Hi, Ken.

We still agree. That's why I threw in my final line. :^}

>> - after you've
>> graduated from "for Dummies".

When I got my first computer back in 1977, there were no "dummies" books.
Even Adam Osborne's "Volume 0" was over my head. But I tried to read it
anyhow, and read many others that were, to me, just as dense. Gradually,
more and more light bulbs turned on in my head. The time I took to read
those books was not "spent", it was "invested" - and I've been reaping
dividends from it ever since. ;<)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64 RC 7100

"Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:jjue45due5jsovh83bb53j11g9crs8igbg@xxxxxx

> On Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:45:46 -0500, "R. C. White" <rc@xxxxxx>
> wrote:
>

>> Hi, Michael.
>>
>> My advice is different from most - except that I agree with Ken Blake
>> that
>> "Windows Vista Inside Out" is an excellent resource. I'll be looking for
>> the Win7 version of Inside Out as soon as it is available!
>>
>> My favorite resource for understanding the successive Windows versions
>> has
>> always been the Resource Kits published by Microsoft Press. They are
>> thick
>> (1400+ pages), expensive (usually about $50), and they cover a LOT more
>> than
>> I need to know - like how to deploy the new system to your thousands of
>> computers in dozens of offices. :>( Stuff like that is nearly half the
>> book and does me no good at all for my one computer and no network.

>
>
>
> RC, I very much agree that the Resource Kit is an excellent source of
> information. But they are generally difficult books to read unless you
> start out knowing a substantial amount about the subject. For that
> reason, I would not recommend them to most people, and certainly not
> to someone considering a "... for Dummies" title.
>
>

>> But the remaining half of the Resource Kit is worth the full price of the
>> book! An afternoon invested in studying (not just skimming) the chapters
>> on
>> disks and file systems, and the startup sequence, and on troubleshooting
>> problems, will pay you big dividends, not just for Vista and not just for
>> today, but for as long as you use computers - which just might be for the
>> rest of your life.
>>
>> Although operating systems have evolved through several generations, I
>> still
>> use every day much of the basic knowledge of computers, hard disks,
>> operating systems (including MS-DOS and Windows) and file systems that I
>> learned in the 1950's. Much of that knowledge came from the original
>> Norton
>> Utilities (especially DiskEdit) before Symantec bought out Norton and
>> dumbed
>> down those utilities. Now all we can learn from them is which button to
>> push in the GUI, not what goes on inside the computer when that button
>> gets
>> pushed. Today's Symantec programs are like "Norton Utilities for
>> Dummies".
>> :>(
>>
>> I recommend spending your money AND investing your TIME in understanding
>> in-depth resources like Inside Out and the Resource Kits - after you've
>> graduated from "for Dummies".
>>
>> RC
>>
>>
>> "Michael Holloway" <M_M1997@xxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:eVYfa1r9JHA.1248@xxxxxx

>> > I would much prefer reading a "Dummies" book, rather than try to
>> > outguess
>> > the database of "Help" or some of the web pages. Any ideas?
>> >
>> > Michael

>
> --
> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
> Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:50:53 -0500, "R. C. White" <rc@xxxxxx>
wrote:

> Hi, Ken.
>
> We still agree. That's why I threw in my final line. :^}
>

> >> - after you've
> >> graduated from "for Dummies".

OK, good. Glad to hear that.

> When I got my first computer back in 1977, there were no "dummies" books.
> Even Adam Osborne's "Volume 0" was over my head. But I tried to read it
> anyhow, and read many others that were, to me, just as dense. Gradually,
> more and more light bulbs turned on in my head. The time I took to read
> those books was not "spent", it was "invested" - and I've been reaping
> dividends from it ever since. ;<)
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
> rc@xxxxxx
> Microsoft Windows MVP
> Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64 RC 7100
>
> "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:jjue45due5jsovh83bb53j11g9crs8igbg@xxxxxx

> > On Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:45:46 -0500, "R. C. White" <rc@xxxxxx>
> > wrote:
> >

> >> Hi, Michael.
> >>
> >> My advice is different from most - except that I agree with Ken Blake
> >> that
> >> "Windows Vista Inside Out" is an excellent resource. I'll be looking for
> >> the Win7 version of Inside Out as soon as it is available!
> >>
> >> My favorite resource for understanding the successive Windows versions
> >> has
> >> always been the Resource Kits published by Microsoft Press. They are
> >> thick
> >> (1400+ pages), expensive (usually about $50), and they cover a LOT more
> >> than
> >> I need to know - like how to deploy the new system to your thousands of
> >> computers in dozens of offices. :>( Stuff like that is nearly half the
> >> book and does me no good at all for my one computer and no network.

> >
> >
> >
> > RC, I very much agree that the Resource Kit is an excellent source of
> > information. But they are generally difficult books to read unless you
> > start out knowing a substantial amount about the subject. For that
> > reason, I would not recommend them to most people, and certainly not
> > to someone considering a "... for Dummies" title.
> >
> >

> >> But the remaining half of the Resource Kit is worth the full price of the
> >> book! An afternoon invested in studying (not just skimming) the chapters
> >> on
> >> disks and file systems, and the startup sequence, and on troubleshooting
> >> problems, will pay you big dividends, not just for Vista and not just for
> >> today, but for as long as you use computers - which just might be for the
> >> rest of your life.
> >>
> >> Although operating systems have evolved through several generations, I
> >> still
> >> use every day much of the basic knowledge of computers, hard disks,
> >> operating systems (including MS-DOS and Windows) and file systems that I
> >> learned in the 1950's. Much of that knowledge came from the original
> >> Norton
> >> Utilities (especially DiskEdit) before Symantec bought out Norton and
> >> dumbed
> >> down those utilities. Now all we can learn from them is which button to
> >> push in the GUI, not what goes on inside the computer when that button
> >> gets
> >> pushed. Today's Symantec programs are like "Norton Utilities for
> >> Dummies".
> >> :>(
> >>
> >> I recommend spending your money AND investing your TIME in understanding
> >> in-depth resources like Inside Out and the Resource Kits - after you've
> >> graduated from "for Dummies".
> >>
> >> RC
> >>
> >>
> >> "Michael Holloway" <M_M1997@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> >> news:eVYfa1r9JHA.1248@xxxxxx
> >> > I would much prefer reading a "Dummies" book, rather than try to
> >> > outguess
> >> > the database of "Help" or some of the web pages. Any ideas?
> >> >
> >> > Michael

> >
> > --
> > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
> > Please Reply to the Newsgroup

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup