Microsoft's Web site chirps that "Windows XP Home Edition" allows you to "Experience more than you thought possible with your home computer and the Internet."
Experienced Windows users know that doesn't necessarily guarantee a good experience, and there's a thriving industry in publishing books that help users get useful work out of their systems.
Which is why David A. Karp's "Windows XP Pocket Reference" (O'Reilly, $12.95) is so worth a look.
The focus of the book, and the reason it can be both thorough and portable is that it concentrates on practice and pretty much skips theory.
Opening with a 10-page crash course in XP basic, the book covers shortcuts, components, settings, registry tweaks, command prompts and security settings.
It's the sort of thing you want near your machine.
The settings chapter is particularly useful. Organized alphabetically, the format is a lean display of what you've got to click to accomplish the desired result.
Which brings up a point that needs making: if you want a book that's chock full of screen shots, look elsewhere. The screen shots are few and far between.
If, on the other hand, you can manage to stare at the computer screen in front of you and hold a book in your hand at the same time, that shouldn't be a drawback.<
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Dirk van Ulden said:
CoastalBoy said:
Canepa is looking for another county-paid job because he can't run for county supervisor again. That's the only reason he's running.
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