad interface. This manual serves to assist first timers or simply those who want to fully experience the Apple product without unwittingly "missing" a key activity or action that was not discovered by experimenting with it. I have the missing manual series for all my Apple products and find them useful not only in learning about my new device, but also as a bookshelf resouce for questions that may arise later.

Whether a newbie wanting information about how the iPad functions, accessing iTunes, exploring the iPad's music/photo/video capabilities, or most any other introductory aspect to owning and utilizing this creative Apple product, the reader will appreciate the ongoing utility of this manual. True, it does not offer much new material for long time Apple users and/or "techies" but there appear to be a number of useful "nuggets" for them also. Recommended for those who miss having an operational manual accompany their purchases.

Perfect Companion Gift For iPad Owners, August 3, 2010
I love the title of The Missing Manual for this line because it's so RIGHT. The whole line of books scales the spectrum from good to amazing. I have yet to read a single Missing Manual book that I didn't think was as advertised. This book is no exception as you will learn to get the most out of your iPad, from watching videos to buying stuff on the app and book store to everything in between!!

The iPad is a "game changer" piece of hardware and this book is the perfect companion for anyone that finds this under their Christmas tree from Santa Claus. You will be happy you did!!

***** RECOMMENDED

Better than a Manual, July 15, 2010
I have not read very much in iPad: The Missing Manual because my wife is reading it. My wife will not read, or even look for answers to questions in, computer books because they are written by computer people in a language that she cannot understand.

iPad: The Missing Manual is different. It is not like computer manuals. It is written by a real writer, J. D. Biersdorfer, in sentences real people can understand. It even has a touch of humor. For example after explaining how to edit a Safari history list so that you understand what it is and how to edit it, she adds, "Congratulations. You have just rewritten history!"

Contrary to the myths, not everything about iPad is intuitive and obvious. As an example, editing and reorganizing bookmarks is easy to do, but not obvious until you do it. With iPad: The Missing Manual learning to do it is easy, fast, and even enjoyable.

My wife likes her iPad. She is learning how to do more with it, and how to get the most out of it by reading iPad: The Missing Manual.

She sometimes asks me computer questions, but she does not ask me iPad questions. She knows I have not read yet iPad: The Missing Manual.

iPad Missing Manual, October 5, 2010
Great little book with lots of great info. Ordered the book before I purchased the iPad! Got the iPad on the run picked it up on Monday, leaving for Italy on Saturday and knew how to use it. Lots of little tips that would not known otherwise.

Well worth the money - easy to read and great layout. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Great Windows 7 Manual for Most People, March 27, 2010
This is a review of Windows 7: The Missing Manual by Daivd Pogue. The book is written in Pogue's clear, easy-to-read, and entertaining style. Through it all, he maintains his sense of humor. It covers most everyone from the most basic beginner to the the advanced super user, although the most sophisticated users won't need much from this book. But even for them, it includes some handy pointers and reference material.

It provides a complete Windows 7 manual, with everything from how to install (Appendix A), to Windows basics (using Windows, file management and search, and setting your desktop) to finding and installing programs, to connecting to and using the Internet, to advanced features like joining a domain and VPN. And it covers everything else in between.

New features like Libraries and Jump Lists are covered nicely. He even describes the Library problems where you can't add a network location to a Library without making that folder available off-line. He correctly points out that this copies that entire folder onto the local hard drive, so you probably don't want to do this.

I especially liked that when features were missing from a particular version of Windows 7, Pogue points that out. He also points out when a feature is available only on certain versions. For example, Aero is not available in Windows 7 Starter Edition, and he points that out when talking about Aero.

The book provides special help for people transitioning from XP and Vista. When he can, Pogue compares things to the way they used to be in XP and/or Vista. For example, he explains how the Start menu and taskbar have changed from both earlier versions.

He also offers handy sidebars with tips and other related information throughout the book. For example, in the section that teaches you about faxing, he has a sidebar on how to create your own fax cover page.

One of my favorite features of the book are the extraordinarily useful keyboard shortcuts. He provides shortcuts for every situation that has one. In addition, he provides a full keyboard reference in Appendix D.

This is truly the Missing Manual for Windows 7. It is not, however, a reference manual. It's designed to be read like a book. And it's a really good book.

Two hours to power, April 24, 2010
When you pick up a 904-page book, one of the first questions you ask yourself is "When can I put this puppy back down?"

For me, the answer in the case of "Windows 7: The Missing Manual" was that I couldn't put it down for two hours, because I was sitting in front of my computer at the time, with the book in my lap, and every time I turned a page I found another great new idea that I wanted to try. This went on for 172 fun-filled pages (yes, you read that correctly) before I took a break.

Let me back up and put this in perspective: I've been using Windows almost exactly 18 years, since Windows 3.1 was released in April of 1992, and I've been among the very first to try each new version of Windows since then. I've taught Windows courses. Most of the people I know consider me to be a power user of Windows. I don't necessarily agree with them, but I certainly consider myself to be comfortable with Windows, and I've never found myself thinking that I wish David Pogue would drop by and kick my productivity up a notch or two. (Besides, when someone drops by and starts kicking things, isn't there a chance you could get hurt?)

A little more perspective: I've been working in Windows 7 for several months now, and so I already knew that Windows 7 is not only the most powerful but also the fastest, most visually appealing, most user-friendly version of Windows ever released.

Yet while working my way through the first 172 pages of "The Missing Manual," I discovered dozens of new refinements in Windows and dozens of new, faster ways of doing things that until then had escaped my notice.

I think most readers can look forward to a similar experience, because the first 172 pages of the book describe techniques that everyone can benefit from, no matter what kind of work they are engaged in. This is where you'll learn surprising new ways to exploit the power of the Start menu, the Taskbar, and Windows Explorer, plus new ways to search and organize your files.

If you're thinking, "Great, because I'm new to Windows and I don't even recognize the terms you're using, much less how to do those things," then I can offer you the following reassurance: This book is highly illustrated. It is clearly written. It is entertainingly written. It will show you and tell you what you need to know.

If (as is more likely) you're thinking, "I already know how to do those things," then I invite you to think again: Of course you know how to do those things! Who doesn't? But these are some of the most common tasks you perform on your computer. You perform them hundreds if not thousands of times a day, day after day, week after week. What if you could perform them better and faster? What if you could perform them way better and way faster?

Everything I've said so far actually applies to pages 172 - 209, too, which pages cover changing the visual appearance of the Windows desktop and getting help from the Help system or from a user at a remote computer (whether down the hall or around the world) or from Microsoft.

The remaining 700 pages of the book are astonishingly comprehensive (and the writing is just as clear and just as engaging as the writing at the beginning), but few readers will want to bother reading every single chapter. Instead, this is the point at which you will return to the table of contents and pick and choose the chapters that matter to you. Later, you're likely to dip into specific sections as needed, guided by the excellent index. Major subject areas: Software included with Windows 7; Online Services; Pictures, Music, and Television; Hardware and Peripherals; and Networking (including the all-new, easy-to-use Homegroups).

A lot of people contributed ideas and expertise to this book. Their names are listed inside, but it is David Pogue's name on the cover, and whether by remote control or some other mysterious means, Pogue is the one who orchestrated the effort to produce the book. The results are superb. This is easily one of the most comprehensive and most readable books available on Windows 7. Even after spending just two hours with it, you'll be amazed at the power you've gained.

Windows 7: The Missing Manual, April 16, 2010
As a professional in the ever growing technical field i'm often asked "How can i keep up with technology?" And often times the answer is very blunt, "you really can't." With the release of Windows 7, I've been slowing promoting it to all of my clients, customers, co-workers and peers, but often i'm faced with the words "I don't have time to learn it."

I was graciously given the opportunity by O'reilly to review Windows 7: The Missing Manual. Most of the time while reading a book explaining anything technology, I become bored. It seems that often it is geared to the 'I'm Just learning about technology' individuals. After reading Windows 7: The Missing Manual, I was impressed to say the least. If I were to sum up Windows 7: The Missing Manual in a sentence i'd have to say, This book is one of the best instructive tutorial books I have ever read for any computer related product.

With their down to earth, yet at some points witty, instructive procedures, it was not only painless to read, but enjoyable. They tackle anything from switching screens, to folder options, to Taskbars. You name it, this book has touch based on it. To everyone that wants to start tackling Windows 7, whether computer savvy or not, I wouldn't only suggest to read this, I would highly recommend.

So, to the People of O'reilly, thank you for finally making a book to help, not only, the advanced users, but also the lesser of the computer savvy.

Give the Index a Test..., April 9, 2010
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In my reviews, I have been pretty hard on certain Windows 7 books that have come out lately. [ Windows 7: The Definitive Guide: The Essential Resource for Professionals and Power Users ] This one is very good and, so far, has been fun to read while still offering the extensive range of information and comprehensiveness you want on a nearby shelf.

One of my first tests on a reference sort of book always involves the index. This book has almost 900 pages. An adequate index is absolutely necessary and a bad one or good one can measurably enhance or degrade the value of the book. A book written by as knowledgeable and experienced an author as this one should reflect interesting topics not normally associated with manuals--but how do you find them?

Ever heard of Window 7's "god mode"? This feature would certainly not be in any official Microsoft manual but word gets around, doesn't it? Well "god mode" is in the index. Test passed.

I recommend this book to other people, like myself, who do not like to waste time.

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Editorial Review

One look at Excel 2007, with its new Office Button, Quick Access toolbar, and Ribbon, and you realize you’re not in Kansas anymore. Well, have no fear— Excel 2007 for Dummies is here!

If you’ve never worked with a computer spreadsheet, or if you’ve had some experience with earlier versions of Excel but need help transitioning, here you’ll find everything you need to create, edit, format, and print your own worksheets (without sacrificing your sanity!). Excel 2007 for Dummies covers all the fundamental techniques, concentrating on only the easiest, most user-friendly ways to get things done.

You’ll discover how to:

• Rearrange, delete and insert new information
• Keep track of and organize data in a single worksheet
• Transfer data between the sheets of different workbooks
• Create a chart using the data in a worksheet
• Add hyperlinks and graphics to worksheets
• And more!

Plus, in keeping with Excel 2007’s more graphical and colorful look, Excel 2007 for Dummies has taken on some color of its own, with full-color plates in the mid-section of the book illustrating exactly what you’ll see on your screen. Whether you read it from cover to cover or skip to the sections that answer your specific questions, the simple guidance in this book will have you excelling at home or in the office no time. ... Read more

Reviews

very helpful, February 13, 2008
This is a good book to get you started working with excel. It takes away the fear factor. It could give better detail on how to build formulas. It is a fairly simple, basic book and does not really deal with formulas as much as it could. It is very good at other aspects though, such as just getting started putting together a spread sheet.

A Quick Way to Find Out What's New, December 21, 2006
I suppose that you'd be inteested in this book for one of two reasons.

First, you're a newcommer to Excel and want to be hand held from the beginning to get started. I suppose that there must be at least a few people out there who don't know Excel - Well, my mother doesn't, but she's not likely to read this book anyway.

Second, and I suspect most of us fit into this category, we've been using Excel for a lot of years, but at a fairly rudimentary level. We do expense accounts, a few formulas to check things out, maybe use it as a calculator, etc. We don't do things like macros or pivot tables.

Now though, there's a new version of Excel - Excel 2007. It is worth spending the bucks on? What does it have that I might find useful? And I don't want to just see the Microsoft hype, I want a bit more than that. So here for twenty bucks or so is not only a description of what's new, but how to use it.

As best I can tell, the biggest change in Excel 2007 in in its user interface. There's a new look on the screen called the ribbon. This seems to replace all the various toolbars and the like from previous versions with a new layout that puts the bulk of the Excel commands you use only one click away. (The existing File button is replaced by an 'Office' button.) Furthermore, the Ribbon appears to be a dynamic thing. As you are doing something different, for example charting, a different set of frequently used commands appear in the Ribbon. The Ribbon is also easy to customize, so if you're doing a spreadsheet for someone else to use, you can get rid of things that might get them into trouble.

Down inside there are a bunch of other changes. Instead of being limited to a fixed number of columns and rows, how big a sheet you can build is limited only by the memory size. The formatting and fonts area is changed a bunch.

That's just the first chapter of this book. It's a great way to see if the new Excel is for you. And, oh by the way, if you decide that maybe you do want to do a pivot table, it's Chapter 9, and yes, there have been a few changes here as well.

grateful, January 7, 2008
This book came in very handy with the accounting class that I am taking. I had a little knowledge but not much and this book helps alot. I keep it right next to my computer and pull it out and use it on a daily basis. I continue to learn new tricks and shortcuts to make my life easier.

Excel 2007 for Dummies, May 18, 2008
Started a new job and was not used to using the 2007 version of Excel. The book is very informative and helped me greatly. Would recommend this book to anyone needing help with Excel 2007

Useful but..., July 27, 2008
The section on financial formulas contains some horribly incorrect information (totally wrong on NPV interpretation) and for some reason skips a description of IRR - one of the most used financial functions. Otherwise a good introduction to Excel 2007.

EXCEL 2007, August 5, 2008
I have several of these books on different subjects and although it is a good training or reference book, I would have preferred VISUALS as they are much easier for me to follow. What I like about the DUMMY line, is the reading material is in simple terms and not that WAY OUT THERE technical terms that I doubt the real computer geeks even understand.

Worth buying, February 23, 2008
This is a great book. It seems to cover all the new features of 07. I have learned a lot with just a few glances. Not for the advanced excel user. I use it as a per needed reference and it has not let me down yet.

Stephen's Review, May 20, 2008
The Excel 2007 for Dummies was just what I was looking for. It contained everything, plus some, that I needed to work with this version of Excel.

Easy to use, step by step, from easy to advanced., October 30, 2009
I've had this book for at least a year and finally need to use it now. I'm testing for Excel 2007 certification and this book will help me to study all of the functions. Whoever said it is too simplistic is wrong. Look at the later chapters! There are chapters teaching about pivot tables, hyperlinks and macros, and managing/manipulating data lists. This isn't the simple stuff in my opinion. I'm glad I already have the book to get me up to speed for the certification. If I pass the exam on the first try, I'll come back to add that to my review. :-)

Excel for Dummies, April 29, 2008
Easy to follow, funny, right to the point.
Excellant service getting the book promptly. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Tired of reading HTML books that only make sense after you're an expert? Then it's about time you picked up Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML and really learned HTML. You want to learn HTML so you can finally create those web pages you've always wanted, so you can communicate more effectively with friends, family, fans, and fanatic customers. You also want to do it right so you can actually maintain and expand your Web pages over time, and so your web pages work in all the browsers and mobile devices out there. Oh, and if you've never heard of CSS, that's okay--we won't tell anyone you're still partying like it's 1999--but if you're going to create Web pages in the 21st century then you'll want to know and understand CSS.

Learn the real secrets of creating Web pages, and why everything your boss told you about HTML tables is probably wrong (and what to do instead). Most importantly, hold your own with your co-worker (and impress cocktail party guests) when he casually mentions how his HTML is now strict, and his CSS is in an external style sheet.

With Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML, you'll avoid the embarrassment of thinking web-safe colors still matter, and the foolishness of slipping a font tag into your pages. Best of all, you'll learn HTML and CSS in a way that won't put you to sleep. If you've read a Head First book, you know what to expect: a visually-rich format designed for the way your brain works. Using the latest research in neurobiology, cognitive science, and learning theory, this book will load HTML, CSS, and XHTMLinto your brain in a way that sticks.

So what are you waiting for? Leave those other dusty books behind and come join us in Webville. Your tour is about to begin.

Praise
"Elegant design is at the core of every chapter here, each concept conveyed with equal doses of pragmatism and wit."
--Ken Goldstein, Executive Vice President, Disney Online

"This book is a thoroughly modern introduction to forward-looking practices in web page markup and presentation."
--Danny Goodman, author of Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Guide

"What used to be a long trial and error learning process has now been reduced neatly into an engaging paperback."
--Mike Davidson, CEO, Newsvine, Inc.

"I love Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML--it teaches you everything you need to learn in a 'fun coated' format!" -
-Sally Applin, UI Designer and Artist

"I haven't had as much fun reading a book (other than Harry Potter) in years. And your book finally helped me break out of my hapless so-last-century way of creating web pages."
--Professor David M. Arnow, Department of Computer and Information Science, Brooklyn College

"If you've ever had a family member who wanted you to design a website for them, buy them Head First HTML with CSS and XHTML. If you've ever asked a family member to design you a web site, buy this book. If you've ever bought an HTML book and ended up using it to level your desk, or for kindling on a cold winter day, buy this book. This is the book you've been waiting for. This is the learning system you've been waiting for."
--Warren Kelly, Blogcritics.org

Reviews

Best book for learning HTML and CSS, February 5, 2006
The "Head First" series by O'Reilly does it again. This book manages to take the conceptually easy yet complicated task of learning HTML, XHTML, and CSS and breaks it down so that anyone can figure out what is going on and what needs to be done in web page design using these technologies. Plus, if you learned HTML several years ago and you would like to update your skills to current technology, this is a great choice for a textbook.
The book starts out with the basics of HTML -text, webpage form via HTML, putting your webpage on the Internet and linking to other web resources, and adding images and thumbnails. Next the author tackles XHTML, starting by answering the questions What is XHTML? and Why would I want to use XHTML? The author composes three simple steps to take you from strict HTML to XHTML:
1. Change your DOCTYPE to XHTML 1.0 Strict.
2. Add the xmins, lang, and xml:lang attributes to your element.
3. All empty tags should end in "/>" not ">".
Next, CSS is introduced, along with the properties that can be controlled via CSS. When you read the CSS chapters you'll find yourself asking "Why don't other books just SAY this plainly like THIS book does?". Eventually, the author has you doing advanced layout and control using all the tools available to you without you ever noticing that you've been "studying". The book concludes with lessons on interactivity and tables. I think it is most interesting that the author saves the subject of tables for the end of the book versus other texts that usually introduce them early on. This is because the author is using the more advanced lessons on CSS to help make the subject of tabular data less confusing. The book's final chapter is entitled "The Top Ten Topics We Didn't Cover", thus acknowledging that this is not an advanced book on webpage design. Each chapter has a "There Are No Dumb Questions" section that answers common questions that may be a source of confusion to the reader.
Since this book is designed to be a textbook and not a reference, you might find it handy to have a copy of O'Reilly's "HTML & XHTML: The Definitive Guide" as a reference since it lists virtually all of the HTML tags and their properties.

The 1st HTML/CSS you should get, December 6, 2005
I've been involved with the Head First series as a reviewer from the beginning and, as such, my review might be biased, but I will regret not telling you how good this book is.

The Internet is fast becoming a means of sharing one's life with friends, colleagues and anybody out there who is prepared to listen. Some start by telling their story using a blog; the more adventurous create their own web sites, and it is that category of person that this book is aimed at. Don't make the mistake of thinking that this book, and the whole series, seems too upbeat and too young for you. This book is for all ages, The Head First series is designed to make learning fun, and though it was originally aimed at the younger generation, I personally think that old age pensioners will be able to learn HMTL the correct way just as easily as their grand children if they use this book - and you will be sooo cool if you have this book on your shelf when they, the grand kids, visit again next time.

The emphasis in this book is on creating web pages the correct way, to make pages that will work correctly in any browser. If you work through Elisabeth and Eric's book, you will end up with a web site that can withstand anything the W3C's Markup Validation Service can throw at it. And when your web pages pass the validation, you can put the W3C's cool "passed validation" logo on your site. A sign of recognition that you know what you are doing.

This book does not require you to have prior HTML knowledge; it takes you by the hand and teaches you everything you need from scratch. But don't be fooled, I was the review manager for this book and even some of the reviewers with years of HTML knowledge under their belt learnt new things from it. Sure, it isn't a complete HTML reference book, and it does not intend being one, but it lays the foundations for a solid start to becoming a true HTML/CSS expert.

I think this book should become the standard text book in HTML/CSS courses in schools, colleges and even professional training centers.

I highly recommend it to all. It will make the perfect Christmas gift for your family, all ages !!!, friends and even colleagues who are thinking about or are doing something with a web site of their own.
Have fun.

Like I said, I might be biased, but I am sure an independent reviewer will confirm what I said.

Fantastic book, Lousy index, full of blather, November 16, 2007
We're using this book in a college course I'm taking. This book contains a massive amount of REALLY good information, which has been buried in a landslide of unnecessary blather. Add to this the complete lack of a sensible, extensive index, and this book leaves me so frustrated, I am nearly ready to drop the class. (see below..)

The vast amount of useful information in the book makes it difficult to remember it all at one time. But it's impossible to refer back and find something a week after I've read it without leafing through an entire chapter or more, page by page, because the index is so brief and incomplete.

With a good, complete index, I'd give this book 4.5 stars for it's excellent content (withholding 1/2 star for all the blather). Without a usable index, the book is nearly worthless to me.

GOOD NEWS UPDATE!! The O'Reilly people have replied to my complaint about the index. They're compiling, and will be uploading a complete, extensive index online in January 2008! Too late for my class, but hey! Someone really does listen. Thanks, O'Reilly!

Great tutorial - will give you the basics, January 6, 2006
To learn HTML / CSS, you will probably need three books 1) a book to help you learn the topic; 2) a reference; 3) a book that describes the hacks and tricks for getting your own designs to work in various browers. This book does an excellent job of covering the first topic. It does not bill itself as a book for experts, or a reference.

It's well written in an engaging way that turns a potentially dry topic into a more conversational read. It has useful examples that are well-presented and that continue and build throughout the book. Examples are accomanied by sidebars and out-takes that break up the format in an engaging way that helps understand the material, why things work the way they do, alternative designs and their trade-offs.

My only gripe about the book and the reason I did not give it 5 stars, is that it seems to side-step the browser compatibility issue.

Best HTML/XHTML/CSS Book Ever, December 29, 2005
******
This book SHOULD receive 6+ stars.

Are you tired of reading reference manuals? Get ready for some fun with "Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML". This is not your ordinary technical manual. It is funny, interesting, VERY helpful---even for seasoned professionals, great for beginners, and unlike anything you've ever seen before, unless you're familiar with other "Head First" books.

I wish, I wish, I pray, that instructors will read this book and see that learning can be fun, interesting, and enjoyable. If you purchase this book, no matter what your level of HTML familiarity, I guarantee that you will be entertained and informed. Even if you have spent years designing web sites, you won't mind spending $23 to read a prototype of what technical manuals SHOULD be but never are...until now!!

Buy this book....you won't be sorry.

I stayed up until midnight last night reading answers to questions I'd always wanted to ask but never knew who to ask them of...and being fascinated. A true beginner will need to study this book. A professional will laugh and be refreshed and have a lot of fun with it. All should purchase it and support a new way of learning!
******

Wish I could give this 6 stars..., January 19, 2006
Head First HTML with CSS and XHTML is totally unlike any other HTML book I've ever read -- or owned. Most are basic references -- "if you want this, do this" type books. Very dry and dull, not something you're going to sit and read in one setting. Not helpful to someone who is not technologically inclined who wants to learn how to "do a website."

This book is written to teach. It's written so that you remember what you read, using techniques that teachers are being taught to use in the classroom. And it's one that I would actually use in the classroom if I were still teaching Computer Applications.

The first thing you notice about the book is that it's colorful. Normally, the only color in an HTML book is the chart of colors and their hex codes (which, ironically, this book doesn't have). Even the acknowledgements include color pictures of the people they are thanking. And everything in the book is worth reading through -- including the acknowledgements and the table of contents. There's a healthy use of humor throughout that makes it worth actually reading through, rather than just using as a reference.

And that's the point. The authors are quick to say that if you're looking for another HTML reference book, to keep looking. This is a book for people who want to learn.

I wasn't sure how much I'd really learn from this book -- after all, I'd just read and reviewed Creating Web Sites: The Missing Manual. But while that book gave me a good basis for understanding CSS, this book has expanded my understanding considerably. I've got a CSS reference book that has been seldom used; I think I'll be dusting it off soon, because I know enough to be able to use it now.

If you've ever had a family member who wanted you to design a website for them, buy them Head First HTML with CSS and XHTML. If you've ever asked a family member to design you a web site, buy this book. If you've ever bought an HTML book and ended up using it to level your desk, or for kindling on a cold winter day, buy this book. This is the book you've been waiting for. This is the learning system you've been waiting for.

Good for nearly all experience levels, March 30, 2006
I know HTML and XML (I've designed a number of domain-specific XML vocabularies). The problem is my HTML knowledge was acquired in the dawn of the WWW when Mosaic was new technology and one could actually have a site announcing the dozen or so new sites appearing on the web each week. This was pre-CSS too. My skills needed some serious updating.

The first few chapters of the book are certainly elementary and I just skimmed them. But starting with chapter five I started getting new and useful information. Those first four chapters would be great for someone starting ab-initio. (I'll test them on my wife and kids.)

The rest of the book is good for fixing my bad-old HTML 1.0 habits and transitioning to strict XHTML. And by the end of the book I actually understood CSS, which had always been a black art to me.

I'm using my new-found knowledge to build some web sites using an XHTML template for Joomla and CSS for all the styling.

The treatment is light and fun, but not nearly as smarmy and condescending as, say, the XXX For Dummies series. It is kind of neat how they match the visual personalities of the make-believe actors with the questions and topics.

This is NOT a reference manual: you'll be very disappointed if you buy it for that purpose. Instead, read this book and keep it nearby when coding up your web sites; use an on-line XHTML or CSS reference when you need it.

Great starter book for beginners and moderately experienced, January 16, 2006
Our department has been making good use of the Head First series of books while we move out of our legacy applications and replace them with Java and Java related technologies. Many of the legacy app's are being replaced with JSP based web applications where CSS is used to present the common corporate look. We again turned to Head First to brush up on our HTML skills and learn what CSS is all about.

What an awesome book! It is both engaging and educating at the same time. The authors cover tons of information in a way that makes this dry subject something to look forward to and not to dread. Any college or tech school that offers an introductory course into this subject should consider using this book as a primary source for teaching.

I had previously though I was fairly fluent in HTML but I found a few things in the first 7 chapters I did not fully know. Even though this section was mostly review, I did not mind going through the exercise. Then once I got into the application of CSS concepts, Wow! Why had I shied away from CSS for so long?

I agree with the previous reviews...A book for the experts? No. A great reference book? Not great but OK. A book to get you going and get you 80% into the world of web page creation? Absolutely. Head First folks, keep up the great work!

Nice Intro to XHTML and CSS, February 8, 2006

What distinguishes "Head First: HTML With CSS and XHTML" from the plenitude of books about learning about creating web pages is its novel teaching approach. It takes knowledge from modern developments in the science of cognition to develop a teaching approach designed to increase learning and retention using a checklist of techniques. It emphasizes use of visual and graphic elements to facilitate learning, the placing of words near graphics, use of a conversational and personalized writing style, engaging the reader's emotions, and grabbing attention by eye and brain-catching presentations. All of this is plausible pedagogically and I believe it works. After reading 655 pages of technical material, rarely did it feel tedious, difficult, or confusing.

The subject matter is basic coding with XHTML and CSS and is designed for beginner code writers and web page creators. It explains basic material for understanding and writing standards-compliant code. It is not a reference book and it does not dig deeply into its topics. Many readers may find the instructional approach highly appealing as it does make reading fun. Learning is likely to be enhanced by the brain stimulation provided by the many dozens of activities, like crossword puzzles, tests, exercises, and question and answer sections.

This is a handsomely produced volume with heavyweight glossy paper, clear, detailed photographs, and many illustrations and graphics. It is easy on the eye and stimulating to the brain. The discussion is suitable for virtually any beginners in XHTML and CSS. The presentation will appeal to the MTV generation especially, with its high density of graphics, bold illustrations, and low-density text.

Authors Elisabeth Freeman and Eric Freeman are software developers and computer scientists. The book emphasizes standards-compliant coding for all the right reasons - newer browsers may not correctly display older noncompliant code, accessibility for handicapped web users is heightened, efficiencies in code writing is enhanced, and more options are available for web page authors to display and style their content. It covers HTML 4.01 and XHTML, and covers both Mac and PC aspects of the topics.

After a couple of very basic chapters dealing with rudimentary HTML and hypertext, the authors turn to the building blocks of satisfactory, compliant coding - sketching structures, adding elements, learning inline vs. block element positioning, and similar items.

There are small sections throughout which inform on various related matters, like dealing with different browsers, using a hosting company and organizing one's site, but the bulk and better of the material deals with systematic construction of web pages using essential building blocks.

Headings, paragraphs, images, element identification, and the various components of CSS styling are carefully described and explained via examples using sample sites. The writing throughout is very clear and straightforward (as enhanced by the teaching elements noted earlier). The best chapter in my view is Chapter 10 explaining the "box model" of XHTML elements. The components of padding, margins, content, and body are very well illustrated within the context of the examples.

The chapter on layout is also very well done, showing how to create two and three column layouts and addressing how to handle common layout problems in positioning. Other matters covered include floating elements, liquid and frozen designs, and relative and absolute positioning.

Later chapters cover using XHTML to create lists, tables and forms, and then styling with CSS. The sections or CSS are very clear, but limited. This is an introduction, after all, and most of the most important and useful style components are described and illustrated. More advanced components like DIV and SPAN are covered nicely. The sections on classes and pseudo-classes are well done.

This is a fine introduction to the topics for the nontechnical reader. Higher-level computer types will not be satisfied; those people not attracted to the unconventional presentation may not be pleased. But, for the most part, this is a worthwhile introduction to the topics.

Better than it looks, August 25, 2006
I passed over this book initially because it looked too goofy, and the first half of the book seemed to take a lot of pages to cover HTML, which I basically already knew. I picked up Richard York's Beginning CSS instead, because it seemed more serious, and it looked a lot more dense with technical detail.

What a mistake. Beginning CSS was incredibly obtuse and difficult to get through, and the examples were just ugly (not to mention they don't work properly in any browser). A couple hundred pages in, I got lost in all the "direct adjacent sibling combinators" and "@import notations" and I gave up.

Then I decided to give Head First HTML a shot. It's about the same thickness as Beginning CSS, but it's much much much easier to read. The type is bigger, and there are lots of illustrations and puzzles and what-not. Most importantly, it's written much more clearly. The examples are easy to code, they look great, and they actually work in real web browsers.

I got through the book in about a week and a half, and boom, I know how to write standards-compliant XHTML & CSS. Obviously, I still have plenty of room for advancement, but I know enough to put together some pretty decent web pages. The book is up-to-date (it even mentions iWeb, which was just released earlier this year), and it really does make the learning process easy and, dare I say, fun. ... Read more

Editorial Review

THE #1 BESTSELLING BOOK ON OBJECTIVE-C 2.0

Programming in Objective-C 2.0 provides the new programmer a complete, step-by-step introduction to Objective-C, the primary language used to develop applications for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS X platforms.

The book does not assume previous experience with either C or object-oriented programming languages, and it includes many detailed, practical examples of how to put Objective-C to use in your everyday iPhone/iPad or Mac OS X programming tasks.

A powerful yet simple object-oriented programming language that’s based on the C programming language, Objective-C is widely available not only on OS X and the iPhone/iPad platform but across many operating systems that support the gcc compiler, including Linux, Unix, and Windows systems.

The second edition of this book thoroughly covers the latest version of the language, Objective-C 2.0. And it shows not only how to take advantage of the Foundation framework’s rich built-in library of classes but also how to use the iPhone SDK to develop programs designed for the iPhone/iPad platform.

Table of Contents

   1    Introduction

Part I: The Objective-C 2.0 Language

    2    Programming in Objective-C 

    3    Classes, Objects, and Methods

    4    Data Types and Expressions

    5    Program Looping

    6    Making Decisions

    7    More on Classes

    8    Inheritance

    9    Polymorphism, Dynamic Typing, and Dynamic Binding

  10    More on Variables and Data Types

  11    Categories and Protocols

  12    The Preprocessor

  13    Underlying C Language Features

Part II: The Foundation Framework

  14    Introduction to the Foundation Framework

  15    Numbers, Strings, and Collections

  16    Working with Files

  17    Memory Management

  18    Copying Objects

  19    Archiving

Part III: Cocoa and the iPhone SDK

  20    Introduction to Cocoa 

  21    Writing iPhone Applications

Part IV: Appendixes

  A    Glossary

  B    Objective-C 2.0 Language Summary

  C    Address Book Source Code

Reviews

Outstanding Beginner's Guide to Objective-C, January 3, 2009
This book is both comprehensive and easy to understand. The sequence of chapters chosen to be read chronologically is well thought out (e.g. having the reader use static data types before introducing the generic id type, or having the reader declare and implement accessor methods before introducing the property and synthesize directives). The end of chapter exercises are also short (i.e. quick to complete) but also thoughtfully designed.

The author chose to make this book serve not only as a reference, but as a tutorial. In other words, a bit like the "... for Dummies" series in its hand-holding (i.e. tutorial) style. However, this book is certainly not for "dummies" as the author does not assume the reader to be slow or requiring interjections of humor or casualness. Other books will have authors write things like "Now grab a slice of pizza before we hit this really hard subject!", but this author thankfully spares the reader of this. Kochan is concise and direct. There are very few wasted or unnecessary sentences.

Kochan does not assume prior Objective-C, Cocoa framework, or X-code knowledge. However, if you have experience with just about any procedural or object-oriented language, you will have a much easier time with learning any new language, including Objective-C. If you do not have experience with ANY other language, then you will still have a difficult time with learning all of the Objective-C language as some topics just by their very nature are difficult to grasp immediately without practical experience.

Although there is a chapter each on the Cocoa framework and iPhone development, this book is focused on the Objective-C language and Apple's Foundation framework. Other resources will have to be utilized to learn Cocoa or Cocoa Touch.


BOOK'S TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Introduction
2. Programming in Objective-C
3. Classes, Objects, and methods
4. Data Types and Expressions
5. Program Looping
6. Making Decisions
7. More on Classes
8. Inheritance
9. Polymorphism, Dynamic Typing, and Dynamic Binding
10. More on variables and Data Types
11. Categories and Protocols
12. The Preprocessor
13. Underlying C Language Features
14. Introduction to the Foundation Framework Foundation Documentation
15. Numbers, Strings, and Collections
16. Working with Files
17. Memory Management
18. Copying Objects
19. Archiving
20. Introduction to Cocoa Framework Layers
21. Writing iPhone Applications
22. Appendix A. Glossary
23. Appendix B. Objective-C 2.0 Language Summary
24. Appendix C. Address Book Source Code
25. Appendix D. Resources


You may also want to consider reading Apple's developers' guides:

-Learning Objective-C: A Primer
-Object-Oriented Programming with Objective-C
-The Objective-C 2.0 Programming Language

Apple's guides are not easy for a novice, but having read them before reading Kochan's book definitely made using his book significantly easier and faster for me.

In summary, this book will make learning Objective-C about as easy as it can be since it starts with the assumption that the reader has no prior programming knowledge.

Fantastic book organization!, January 11, 2009
I am a web designer and developer and I've programmed in a lot of languages (i.e. HTML, javascript, actionscript, visual basic, etc.). I wanted to learn Objective-C as the quickly as I could. I quickly found out that not having experience in programming in C (the predecessor to Objective-C) made it hard to understand the reasoning behind the code syntax and finding resources that didn't assume I knew C was almost impossible...

After going through the first three chapters of this book in less than an hour, my confidence in the language has increased exponentially. The book is roughly 624 pages, but I feel like I could code the samples and finish the book in just a few days...

The book is organized into four main sections:
I: The Objective-C 2.0 Language
II: The Foundation Framework
III: Cocoa and the iPhone SDK
IV: Appendixes

The separation of these main topics, Objective-C Language features and the Foundation Framework for example, almost guarantees that there won't be much confusion if you are learning the language for the first time and that there will be a distinction between the topics and concepts for each section.

Kochan does a good job of creating a deep understanding of the material instead of simply saying `just write the code and we'll explain later'. For example, each chapter provides instructions on how to fulfill basic concepts using Objective-C such as writing classes, inheritance, loops, operators, etc. At the end of each chapter, there are `Exercises' which may range anywhere from 5-9, which more or less tests the reader's comprehension on the material that was just covered.

I bought the Beginning iPhone Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK and Cocoa(R) Programming for Mac(R) OS X (3rd Edition) before this book and I should have done the exact opposite. This book can serve as a foolproof foundation and reference guide for either of the aforementioned books and definitely shortens the learning curve to mastery.

Best book to learn Objective-C 2.0, January 24, 2009
Note: Typos have been fixed since the edition I originally purchased. I've kept my original review below, which was influenced by the number of typos and formatting glitches I encountered in the original edition. Now that it's all been rectified, there is NO BETTER BOOK for learning Objective-C 2.0 than this book.


*** ORIGINAL REVIEW (noted deficiencies corrected in updated revisions) ***

I'd love to recommend this book as the gateway to learning to program Mac OS X applications, but unfortunately I cannot. It contains more than a few typographical errors, especially in the first few chapters. Those new to programming in C may end up confused and unable to understand why their programs will not compile. This is unacceptable for this type of book.

Beyond typos, my second gripe is the lack of exercise solutions. This book provides challenging exercises at the end of each chapter that are designed to hone your skills and solidify your understanding of taught topics. Frustratingly, there does not seem to be a source containing exercise solutions. None are found in the book, and surprisingly -- nothing is offered on the book's web page either. Nada. Learning is difficult when you cannot check your solution against the author's intended solution.

My surmise is to blame the editors -- someone unaccustomed to working on programming/technical books likely did the final layout.

I learned C Programming over 20 years ago, thanks in large part to Stephen G. Kochan's original 1988 masterpiece, "Programming In C." I picked up his latest book looking to master my Objective-C programming skills. Personally, I accomplished my goals -- but only because I have a 20+ year history of programming in C (and many other languages). Those new to the language may have to hobble through typos.

This book (minus typos) does an excellent job teaching you Objective-C 2.0. Knowing ObjC is a prerequisite to learning the Cocoa framework for Mac OS X.

Final thoughts:

TWO to THREE STARS for those new to programming. Don't frustrate yourself with typos and lack of solutions to chapter exercises.

FOUR to FIVE STARS for experienced C/C++ developers looking to jump to Objective-C 2.0.

NOTE: Those giving FIVE STAR reviews to this book knowing that it contains typos are not providing any service to those who are new to programming. What good is it to reward a publisher for poor performance? With any luck, the publisher will fix future versions.

Great book: Clear, concise, and comprehensive!, January 12, 2009
I had heard about Kochan's reputation for writing clear and concise books, so I was anxiously awaiting the release of the second edition of what has been recommended to me as THE book to learn Objective-C from. I was certainly not disappointed. I was able to work through this book in a week's time and even write my first iPhone application, just from the material presented in this text.

Kochan methodically teaches the mechanics of the language, followed by the Foundation Framework, and then the iPhone SDK. In the last chapter on the iPhone, Kochan shows how to use two of the classes taught in the book (a calculator class and a fraction class) to develop a fraction calculator that runs on the iPhone. I was able to get the program running on the iPhone simulator that comes with the iPhone SDK. You should note that there was a mistake in listing some of the code for this example. I contacted the author and he was aware of the error. He mentioned that all the code, the answers to the exercises, and the errata will be posted shortly. It's helpful to note that Kochan is active in MacRumors forums and seems to respond quickly to questions posted there as well as to the several emails I sent him.

After I got the iPhone fraction calculator working, I started adding features to the calculator (some came from suggestions in the exercises at the end of the chapter), and this has greatly improved my understanding of how everything works and how it all works together: XCode, Interface Builder, the iPhone Simulator, and Objective-C.

Now I have to dive deeper into Cocoa programming and the iPhone SDK. Kochan has given me a great start to move on to one of the recommended follow-on texts with confidence and a strong footing in the language..

In my opinion, this book is the best way to learn Objective-C and a must read for prospective mac and iPhone application developers.

Just buy it!!, March 15, 2010
If you are reading the reviews because you're on the fence, stop now and buy this book. Of the many, many programming books I've purchased over the years, this is by far the best. (Really!) The book itself is well organized, builds steadily on previous chapters, and I'm sure will also be a great reference for some time to come. But what really sets this book apart is the author's forum. There is a TON of information, including study guides, quizzes, questions answered (often by the author himself!) topics clarified, and ideas shared. If you are already a programmer the book alone is worth purchasing. But if you are starting out or still have a thing or two to learn, the book combined with the site is invaluable.

Superb text for learning objective-C, March 6, 2010
As an instructor looking for a text for students taking an introductory programming course, this book is perfect. I had waded through several other works on objective-c but none took the approach of starting from square one. Even though I have programmed in many languages (APL, C, Forth, Pascal) I was new to OOP and I found most other texts very tiring to understand.

This book is a breath of fresh air and includes good exercises at the end of each chapter. Coupled with a great on-line forum site with additional quizzes and solutions to problems, this is one of the best works I could have found for learning this material.

I highly recommend this book for anyone wishing to learn about object oriented programming and for anyone who wants to learn how to create iPhone (or Mac) applications. Writing iPhone apps is just too different an area to jump into without first getting a good grasp of the programming fundamentals. This is a necessary first step in that process.

Dave Crabbe

Excellent Book, Formatted Perfectly for Kindle!, March 29, 2009
This book is fantastic for beginning programers. I have a little bit of experience with C, and programming in other languages, but am completely ignorant when it comes to Objective-C. Kochan had me understanding complex subjects in minutes.

The analogies used in this book are very clear--using the analogy in this book, I explained how classes work to my wife (whose eyes glaze over when programming is mentioned) and she understood it well.

Another thing the author does well is avoiding overburdening the reader with too many concepts at once. Frequently, the explanations for complex concepts that are not totally relevant to the task at hand are deferred until a later section in the book. This helps you grasp the simple things early on, without feeling overwhelmed. You are then prepared when things get more complex.

If you are a Kindle owner, you'll be happy to know that the conversion to Kindle has been done flawlessly. When important concepts are referred to, or previous examples mentioned, they are always linked for a quick click back or forward to the relevant location. Images and tables are rendered nice and large, and easy to read. One of the best Kindle formatting jobs I have ever seen.

I fell in love with Objective-C almost immediately after starting this book. Those new to programming or Objective-C will find a lot to love here.

Outstanding book and works great on the Kindle!, March 17, 2010
This is the fourth programming book I have bought in as many months, and it will most probably be the only one that I manage to complete! I won't repeat everything that others have written, and I will confess I am still near the beginning, but I can say that:
- His text is clear and well presented.
- His examples are relevant and easy to follow.
- He actually explains WHY he is doing something!
(How many of you have read detailed technical books and by the end of it you are just typing stuff in like a monkey with no clue why the syntax is what it is, etc.?)
- Every chapter ends with exercises that are interesting, fun, and actually cement your learning.

After much mental debate, I bought the Kindle version of this book (which I was pleasantly surprised to see available!). Although I find the weight of a textbook somehow comforting, in this case I was getting a bit weary of carrying around multiple 3" thick books. I can say now that I am very pleased with the Kindle version (which I actually read via "Kindle for PC"). The text is very clear, the code examples are well formatted, and the illustrations are excellent (and some are even in color!).

And what better way to learn: I have this book open on the PC (on a MacBook Pro running in a VM window) right next to XCode (where you can enter and test the examples and exercises in parallel with your study of the book). I love it!

I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn Obj-C, perhaps on the way to learning the iPhone (as in my case).

Much more than an Excellent Book!, November 3, 2009
I graduated as a mechanical engineer in 06' and during that time took one class on C programming. Being that it was 8 years ago and I guess you could say I was a beginner as a programmer. I was looking for a book on Objective-C back in December of '08 and after a lot of research ended up choosing this book. At the time I had read numerous good things about the book but I was unprepared for what I was actually getting. Learning computer programming is tough but this book is an excellent step by step guide to taking you comfortably from a beginner to someone who is comfortable with the Objective-C language. I started the book in March of this year and soon after was searching for answers to the exercises in Google. I ended up finding the authors forum for the book which has been worth ten times the price of the book and it is all free. There are numerous sections where you can get the answers to exercises, ask for help, make suggestions, help other etc. The really great part is the authors involvement. I have been a member since April and have over 100 posts on the site as I came across things I had further questions on. I would say at least 80% of the time the author was the one who responded and in less then 24 hours and most times less than 12 hours. Steve has a real passion for teaching and in my opinion has a real knack for doing so.

I just finished the book today. My approach was probably more thorough than most. I first read the chapter, then reread it taking notes and then completed the exercises at the end of each chapter I also completed all of the program examples in the chapters. There are claims in the reviews that you can get through this book in 3 weeks which I find awfully hard to believe. I spent on average 7-10 a week on the book and it took me eight months to complete it. I also took advantage of the live lessons which are available online. There is a series of 16 lessons which walk you through the book. The author guides you through the book using the material from the book and there is also additional information. Conveniently it was close to the time I was finishing the book and served as a great review of what I had learned.

While waiting for this book I picked up a copy of Learn C on the Mac and read through it. I will say that this book helped refresh my memory and did give me a good head start. I would read this again first if I had to do it over again. I am not saying that you need to learn C first I am just saying having a base knowledge didn't hurt me.

All in all I really can't say enough about the author, the forum, the book and the community of people who are behind this book. If you are looking for a way to learn about Objective-C and you don't choose this book I think you are making a big mistake. I really wish that Steve had a book on iPhone programming. I only hope that my next steps are met with as much support and dedication as I have received from Steve. Thanks Steve!

Strongly recommended!, March 27, 2010
OK, this is THE book if you want to start with Objective-C programming for Mac OS X, the iPhone, and now the iPad. In fact, you should read it as a prelude to any book about Cocoa programming, because having a good foundation in Objective-C is fundamental. Don't let anybody tell you that you should learn C first, Objective-C is a superset of C and you pick up enough C in the process. You can always dive into C a little bit more later. Learning C first can be even detrimental as it sometimes goes against good object oriented programming practice. There's an online forum in support of the book, where some concepts can be talked about in more detail. (Even the author is around!) Strongly recommended. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

The Excellent Teach Your Kids (Or Teach Yourself) Programming In The Python Language Book., May 11, 2009
This attractive and moderately-sized volume gets elementary through high school education in programming computers right, and makes the best use of the universally available (and free) "batteries-included" language--Python. In the early days of personal computers (about 1978), everyone and his brother had a Teach Yourself Basic on the TRS-80 or Apple-II programming book that got you and your kids up to speed in the Dartmouth-developed (Digital Equipment Corporation-improved) BASIC computer programming language. At that time, you were lucky if at the conclusion of the book you could produce a simple-minded character-based Tic-Tac-Toe game (or self-prompted lessons in the multiplication tables). With excellent pedagogy and the libraries (like PYGAME) now available for the modern Python programming language this book enables the home-schooled student (or timid grandparent) to build sophisticated simulations and graphical entertainment (like a virtual pet) at least equivalent to the commercial games available in that era.

Due to the excellent tools and step-by-step examples given by Warren and Carter Sande the young reader, or his/her parent, is well prepared for a modern college level course in Data Structures or Algorithms with well illustrated examples of Lists, Modules, Event-driven and Object-Oriented Programming. The use of GUI-builders and programming libraries enable the novice to achieve impressive results within the course of a few short months of self-instruction.

The book is well illustrated, and the examples and tools downloadable from the book's web site run correctly without the need to fix typo's.

All in all, the book is an excellent read for a 12-year old, or an adult novice, and will provide superb instruction and entertainment for its readers.

--Ira Laefsky

Excellent but designed for PC not Mac, July 24, 2009
I have been programming and teaching programming at the university level for 25 years and I have been looking for years to find a book for children, like my 10 year old son, who wanted to learn about programming but were not up to the high school reading level. This book perfectly fills the niche. With clear writing, well thought through examples and gentle humor, it is superb for the young learner. My son has taken over my PC since I gave him the book. So, it is safe to say it can hold a child's attention.

The fact that it is good for a young audience does not mean that it is dumbed down too far to be useful for any age. The depth and pace of the material is appropriate for anyone, starting from scratch, who wants to learn to program from lots of examples. Actually, it sets the stage nicely for someone who is anxious about needing to learn programming at the university level.

The only real down side is the support for Mac. The book uses Python which works on Mac, Windows and Linux but a couple of the components used in the book do not have good instructions for the Mac on the books website. For example, they are written for older Mac OS or require you to dig deep in the system files to find the directories where things belong. The forums on the website will help but expect to need to dig around a bit, especially if you use Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard), until the author(s) fix the main Mac instructions.

Even though I had to poke around a bit to make sure the Mac would behave, I still love this book. Setting aside the fact that this fills a badly need gap in programming instruction for kids, this book is just great with a wonderful ratio of code snippets to explanations and clear concise discussions of both basic and fairly advanced concepts (like object oriented programming).

What a great book for kids!, June 1, 2009
My husband's a computer programmer, and my nine year old son told us he wants to learn how to write computer programs too. I did a lot of looking around for something that would be suitable for my son to use, and finally discovered this book.

We had to wait a while for this book, as the release date was changed and there were other problems, but this was definitely worth the wait. My son read through the book in no time flat, and definitely understands what's in it.

The next step is for the two of them to sit down and go through the code examples together.

Mr. Sande (young and old), thank you so much for writing this book!

Great educational fun, July 14, 2009
My daughter and I have been enjoying working through this book together. The choice of an open, multi-platform language is nice, as almost anyone with a computer can take advantage of what it has to offer.

Python has many great libraries and the use of Pygame makes possible some projects that would be much too difficult for this level of work. That really hooked my daughter, the ability to make her own games. We've been having a blast working through the book together.

There are tons of learning opportunities that take things well outside the realm of just 'programming'. I recommend this book to anyone with kids that are inclined towards doing more with a computer than just running applications.

Great Book for Kids!, May 8, 2009
The authors have done a wonderful job introducing the basics of computer programming through Python. I gave this book to my 9-year-old, and he's hooked! The exercises are fun and engaging, and the text and graphics are easy for him to follow.

This book comes highly recommended!

Anyone Can Do It, January 9, 2010
This book is one of the best programming books I've ever read. OReilly books are very informative but extremely boring. I'm 24 and know nothing about programming and those other books did nothing to excite me in my endeavor. However after getting half way through this book I am amazed at how easy the concepts are taught. Elementary kids should be taught this, and they can without being bored. I'm very happy I bought this book even though at the time I considered myself too mature for it.

Great start!, August 25, 2009
I gave this book five stars because it is incredibly beginner friendly which is very rare for a programming book. There are many lessons that cover the basics of the Python language and even full games. There is no disc with the book but you can download the extra content and lessons from the books website.

For those who are comfortable with the basics of Python there might not be much need to read this book. Hello world is an excellent start but you will definitely need something more solid after reading it.

Excellet Book For Kids and Adults, August 13, 2009
Programming is not for everyone, but for those who are passionate about creating new programs and using their creativity to solve problems, there is nothing like it. A lot of people have this notion that you have got to be young or under a certain age to be able to pick up programming. That couldn't be further from the truth. As long as you are passionate about writing programs and solving problems, the sky's the limit. That's why I love Hello World! As an experienced computer scientist, I loved the fact that it focuses on the fundamentals of programming that everyone needs to know in order to become a decent programmer. A lot of people in the IT complain about a lot of programmers not knowing their basics, but with this book, you are going to learn how to get started with programming without cutting corners.

Here is what's covered in this book:

1. Programming Fundamentals
2. Memory and Variables
3. Data Types
4. Loops (all kinds)
5. Lists and Collections
6. Objects
7. Graphics
8. Events
9. Multimedia & Graphics
10. Handing Strings
11. File I/O Management
12. GUIs and More

Please note that this book is written for absolute beginners. So do not expect heavy duty graphics programming to be discussed in this book. At the same time, if you have no idea how to get started with programming, you are going to enjoy reading this book. Python is a nice language to get started with. The book has a very fun tone to it, and it doesn't go over your head. You can easily follow the instructions in this book and even test yourself in each chapter.

It's never too late to get started with programming. You can always jump in and pick up a more advanced book, but if you want do things the right way and start with the fundamentals first, Hello World! Computer Programming for Kids and Other Beginners is a very good book.

Good Principals - Bad Timing - Poor Focus, July 17, 2010
The programming principals in the book are sound and valid. However, the book was written based on Python 2.5 instead of Python 3.0 which is a sticking point; I say this because the original release date in late 2008 would have allowed for for at least Python 2.6, but I digress. Each project in the book builds upon the previous module that was covered which is good, however the opportunity to teach core programming principals at one time in the beginning is missed. The text is easy to read and the syntax is explained well with relevant explanations. By the end of the book, the reader should be able to make a text-based programs, a windowed program, and different forms of arcade games. I was very pleased to see the layout for a card game which no one else has done to date. However, the author presents a lot of various graphic user interface mechanisms and doesn't really focus enough on them before moving on. Several editors for python are covered as well; some are challenging to install and configure which could be discouraging. I would like to point out that the author's use of EasyGUI is great because it is easier to use than Tkinter that comes standard with Python and allows the user to make text based programs more user friendly. However, he moves from EasyGUI to Pygame (which could be a book unto itself) and then to Python Card (which needs another module wxpython). My point is that it would have been better if he had stuck with EasyGUI and focused more on one of the graphic modules instead of dabbling with all of them. I was fortunate that the book was offered at my local library. If you dont get this book, then I would recommend "Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python, 2nd Edition" by Al Sweigart which is written in Python 3 (and available as a free PDF) or "Game Programming: The L Line, The Express Line to Learning" (The L Line: The Express Line To Learning) by Andy Harris even though it's written with Python 2.

Very Good Intro to Programming Book, May 10, 2010
My 9yr old son who has had his own computer for several years recently showed an interest in programming and understanding how computers work. I found this book and purchased it for him. He couldn't wait for it to arrive and kept asking every day until it showed up. Once he started he was halfway through the book in no time and was writing his own programs. Being a software developer myself I had to coach him through a few things but for the most part he was able to learn from the book.

I also liked how the book chose Python and stick to the basics rather than get lost into creating fancy graphical interfaces right away. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

For the Beginner -- Approved by an Expert, September 12, 2006
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Consider this a "getting started the right way with HTML and CSS" book. As such, it does a marvelous job.

I had a chance to get this beginner's book -- even though my bosses have been grossly overpaying me for years if I really were a beginner! Too many beginner books tend to over-simplify, which becomes a barrier to the more complex issues that a serious beginner will meet down the line. That is not the case here.

Step by step (sometimes even telling you what and when to click!) the book will take you through the basics of creating stylesheets for HTML. You will move from text format basics to moderately advanced layout issues and even print media stylesheets.

The text of the book itself is formatted in an interesting way that is easy to read and makes points clear. There are lots of images and diagrams. I liked the way many of the illustrations jutted out into the outer margin. The effect was a vivid enhancement and the book is bound in a way that lets it sit flat, making it easier to read while keying.

The author also performs a service by introducing, when appropriate, advanced issues and controversies that will surely interest the type of person motivated to go on in this field. The book includes appendices with a CSS Property Reference; CSS in Dreamweaver; and extended CSS Resources.
�

Editorial Review

Today the Director announces that when the XHTML 2 Working Group charter expires as scheduled at the end of 2009, the charter will not be renewed. By doing so, and by increasing resources in the HTML Working Group, W3C hopes to accelerate the progress of HTML5 and clarify W3C’s position regarding the future of HTML.

Reviews

Not Something I'd Make Part Of My Permanent Library, August 31, 2010
In the 1970s, ABC's "Schoolhouse Rock" took the tedious process of making a law and distilled it down into a 3-minute song that many of us can at least sing the first few bars from ("I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill, and I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill..."). Marc Pilgrim takes a different approach with the first chapter of this book, distilling the early history of HTML into fourteen eye-glazing pages. But if you can muddle through the initial proposal and discussion of the IMG tag, you get to Pilgrim's primary take-away of the chapter: HTML is not so much a thing, but a collection of things.

This is good, because the history of HTML has not been a smooth, step-by-step process. Different releases of different browsers have adopted different features of different specs at different times. I can personally recall rejoicing, back in the 90s, when both IE and Netscape finally implemented support for HTML tables. So it's no wonder that the second chapter dives into methods for detecting whether or not a user's browser supports certain HTML5 features.

If the first chapter was boring, the second is discouraging. First he shows how to check if Canvas is even supported. But once that's determined, you have to check if all the features of Canvas are supported. Moving on to the Video tag, even when that is supported, video format support varies across browsers. Basically, in these early days of HTML 5 support, it's like touring the United States early in the 20th century. Flush toilets and electric lights took longer to come to some areas than others.

After the third chapter started breaking down some of the new tags and how they affect the DOM, my eyes were good and glazed. This book is more discussion than documentation. If it was a car repair manual, instead of merely showing you the steps for changing the oil on your Honda, it would give you the history of the internal combustion engine, then detail different kinds of lubrication systems.

In short, there's a lot of valuable information in this book. Mark Pilgrim is no slouch on technical know-how or understanding of his topic. I just find the manner of presentation to be organized in such a way that I don't feel I have quick access to the information I want or that the available path to acquiring that knowledge is optimal. It's short on lab, long on lecture, and isn't something I'd make part of my permanent library.

Too much chatter, too little detail, September 24, 2010
I must say: I enjoyed going through this book. It is written in an opinionated and slightly irreverent style, so I found it a mildly amusing read.

That being said: why do people buy a book on HTML5? Some would like to have a good in-depth reference on the ins and outs of the new language. Well now - that's not this book. Others might be new to web development and think learning HTML5 would be a good starting point. While they are right that HTML (5 or 4) is the place to start, this book surely isn't.

There's some depth when it comes to background, but much less when it comes to HTML5 itself or how to use it. True, the tag and geolocation are covered pretty much in detail, but the author made some hard to defend choices in spending his paper estate.

HTML5 gives us no more than a handful of new tags, still some of those ( and

Editorial Review

• This book is a single reference that’s indispensable for Excel beginners, intermediate users, power users, and would-be power users everywhere
• Fully updated for the new release, this latest edition provides comprehensive, soup-to-nuts coverage, delivering over 900 pages of Excel tips, tricks, and techniques readers won’t find anywhere else
• John Walkenbach, aka "Mr. Spreadsheet," is one of the liworld’s leading authorities on Excel
• Thoroughly updated to cover the revamped Excel interface, new file formats, enhanced interactivity with other Office applications, and upgraded collaboration features
• Includes a valuable CD-ROM with templates and worksheets from the book

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file. ... Read more

Reviews

Excel 2007 bible, December 26, 2007
I recently acquired this book for purposes of review and recommendation for Office 2007 literature at work.

John Walkenbach has written many books on the subject of Excel. As such, this book is comprised of summaries of several of his other, more specific publications.

Part 1 of the book goes over spreadsheet basics. This includes working with tables, which is a new Excel feature in 2007. You'll find most information pertinent to basic Excel usage in this section, and will be well on your way.

Part 2 is a summary of J.Walk's Excel 2007 formulas book. It includes the same basic chapters - Text, Date/Time, Count/Sum, Lookup, Financial, and two chapters on Array Formulas. If you already have the formulas book, this is completely useless; if you do not, this is a good overview without the extra details.

Part 3 is a short summary of the Excel 2003 charts and graphs, updated for Excel 2007. It also includes a section on working with graphics and the new conditional formatting features of Excel 2007. The information here is not terribly deep, but gives the basics of working with charts and provides some tips for advanced manipulation that is possible. The chapter on conditional is quite short, considering the number of improvements to this feature that has come about with Excel 2007.

Part 4 is a "miscellaneous" section, encompassing various features such as custom number formats, sharing Excel data, and a number of tips/tricks. Again, many of the features described are given an overview rather than an in-depth treatment, but I found that the essential features are all present and accounted for. There is also some information for working in a networked environment and with the Internet.

Part V deals with data analysis, for operations contained on the Data tab of the Excel 2007 ribbon. Most notably, there is a chapter on using MS Query, and two chapters about pivot tables. Part V also covers Goal Seek and Solver, and provides an overview of the tools included with the Analysis ToolPak. This exposes the reader to the features, but does not provide a whole lot of examples, although J.Walk's examples do tend to showcase just how far you can take some of the Excel features.

Finally, Part VI is a (very brief) summary of Excel 2007 Power Programming. It covers custom user-defined worksheet functions, user forms, and workbook events. There is also a number of examples of code that's readily useable in your own projects and Excel-based solutions. This section is enough to get you started, particularly if you have some programming experience, but if you want to get serious with VBA, this will only get your foot in the door.

Overall, this book is perfect for beginners and intermediate users who do not have a lifetime to devote to Excel. Granted, this book is pretty long, but as I mentioned throughout, it's to the point and not excessively verbose. I think of it as an extended tutorial walkthrough of the different Excel functionality. It does not include case studies or exhaustive spreadsheet solution examples. For advanced users, a vast majority of chapters will be unnecessary.

Make do with this book if you can't find a better one, September 10, 2007
If you like me, having used Excel for years and all of sudden facing the totally overhauled Excel 2007, scrambling to find your familiar functions, and desparately looking for a book to avoid the fancy Excel 2007 slow you down, and you got this book and read it and will feel a bit being let down...

To start with, you won't learn a lot. Chapter 2, What is New in Excel 2007 is the most valuable one.

I am a heavy user of Pivot table so I read Chapter 34 Introducing to Pivot Table and Chapter 35 Analyzing Data with Pivot Table letter by letter. I have learn very little from these two chapters. As I play around Excel 2007, I actually have figured out much more than what the two chapters have covered.

It seems to me that John was in hurry to write up this book rather than taking time to really provide something useful. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of his Excel 2000 Bible and 2003 Bible. I actually own the latter.

If you have any previous Excel bible, arrange a 20 minutes book-store-skim for this book. Everyone is catching up with Excel 2007; you might be a quicker learner yourself.

Grow Into a Power User w.Excel 2007 Bible!, November 7, 2007
This is one of THE BEST books on Excel 2007! I've compared this book to the following: Excel 2007 the Missing Manual & Excel 2007 Beyond the Manual. I found that the Bible version to be not only a good overview of the changes in Excel 2007, but also a guide that explores the many uses and possibilities of using the program.

It is well organized, detailed and serves as a good resource for new & intermediate. It is not, however for those who are advanced users who are looking for something on advancing their skills in Pivot Tables, VBA or advanced formulas. If you are looking for a book on intricate formulas or a cookbook, then I recommend Formulas and Functions with Microsoft Office Excel 2007 by Paul McFedries. There are also other books out there geared specifically towards VBA and Pivot Tables.

So, to sum it up, it's an outstanding overview and delve into Excel 2007 that will benefit beginners and intermediate users the most and can help this group grow into power users! It also makes a pretty good refresher for advanced users. Either way, you can't go wrong!

Right on the Money!!!, May 13, 2007
Again an accurate, concise, extensive reference tool for the beginner as well as the advanced user. This is my fourth excel book by Mr. Walkenbach and they are all of equal caliber. They all contain general background information as well as information dealing with other programming areas of excel (so that even if you only purchase a book like the VBA programming guide, you will still learn about macro programming and other general excel functions). Like all his books, this one gives the user a complete library of useful and professional approaches towards working with and solving excel problems. Good Job Mr Walkenbach!

Don't waste your money... buy this instead, August 5, 2009
I honestly get a headache everytime I read this book, you can use it for a quick reference if you have very advanced Excel skills. But, IT'S HORRIBLE AS A LEARNING TOOL..The book I'm mentioning below is a little more expensive but at lot easier to follow than the Excel books for half the price. A tip: search for Excel textbooks used to teach in college rather than those manuals at Barnes and Noble or your local bookstore, you will waste your money.
New Perspectives on Microsoft Office Excel 2007, Comprehensive (Paperback)
by June Jamrich Parsons , etc

Excel 2007, January 26, 2009
As a graduate student I was struggling with trying to use Excel 2003 directions in Excel 2007 program. This bible really has helped me find what I need and I have recommended it to others in my class that were having the same issues.

Everything you need to know, October 31, 2008
This book is for Excel 2007 not the earlier versions. I found this book to have clear and complete coverage of Excel 2007. Very easy to follow information and very complete. Written for beginners to advanced users. AS noted by other reviewers though the print quality is somewhat faded but still very readable. Glad I bought this book.

Great book of info, December 27, 2008
I love using Excel at home for just about anything I can find using numbers. I enjoy making data bases, charts, graphs, pivot tables, conditional formatting, formulas etc etc. But since Excel does so much I rely on a good book to refer to to answer difficult questions.

With 866 pages this bible covers just about everything from simple introduction to much more difficult over my head information. I had a similar book for an older version of Excel and bought this after I updated to Excel 2007. Some of the help books cover specific areas of Excel, this one covers it all.

Excel Book, December 30, 2007
This is a good intermediate level book for those that use Excel on a regular basis.

Very Informational, October 31, 2007
Switching over to Excel 2007 has been a wonderful and fun experience, but it has been made so easy with help from John Walkenbauch's Excel 2007 Bible. If you want to take advantage of all the new and wonderful uses that Excel 2007 has to offer, then I recommend using this as a guide. I continue to refer to it on a regular basis to make sure that I am always getting the most out of Excel 2007. Love this Book!! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Laminated quick reference card showing step-by-step instructions and shortcuts for how to use Microsoft Office Excel 2010. The following topics are covered: Creating Workbooks, Entering and Editing Data, Undo and Redo, Resizing Column Width and Row Height, Inserting and Deleting Rows Columns and Cells, Clearing Cells, Clearing Formatting, Formatting Numbers and Cells, Aligning and Merging Cell Contents, Borders and Grids, Viewing the Worksheet as it will Print, Entering Dates, Entering Sequences. Entering Formulas & Functions, Entering a SUM Function Quickly, Absolute vs. Relative Cell References. Copying and Moving Data: Copying to Adjacent Cells; Cut, Copy, Paste; Drag & Drop. Sheet Features: Renaming, Moving, Copying, Selecting, Inserting, Deleting Sheets. Editing Multiple Worksheets Simultaneously, Copying Data and Formatting to Multiple Worksheets. Previewing, Printing and Page Setup, Printing a Specific Area, Using Page Break Preview to Adjust Page Breaks, Repeating Rows/Columns on Every Page. Working with Previous Versions (Compatibility Mode). Also includes: Lists of Selection and Movement Shortcuts. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Laminated quick reference guide showing step-by-step instructions and shortcuts for how to use Microsoft Office Excel 2007. The following topics are covered: Creating Workbooks, Entering and Editing Data, Clearing Cells, Undo and Redo, Inserting and Deleting Rows Columns and Cells, Column Width and Row Height, Entering Dates, Entering Sequences, Entering Formulas & Functions, Using AutoSum, Absolute vs. Relative Cell References, Resizing the Formula Bar, Formatting Numbers and Cells, Aligning Cell Contents, Borders and Grids, Previewing, Printing and Page Setup, Repeating Rows/Columns on Every Page, Copying and Moving Data: Fill Handle; Cut, Copy, Paste; Drag & Drop. Sheet Features: Renaming, Moving, Copying, Selecting, Inserting, Deleting, Editing Multiple Worksheets Simultaneously, and Copying Data and Formatting to Multiple Worksheets. Also includes: Lists of Selection and Movement Shortcuts. This guide is suitable as a training handout, or simply an easy to use reference guide, for any type of user. ... Read more

Reviews

In a nutshell!, August 18, 2009
This item puts most of the important thngs in a logical way to find FAST. I need reminders all the time and the information is just enough, not too much.

Quick and slick...rght to the point, May 26, 2009
Quick and slick...rght to the point...very helpful! This is a great primer on this part of Office 2007. Recommend them all! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Thorough coverage of the improvements and changes to SharePoint 2010

SharePoint 2010 boasts a variety of incredible new features that will challenge even the most experienced administrator who is upgrading from SharePoint 2007. Written by a team of SharePoint experts, this book places a takes aim at showing you how to make these new features work right for you.

Offering an in-depth look at SharePoint 2010, the authors focus on how SharePoint functionality has changed from its earliest version to its newest, and they provide you with detailed coverage of all the new features and capabilities.

• Presents in-depth coverage of the new features and functions of SharePoint 2010
• Demonstrates installation, configuration, and upgrading existing SharePoint 2007 servers
• Discusses architecture and capacity planning, securing and managing site content, and integrating Office clients
• Details the protocol for handling monitoring, creating backups, and executing disaster recovery
• Addresses shared service applications, navigation and governance, and business intelligence and reporting services

Professional SharePoint 2010 presents a solid understanding of the functionality that SharePoint 2010 provides, which will allow you to see what it can do for you. ... Read more

Reviews

Must Have Resource for the SharePoint Administrators, June 22, 2010
Extremely well written, highly exhaustive, and very much detailed. I have read the three chapters so far - install/config, backup/restore, and upgrade/migration and they provides all the information what you need to determine the best approach. This is a large book covering almost all of aspects of the SharePoint 2010 and how to administrator the key components - Search, metadata, service application architecture, security, monitoring, social computing, and many more.. This book is from the Todd and Shane who are industry known SharePoint Admin experts and it would make great resource on the SharePoint Administrator's desktop.

Fantastic Resource! Very informative, October 8, 2010
There currently isn't too many options available on Amazon regarding SharePoint 2010 administration. However, I have no regrets on this purchase. I first thought I would treat this book as a on-the-shelf resource (use it when you need it). I quickly discovered that the book is entertaining and informative (a rare combination). Thus, I've read it from cover to cover. Recommended!!!

A must-have for a SharePoint Administrator, November 1, 2010
I read it from cover-to-cover, and if you are a SharePoint Admin then you do not want your SharePoint Administrator utility belt to be without this valuable resource of information. The book is very detailed and touches on the many facets that make up the multi-headed beast called SharePoint 2010. It will guide you very safely through installation and configuration of a SharePoint 2010 farm.

SharePoint 2010 is far too big of an animal to be covered entirely in one book and for some of the parts of SharePoint 2010 that require a book of their own such as PerformancePoint 2010, they do a good job of introducing it and going over initial configuration, and then pointing you to other resources if that application will be something that your organization will use.

Great administration resource, December 12, 2010
This is a great reference book authored by well versed administrators in Shane Young & Todd Klindt who have a ton of hands-on experience with SharePoint 2010. For those responsible with managing a SharePoint 2010 farm deployment, this book should be on your desk.

Managing SharePoint 2010? You need this book!, November 29, 2010
Short review:
If you are or will be in charge of administering SharePoint 2010, please don't think twice and pick up this book. You'll definitely need it!

Longer review:
A very critical message that unfortunately many people miss about SharePoint is that it is truly a `platform'. Many of the solutions that you will need on this platform are already created for you such as Sites as containers for content, Lists and Libraries, Security framework, Enterprise Search capability, Business Process management, Forms management and more. No need to recreate the wheel by creating any of these components using code. Rather `enhance' what's already there by administering and configuring it properly. This is where this book comes in. Todd, Shane and Steve do an Awesome job at hitting on all the major areas that you will need to consider when rolling out SharePoint 2010 in your organization. Use it to plan, install, configure and then maintain SharePoint 2010.

Important areas that the book covers -

Architecture planning before even thinking about installation
Upgrading from SharePoint 2007 to 2010
Installation and configuration of SharePoint 2010
Securing SharePoint (including usage of the new Claims based authentication) and its content at various levels
Tour around the Central Administration
The backup and restore capabilities
Configuring Service Applications (Managed Metadata, User Profiles, Business Connectivity Services, PerformancePoint Services, and more)
Branding in SharePoint

I would definitely recommend buying this book. You will not regret it. Guaranteed!

Awesome must have for any SharePoint2010 Admin!, September 16, 2010
My IT career has brought in a huge number of reference books and manuals to my professional library. Normally they are used as handy, convenient references for specific topics, thumbing the TOC and going direct to hot topics.

This book is refreshing - and is a highly recommended cover-to-cover read. In the first 20 pages, I found a number of pearls, which prompted me to continue a full read - don't miss it! Great job and kudos to the authors!

A Must Have, August 23, 2010
Professional SharePoint Administration is the best SharePoint book I have read. I have been working with SharePoint since version 2003 and this book is very clear, concise and easy to follow. Not only do I read it any chance I get, but also for specific reference. We have a 2010 intranet that is a few weeks from live and couldn't have done it without this book!

Awesome Book!!!, July 8, 2010
This is a SharePoint administration book that you must have. Shane, Todd and Steve have made it easy to follow, and easier to process the information. This is simply the best SharePoint 2010 Administrator book out there. Others might have some good information, but this book gives you the best practices in detail and with examples that you can relate to. Shane, Todd and Steve have a unique way of translating the information so that it is easier to understand. These guys bring awesome technical and communication skills to the table that enable you to be more productive.

Anyone involved in SharePoint 2010, or wants to start expanding on their SharePoint 2010 experience really needs to have this book. You will get up to speed with SharePoint 2010 very quickly. I was fortunate to take one of the admin classes with Shane and I have to say that the book almost replaces the class.

Thanks for an awesome book!!!!! You guys rock!!!!

Essential SharePoint Reading, September 21, 2010
Without a doubt if your working with SharePoint 2010 you must have this book as a reference. The authors approach is absolute geek level technical depth, with a sprinkling of humor. I recommend this book to any Administrator who is investigating, installing or maintaining SharePoint solutions.

Great book for setting up your company's SharePoint server, September 19, 2010
When we started looking at deploying SharePoint in our organization (A Large engineering company), we looked at resources available to quickly bring us up to speed. This book was one of the ones we purchased, and it's really been the only one that we have been using to help us get going.

Right now, we have opened up SharePoint to a large portion of our company, and hopefully soon the entire company; all thanks to the excellent information in this book. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Learn Windows 7 and Office 2010 the right way with this handy book-and-DVD deal

Windows 7 and Office 2010 are the two most widely used and acclaimed software applications in the world. This value priced book-and- two DVD bundle will help you access the power of the operating system and Office suite to achieve maximum efficiency, whether you are a new, intermediate or experienced user. From two of the most accomplished computer reference authors of all time, Andy Rathbone and Wallace Wang, this package will give you the understanding needed to take advantage of these essential programs.

• Introduces the new Windows 7 Operating System (OS) and basic interface navigation, managing applications, files and data, printing documents, and preventing common security/safety issues
• Shows you how to get connected to the Internet, create CDs and DVDs, and establish an e-mail account
• Explains Microsoft Office basics such as typing and formatting text in Word, navigating an Excel spreadsheet, and creating a PowerPoint presentation
• DVD contains more than four hours of step-by-step instructions for completing the most essential Windows 7 and Office 2010 tasks

Clear and helpful, this guide-and-DVD combo is like having an expert right beside you all the way! ... Read more

Reviews

Lots of info, December 14, 2010
This set has a lot of useful information at a fair price. Not just for dummies. Glad i bought it. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Master Microsoft SharePoint 2010

In How to Do Everything: Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Stephen Cawood--a former member of the SharePoint development team--explains how to get the most out of this powerful business collaboration platform. Learn how to use document management functions, wikis, taxonomy, blogs, My Sites, web parts, and more. Take full advantage of the content management, enterprise search, collaboration, and information-sharing capabilities of SharePoint 2010 with help from this practical guide.

• Set up a SharePoint site
• Add documents, use the SharePoint content approval workflow, and work with document versioning features
• Collaborate with others during discussion boards, blogs, wikis, events, surveys, calendars, and workspaces
• Use social tagging to create a folksonomy of keywords
• Create a taxonomy hierarchy using Enterprise Managed Metadata
• Build publishing sites, My Sites, and public-facing websites
• Show data on pages using web parts
• Customize lists, forms, site themes, and navigation
• Use SharePoint with client applications, including Microsoft Office Backstage, Outlook, InfoPath, SharePoint Designer, and third-party applications

Reviews

Great for End Users, August 4, 2010
My company just started using SharePoint 2010 and my team was in the dark on all of the changes we were seeing. In searching for training materials, I found "How to Do Everything" to be a great reference for helping everyone get up to speed and productive quickly. Unlike most "How To" books, this one is easy to get through and thankfully doesn't read like a manual.

There are 11 chapters, each covering a certain feature with an quick overview and some sample exercises. The chapters are also fairly to the point and short, so they're very helpful for someone to get through the most important details in a half hour.

Probably the best part was the section on how to find things using the new ribbon. This was a confusing point to a lot of people when we made the 2010 switch and it does a great job of explaining how to navigate.

Overall, we're having a great experience with it... people in my group have started using their profile pages and our team sites more effectively. A couple folks who had never even set up their profile in years past have suddenly become users. It's a great book to put on everyone's desk to make them feel more comfortable, as a supplement to a training course or before your team has a chance to be trained. Would highly recommend it.

A must-have book for SharePoint end users, August 12, 2010
As an SharePoint expert, I often get questions such as "How do I modify a view?", "How do I create an InfoPath library?", "How do I check in a Word document using Microsoft Office?" This book How to Do Everything: SharePoint 2010 answers this type of questions in simple language and with screenshots. It covers the common features for end users in SharePoint 2010 and explains the details so well that even a dummy can understand. I highly recommend this book to SharePoint 2010 end users. Administrators may also need this book to save some time answering how-to questions about SharePoint 2010.

Excellent New Book on SharePoint 2010 - Highly Recommended, August 18, 2010
Stephen Cawood's new book on SharePoint 2010 has been written specifically for end users who want to get the most out of their SharePoint 2010 implementation. The book covers a lot of ground, including a history of SharePoint as well as a wealth of practical and often step-by-step information that will help organizations and end users get quickly up to speed on SharePoint in general and the new features and capabilities of SharePoint 2010 in particular. One area that he spends a lot of time is on metadata, where he offers some excellent information on the use and benefit of metadata, specifically the new enterprise managed metadata (EMM) and term store functionality of SharePoint 2010. Chapter 10 titled "Using SharePoint with Client Applications" provides a unique look at SharePoint client technology and the benefits of third party tools in addition to those available from Microsoft.

Stephen provides an interesting, easy to read, and highly practical book on SharePoint 2010. I highly recommend it.

Approaching SharePoint 2010 with fresh eyes from the ground up, August 16, 2010
Having worked with SharePoint for over 3 years I found this book to be extremely helpful to dissect SharePoint 2010 as if from the perspective of a user with no SharePoint experience at all. Stephen has an uncanny way of exploring all of the elements on a screen and explaining them in very simple terms while also giving detailed background to areas that may not be apparent to a new user.

I especially liked the flow of this book as it kept things primarily focused on end user usage with small dips into administrative scenarios but only when necessary. Screenshots are used very well to point out and highlight specific screens in a logical manner.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is new to SharePoint 2010 or would like a complete overview of all of the end user functionality and concerns.

Perfect for new and experienced end-users, August 12, 2010
Having only started learning SharePoint recently it can tend to be overwhelming at first as there is so much possible when it comes to creating your own site, creating list and libraries to upload documents, and even editing web parts. I started learning SharePoint shortly before SharePoint 2010 came out and having just learned SharePoint 2007 I was worried that the transistion may be difficult. However that was not so after reading this book. It was a very light read and explained everything in an easy to understand way that made reading multiple chapters a breeze. Many end user books can tend to be difficult to read and you will sometimes end up reading chapters over again having not understood it clearly. That is not so with How to Do Everything: SharePoint 2010 as all the unnecessary techincal terminology is left out, making it a pleasure to even broswe through if something has you stumped. I would strongly recommend this book to any SharePoint 2010 end-user whether brand new or even if you consider yourself an expert.

How to do Everything MS SharePoint 2010 is a Fantastic End User book, October 27, 2010
I found the book to be very informative as it guides End Users through the new UI of SP2010, the new feature sets especially in SPD 2010. I like how it introduces the new concepts and shifts in how Service Applications are used and consumed. All in all a great book and i reccomend getting it. ... Read more

Editorial Review

• This book is a single reference that’s indispensable for Excel beginners, intermediate users, power users, and would-be power users everywhere
• Fully updated for the new release, this latest edition provides comprehensive, soup-to-nuts coverage, delivering over 900 pages of Excel tips, tricks, and techniques readers won’t find anywhere else
• John Walkenbach, aka "Mr. Spreadsheet," is one of the world’s leading authorities on Excel
• Thoroughly updated to cover the revamped Excel interface, new file formats, enhanced interactivity with other Office applications, and upgraded collaboration features
• Includes a valuable CD-ROM with templates and worksheets from the book

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file. ... Read more

Reviews

5 stars in spite of the misleading title, November 28, 2007
This is a GREAT introduction to ALL aspects of Excel and VBA. Most people who need this book come into VBA from other experiences and have rarely taken classes in VBA and they need a readable reference that can bring them up to speed on the parts they don't understand yet.

Used this way the book is simply outstanding and most users probably don't need anything more than this book, but I'm not one of those people.

I purchased "Professional Excel Development" by Bullen, Bovey, and Green at the same time and was awestruck at the depth of their knowledge and their passion for making Excel the only development tool your company will ever need. In short they are absolutely insane in a very knowledgeable and useful way.

The biggest problem with "Professional Excel Development" is that readers are expected to know a LOT more about Excel and VBA than average and Walkenbach nicely addresses that issue. He's also a lot more readable than the other authors and so can be used in conjunction with them to clarify the points that they are making.

Regardless of how you use this book, it is a very good for just about any level of VBA developer and firmly earns the 5 star rating.

Awesome Resource..., January 15, 2008
This is - by far - the most valuable VBA tool I've purchased.

I generally have a hard time reading books about programming because they are either 1) way above my head, 2) don't provide "real-life" examples of when you would want to use the code, or 3) just plain boring. Not with this book...

It teaches you how to build tools - like progress indicators, advanced userforms, and general utilities. I've been able to take a little bit from each chapter and create stellar spreadsheet applications. This book has saved me hours... if I can't figure out how to write a block of code, I don't spend time searching Google - I go straight to the book.

Best Reason: it comes with a CD full of macro examples that mirror the chapter concepts. I was able to read the chapter, then go to the computer and try it out (with the code already written out for me). I picked up new concepts much faster than just reading it on my own.

Excellent for Excel 2003 or 2007.

The CD included with my book had no searchable .PDF file :-(, April 17, 2007
I really enjoyed John's "Excel 2003 Power Programming with VBA" and I was looking forward to giving his 2007 edition an enthusiastic 5 stars. I have read Excel books by other authors, and no one seems to present the material as clearly as John does. However, when I received the book I was very disappointed to find out that the CD-ROM included with the book did not contain a searchable .PDF version of the book as advertized. Instead, there was a one page .PDF file on the CD with the following text: "This is just a Placeholder. Actual PDF is not ready yet - Media Development." If having a searchable .PDF version of the book is as important to you as it is to me, I would suggest that you wait to purchase this book until you can confirm the books are shipping with the .PDF version on the CD as advertized.

Update: As mentioned by a reviewer above, the publisher can provide you with either a link to download the eBook or a CD with the eBook. After speaking with three customer service representatives I received (1) the same exact CD that came with the book, (2) a burned CD via mail with just the eBook, and (3) a link to download the eBook. It may take a day or two for them to provide it to you, but it is possible to obtain the eBook from the publisher.

Very good reference for VBA Beginners, March 6, 2008
I have this book for more than two months now and I found it very useful especially on my first VBA project. I have a weekly report and I used to do this manually and often get errors because I have to cross reference values in one big spreadsheet with multiple tabs. Not until I got this book and read the basics and go to specific chapters where I need help. I felt so accomplished after I finished the whole macro. What took me 30 minutes to do manual referencing and typing now only takes less than two minutes including sending it through email. This book is very easy to understand especially for those who know Excel and would like to expand their skills in VBA. Mr Spreadsheet has provided good example files to help us better understand VBA. His approach is basic enough for those who doesn't have any experience in creating macros. By the way if your CD doesn't have the source files or example file go to http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-302036.html and select "All Wiley Products" or call Technical Support. Type your request for the e-source files and they will get back to you really fast with a link of the FTP site for the files. Don't bother to call customer support because they will try to sell you the e-book even though you already have the book. It might be a hassle but its all worth it.

Nice information, September 19, 2008
I am a novice to VBA and this is the first book I have purchased on the subject. It has alot of useful information. However, it skims so briefly over many topics. If you have a good grasp of VBA and what it can do, I think this is a nice reference. For someone like me, who is just starting, there is probably something better out there.

Indispensable Excel/VBA 2007 Resource, July 9, 2009
I have projects that need potential productivity boosts that can only be achieve in Excel using VBA. Unfortunately, I have found Excel/VBA 2007 (and previous versions also) to be very deficient often negating a substantial percentage of potential productivity gains. Most of these shortcomings result from poor and "hard-to-find" documentation. Additionally, some features do not work as intended.

Mr. Walkenbach has done a superb job in his Excel/VBA book by covering many of the shortcomings of Microsoft. I have found Microsoft's documentation to be brief (when found and applicable) and often not providing needed information. General web searches have proved more productive than search of Microsoft's knowledge base [...].

His book has excellent information on sending emails from Excel/VBA and developing interactive forms and charts using VBA. I am not sure I would have been able to complete my projects without his book(s). And he has responded to my emails to him for clarifications on a few topics. I have completed all projects attempted so far and that was not so prior to using his books.

However, potential Excel/VBA users should be warned that the object programming requirements are very exacting and even Mr. Walkenbach's book can only help put you on a workable path and substantially speed your work. We can only hope that Microsoft eventually improves.

Excellent Book, November 19, 2009
I'm not really a fan of Mr Walenbach in general. For example whilst reading his previous 2003 VBA book there is a smell of arrogance with his off the cuff remark of:
'Using the task pane to display help topics is new to Excel 2003.The Help information appears in a separate window.This means, of course, that using Help now requires two windows. My opinion is that the person who thought of this "new" method should be fired.'

I'm not in the habbit of condemming people for their work and personally frown upon such things. I've come across a lot worse than that idea in my travels.... Maybe the author should concentrate soley on the book content we can benefit from.

Anyway, that been said, the actual content of that book was excellent and imo well worth the cost.
This book stands side by side with the earlier version in terms of quality. I prefer the layout of this new book as well.
Its compact with good tips and gotchas. Some of the information is repeated, but I think you have to expect that tbh.

Its all easily digestable and not hard to follow.
Definitely worth a purchase if you are a serious VBA developer or need a strong reference book.

Great Book, September 15, 2008
Got the book a couple of weeks ago and am about 350 pages into it. Although I have only scratched the surface, I've been able to put together a couple of macros that did exactly what I was asked to accomplish. Great Book.

Walkenbach Excel Power Programming, February 23, 2009
VBA programming in Excel defies easy documentation is the style that C++ or Pascal would lend itself. Given that background, this book does a reasonably good job of detailing what you can do with the language and some good how-to's.
What it and other works in this topic lack is a statement & syntax reference guide, assuming such thing could be created in a concise form, maybe not. The Windows help files aren't always satisfying either.
Overall a good product.
I blame Microsoft in large part for the difficulty in learning and applying this tehcnology.
I have to assume if one collected and used all the Walkenbach products they could become a very accomplished applications programmer.

A complete guide, October 11, 2007
If you'd like to have a reference where you could look for to solve doubts or understand the way the things work in Excel, this the right book. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Laminated quick reference card showing step-by-step instructions and shortcuts for how to use Microsoft Office Word 2010. The following topics are covered: Creating, Opening & Saving Documents; Working with Previous File Versions; Setting up the Page; Inserting/Deleting Text; Spacing between Paragraphs; Undo, Redo, and Repeat; Moving and Copying Text. Formatting: Changing Font, Size, Enhancements, Paragraph Alignment; Copying Formatting; Using the Mini Toolbar; Highlighter. Draft, Print Layout, Reading Views; Going to a Page; Searching Using the Navigation Pane; Creating and Editing Headers and Footers; No Header or Footer on the First Page, Inserting a Page Break. Checking Spelling, Grammar; AutoCorrect; Creating and Inserting Quick Part Building Blocks; Sending the Document as an E-mail Attachment; Saving as PDF; E-mailing a PDF; Printing Envelopes and Labels; Previewing and Printing. Also includes: Lists of Selection and Movement Shortcuts. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Master the Ribbon, powerful graphics capabilities, and more!

Your one-stop guide to great-looking spreadsheets that actually mean something

Create colorful spreadsheets and charts, use Live Preview, and maximize everything Excel 2007 has to offer! Find just what you need to know about using the new Ribbon, designing spreadsheets that communicate, editing and printing them, working with formulas, protecting your data when you collaborate, turning out cool charts, and much more. The included four-color insert highlights the Ribbon, new graphics features, and more!

Discover how to

• Create dynamic spreadsheets with style galleries
• Work with more than 40 new cell styles
• Automate formatting with Live Preview
• Share Excel data with other programs
• Use VBA to write custom Excel functions

Reviews

Excel 2007 for Dummies, May 14, 2008
Great! Saved us unkown hours of headache. Probably not needed for the real pros, but then it is designed for us dummies and does as advertised.
If you are not up on the latest Escel don't try to figure it out without this book or one like it.

More than I'll use!, June 9, 2009
I needed reminders for my fairly minimal use. Phew! 738 pages of info Plus the helpful 39 page index! I'm quickly finding my needed bits and pieces. There is more there than I'll ever need or use. I highly reccommend!

Great Book, and I am no dummy, October 13, 2007
I know everything about Excel, except Formulas. When my son, the college student, asked for help with Excel, I said sure no problem. He needed help with Excel formulas. I immediately went on Amazon.com and bought Excel 2007 for Dummies. On his first test (after reading and studying the book), he got an 87%! Need I say more..

Excel 2007 for Dummies 8 books in 1, January 30, 2010
Very clear and concise, but 8 in 1 is more than I needed. The standard Excel 2007 would have sufficed. My only complaint is the book is too thick and therefore clumsy to handle. Two volumes would have been better.

Great buy!!!!, March 29, 2009
It's definitely an all in one desk reference!!!! From pivot tables to data analysis I couldn't ask for a better resource :-)

Microsoft Office Excel 2007 All-In-One desk reference for Dummies, October 3, 2009
The book is a great tool for learning Excel, especially since I have very little prior experience. It's in very good condition, with no markings, which is how it was described. I appreciated being able to get it cheaper than if I had bought it at Barnes and Noble. I'm very satisfied. Thanks, Amazon!

Great Resource, September 11, 2010
I wasn't aware such a great resource existed in such a simple layout. I had taught myself enough in Excel to do my job, but discovered from others there were many shortcuts to some of the things I did on a daily basis in Excel 2007 that would make me more efficient at my job. Over the years I have found Amazon the place to go when I need to see if such an item exists that can help me and if there is, they always get it to me quickly and at the best price. Once again Amazon came through. This book is an AWESOME resource I keep at my fingertips. I have had other people in my office ask where I got it. They were not aware it existed either. It has definitely been a hit in my office where no fresh out of college persons that would have probably used Excel 2007 on a daily basis in school exists. Most of us are over the age of 40 and depend on books like this to keep us working efficiently in the rapidly changing world of technology. You can't go wrong with this book! ... Read more

Editorial Review

• Revised and updated to cover changes to all of Office's applications and productivity tools
• Offers beyond-the-basics coverage of Office word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, e-mail, databases, and desktop publishing
• Covers Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, productivity tools such as Microsoft OneNote, and SharePoint
• Thoroughly updated to cover the new Office interface as well as new features in each application

Reviews

Great Reference Book!, August 13, 2007
Being new to any Microsoft Office product, when I purchased Office 2007, I was pretty lost. Microsoft's on-line tutorials were useless, so I purchased Office 2007 for Dummies, thinking I would use it mostly as a reference. It was so well written and easy to understand, I actually read the entire book, and am looking forward to using Publisher and Power Point (I initially purchased Office for Word and Excel). I found working with Office 2007 easy after reading this book, and have had to utilize the book as a reference very minimally. Utilizing the table of contents and index, I can quickly locate what I am looking for. I am sure this book saved me hours of frustration by laying out the concept behind the Office 2007 design, and showing me how to quickly hunt for commands that I know are there (from reading about them in the book). I am sure my learning time was greatly reduced. Great job Peter Werverka!

The Bigger Office 2007 For Dummies Book, February 1, 2007
The biggest changes in Office 2007 seem to be the new GUI (Graphical User Interface) which Microsoft calls the Ribbon. This is a complete change from the earlier GUI which we have all come to know and love. The Ribbon organizes the commands into what Microsoft calls contextual tabs. Each tab has a logical grouping of commands. This is not unlike the way you used to click on the Edit or View command and then got a list of commands, but in 2007 there are far more commands that you can reach without having to go to subsidiary menus.

The Ribbon is, of course, the result of many hours of definition, testing before audiences and of course a lot of programming effort. There's the old saying that 'user friendly is programmer difficult.' The ribbon is a common interface that is used in all of the Office applications, so learning about it is mandatory for using Office 2007.

Of course there are an awful lot of new features added to each of the applications. It's easier to get a 'Live Preview' of what you are doing in word. It's easier to do Pivot Tables in Excel, and so on. These applications have been around so long that they are not getting big massive upgrades. I frankly don't know what more they could add. ==Of course this is a 'For Dummies' book. This means that the writing is good, the proof reading catches all the mispellings, and there's even a bit of humor.

There are two Office 2007 For Dummies books. This is the bigger, Desk Reference, version, that is about twice as long as the other one. Part of this is because this book covers Publisher 2007 as well as the other software. Part of this is because each subject is covered in a bit more depth. My honest selection is that you buy both books. They are by different authors and they have a different way of expressing themselves. Often when there is a stumbling block, having two sets of words helps to understand the problem. If you're only going to buy one book, then it's this one, simply because there is more here.

Extremely Helpful Book!, June 26, 2007
The Office 2007 All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies is very helpful for someone trying to weather the transition from previous versions of Microsoft Office to the new Microsoft Office 2007. This book not only covers common office applications, but gets into more detail for each program (Word, Outlook, Excel, Access, etc.) I would highly recommend this book to anyone who needs an easy-to-follow guide to the new software.

good reference for Office 2007, June 1, 2007
I don't consider myself a "dummie" but this was the 1st book of the dummies series that I have purchased. I purchased it to get acquainted with the new features in Office 2007.

I like the fact that the book has so much information on all the programs in Office 2007; tips, reminders, and warnings.

I won't sit and read the entire book but see using it as I take on projects using the new programs. I did not purchase the on-line version but I am considering that option so I can access the information even when I am at school/work.

Office 2007 All-in-one, January 26, 2007
Office 2007 All-in-one mostly is an introduction to all the various components of Microsoft Office. This is a 9 in 1 at less than 900 pages so it doesn't go into any depth on any one subject.

Don't buy this one if you're looking for a in depth book - this isn't it. It spends a fair amount of time introducing

Word
Excel
Access
PowerPoint
Outlook
Publisher
OneNote
SharePoint

Recommended if you're looking for a starting point with Office 2007 but not otherwise.

Great resource Read it to decide - keep it to make the transition, October 23, 2007
[[ASIN:0471782793 Office 2007 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies (For Dummies Series)]I need to replace my 5 year old computor and decide if Office 2007 could function well with Windows XP on a new computer or also require buying the newest Microsoft operating system.So I invested in 'Office 2007 for Dummies'. It's wonderful! I have already decided that Office 2007 is absolutely necessary. This great book evaluates and explains all the improvemnt over Office 2003. It is well organized by major sections so it is easy to find information on whichever function is the most important question you have in mind. Each section starts with basics and follows with detailed information. I started with the basics: Word and Excel and then was intrigued by the sections covering the great new capabilities in Office 2007. Writing is clear and logical. It will be helpful for newbies, experienced users and experts. The Index and the logical organization of chapters make it easy to locate any information needed easily. This publication will be of continuing value to any user as they explore the many many new and useful feature covered in this great tool.

Office 2007 All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, March 24, 2008

I've used word and excel extensively since 1995 in
the work place.
I got this book for my 42 year old daughter who is just
beginning to come around to PC's. I know how much i hate
scrolling or searching thru MS's Helps.
Well, the book arrived today. I was IMPRESSED.
I'm going to order a copy for myself.
Thank you Peter Weverka.

THIS IS AN IMPRESSIVE BOOK.

Book Review, October 3, 2008
If you have Office 2007, this book is a MUST for you. Very easy to read and understand. This book will teach you things about Office 2007 you did not know.

Office 2007, May 12, 2007
I reviewed this book while at the same time using it to familuarize myself with the new office options and layout. The book is very helpful and at this point I use it for reference as needed.

Ok for Beginners, November 26, 2008
I actually returned this book, which I don't do often. I was hoping it would be more like Office 2003 Timesaving Techniques for Dummies, which doesn't seem to have a 2007 version yet, but was very basic. And it doesn't address Business Contact Manager at All.

Granted, it's trying to cover a lot of ground in one book. But if you're pretty proficient with Office programs, you may not learn much. It would have been more useful if it at least had a section that discusses all the changes between the 2 versions. ... Read more

Editorial Review

1. Introducing Silverlight
2. Core XAML
3. The application model and the plug-in
4. Integrating with the browser
5. Integrating with the desktop
6. Rendering, layout, and transforming
7. Panels
8. Human input
9. Text
10. Controls and UserControls
11. Binding
12. Data controls: DataGrid and DataForm
13. Input validation
14. Networking and communications
15. Navigation and dialogs
16. Structuring and testing with the MVVM/ViewModel pattern
17. WCF RIA Services
18. Graphics and effects
19. Printing
20. Displaying and capturing media (including webcam/mic)
21. Working with bitmap images
22. Animation and behaviors
23. Resoures, styles, and control templates
24. Creating panels and controls
25. The install experience and preloaders

Reviews

Outstanding in content and even in style, October 6, 2010
It's rare to find a technical book that succeeds in balancing depth with approachability. I've been using Silverlight since it was still called WPF/E so I'm no novice. But unlike many technical books, you have to make a choice between entertaining "beginner" books and dry "expert" books with the latter reading more like a textbook. I was very please to discover that Brown's book does cross that gap quite well. It certainly has content that a veteran like myself needs but it also takes a relative beginner (at least in the specific Silverlight technology) and helps them come up to a more useful speed.

As I said previously, the style is lighter than one typically finds in a technical book of this depth and length. This is a good thing. Brown has discovered the little applied truth that technical books don't have to read like an IBM manual, circa 1975. The tone is conversational when it's appropropriate but doesn't sacrifice content quality or substance in favor of that style.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a good end-to-end guide to Silverlight version 4. It's broad, but has good depth. I can't recommend it enough.

Great Book!!!!! A MUST HAVE Silverlight Resource, September 11, 2010
Finally someone has given Matthew MacDonald some competition when it comes to Silverlight books. This book is a great read.

The book starts with an introduction to Silverlight and XAML and then digs into the application model and browser integration.

Below are the book's chapters-

Introducing Silverlight
Core XAML
The application model and the plug-in
Integrating with the browser
Integrating with the desktop
Rendering, layout, and transforming
Panels
Human input
Text
Controls and UserControls
Binding
Data controls: DataGrid and DataForm
Input validation
Networking and communications
Navigation and dialogs
Structuring and testing with the MVVM/ViewModel pattern
WCF RIA Services
Graphics and effects
Printing
Displaying and capturing media
Working with bitmap images
Animation and behaviors
Resources, styles, and control templates
Creating panels and controls
The install experience and preloaders

There are also an appendix on how to install the database used throughout the book's examples.

The book does a great job introducing MVVM, RIA Services, and inversion of control. The MVVM chapter is one of the best resources I have come across for someone to learn about the pattern.

The threading coverage using SynchronizationContext is great. It is the first book I have seen use it instead of the Dispatcher.

The author's style of writing is clear and the book is an enjoyable read. If the author detours to a sidebar story, it is done in such a way that it adds enjoyment to the reading and value to the topic at hand. I have read a ton of books lately where I find that not to be the case. The sidebar stories are distracting and tend to annoy me. An example in this book is the beginning of the MVVM chapter when the author tells about his experience teaching the pattern. It set the stage for the chapter's logical flow.

The accompanying code is very well organized and usable. The author really did a good job of breaking the code down per Listing allowing you to open the examples at different stages instead of just the end result.

The only thing I would have like to have seen more material on Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF).

A very cool thing is that you get with your purchase is a free ebook with your purchase. Not a 45 day trail to view it online, an actual downloadable ebook, which is great for finding all the places a given topic is covered, and fast.

All in all I highly recommend this book to anyone doing Silverlight development. It is a must have addition to any Silverlight developer's book shelf.

Great book with engaging author!, September 22, 2010
Let me just say up front that Pete Brown has such an engaging style of writing, especially to an audience of nerds! The little references to Star Wars and so many other nerdy references makes the book feel more like a conversation instead of another dry book about technology. I have also not seen Silverlight covered as completely anywhere else. Pete covers many topics that are hard to explain and I think other authors just decide to stay away from. Even the way the book is laid out: Intro, application structure, "completing the experience". It just makes sense. I find myself reading a chapter, writing bits of code to reinforce what we covered, and then I'm ready to read some more! I follow Pete on Twitter and enjoy his comments and helpful tidbits there, but this book is the full explanation. Enjoy!

Very helpful, even for a veteran, September 17, 2010
I have been developping with Silverlight for years now but never buyed a book, learning everything from MSDN, blogs etc. I bought 'Silverlight 4 in Action' mainly to train my team here in Brazil, but after reading the book myself I'm impressed. I learned tons of new things and even before I got to the page 100 I already had a list of things I want to change or do better in current SL projects.
Pete Brown has a gift to give you the complete picture and usefull insights and details at the same time. But without getting lost in details. I strongly recommend the book even for the somewhat more advanced folks out there.

Most comprehensive and deep book on Silverlight 4, September 14, 2010
This is the book you wish could have come out the day that Silverlight 4 was released, but it was worth the wait. It covers the new features and covers some of the v3 features in more detail than any previous book did. It's a big and heavy book at 800 or so pages, but it's also the most thorough book on the subject.

Beyond being a catalog of features, the book also goes deep into technique and design patterns in a way that takes it well beyond the shallow cookbook style of a lot of programming books. The real gem here is the chapter on MVVM (model-view-view model). If you care about maintainability and testability, it's an important thing to learn about. Other core concepts that make Silverlight a joy to code for are well represented as well, including binding (by way of dependency properties, observable collections, and such) and RIA Services. Because Silverlight introduces some of its own paradigms, this kind of coverage is key to getting the most out of the platform. This book absolutely hits the mark.

Silverlight 4 In Action. Buy it., October 11, 2010
If you're like me, you've been waiting for this book for a while. It doesn't disappoint.

What's good about it?
* It's really clear. Rare is the technical book that reads this well.
* It's really complete. Rare is the technical book that covers this much material in style.
* It has tidbits. If you know of Pete Brown, you know he knows Silverlight inside and out. This books surfaces that knowledge in a really interesting and compelling way.

What's bad about it?
* It's not really a cookbook. If that's what you need, look elsewhere.
* Buying this book kills trees. (I'm trying here...)

Who should buy it?
*Anyone* who is interested in Silverlight. You want it on your bookshelf.

Excellent Silverlight 4 book, September 29, 2010
Some weeks ago I received a review copy of Silverlight 4 in Action by Pete Brown. Reviewing this book took some time as it weighs in at a hefty 798 pages, who ever said that Silverlight was a small products? That is a lot of material but then the book doesn't assume any prior knowledge of Silverlight at all.

The book is divided into 25 chapters in 3 different sections.

The first part, consisting of 10 chapters, is titled "Introducing Silverlight". As the name suggests this covers the basics of Silverlight development. This section is mostly targeted at developers new to Silverlight and covers subjects like what XAML is, how the Silverlight plug-in works with the browser, basic layout and the Silverlight controls and how they work with things like templates.

The second part is titled "Structuring your application". This section is divided into 7 chapters and build on top of the first part. In this section there are chapters about data binding, input validation, communicating and even about subjects like MVVM and WCF RIA services. Some of these topics, like for example MVVM, are quite large to begin with and the definitive word hasn't been said about it. In these cases the book is a nice point to get started but no more than that and getting additional information on the Internet is pretty much a requirement. In most cases, like validation. Pete has a pretty solid coverage of the material the book will help you understand what you need to know.

The third part is titled "Completing the experience" and consist of a final 8 chapters. This section covers subjects like printing, working with media like smooth streaming or using the webcam and microphone.
There are also chapters on animations, using resources and creating custom controls.

So who is this book for?
With a book this big covering that many topics the book is really targeted at a wide range of developers. It does assume the reader is familiar with C# and the .NET framework but assumes no familiarity with Silverlight at all. So if you are an experienced .NET developer wanting to get into Silverlight this is a good book to start with using part 1. You you are already a Silverlight developer moving from Silverlight 3 to Silverlight 4 this book will also be quite helpful. You will find a lot of material you are already familiar with but also a lot of new material like web cam support and WCF RIA services or extended validation options. In that case this book would be a useful reference to keep handy and read specific chapters from par 2 or 3 when needed.

All in all I would recommend getting this book if you are serious about Silverlight 4 development! ... Read more

Editorial Review