Windows Vista Annoyances: Tips, Secrets and Solutions is the fantastic collection of the subtitle; tips, secrets and solutions to all those annoying problems we encounter in our daily use of Windows Vista.
Ease of Use, Performance: 23/25, Look & Feel: 24/25,
Features 23/25, How much I enjoy 25/25
Total: 95/100
Windows Vista is the newest operating system from the giant software corporation Microsoft and like any new product there are bugs. But whether you like it or not Microsoft is here to stay and the newest operating system is as well. I like many of the features but others I have come to hate and even shut down but dealing with the ones we use often can be made easier.
The annoyances that I have found have lead me on a search not only for the facts and how to fix things but in the search for help for you my loyal readers as well. To find out how you can fix things yourself I have found a great reference book in Windows Vista Annoyances by David A. Karp from O’Reilly Press.
This book is literally a treasure trove of Tips, Secrets and Solutions to many of the common annoyances found in Windows Vista. The book is clearly spelled out from the start of Vista on your system at installation to the sections of common use from system boot up.
The first chapter may not be of great use to those who have bought their computer with the operating system already installed. But it does help to get an idea of things that you may be faced with like the startup manager and a tweak you can perform there to get your system boot time faster. Other useful information is things like upgrades and which version of Vista does what.
The next chapter deals with the things you see when Vista is up and running, the Desktop, keyboard shortcuts and other useful everyday things to make your computer really yours. Each chapter from here discusses different tips and tricks to deal with a larger section of the Vista operating system and the features inside.
The registry is discussed and you can find all kinds of useful tips for things that you can actually use like just what the registry is and how you can make changes to it without shutting down your system. This is one chapter that many may not delve into for fear but the chapter shows what you can safely change and what to leave alone if you’re just too inexperienced and especially useful information like making backups.
Other chapters deal with troubleshooting, common problems and even setting up and understanding networks. Just like the other book from O’Reilly Press that I reviewed the answers from all your problems and all these solutions can be found on the internet but not without some time searching for them.
The search can be right at your finger tips for many of the common problems and things you want to change with these Annoyances answers. I have done several of the things included in this book and even found it very helpful for things like working with a network camera and setting up the remote desktop to work with the camera over the internet.
This book and the other I reviewed, Windows Vista: The Missing Manual is two books that should be your bible for the Windows Vista operating system. These two books should be sitting on your shelf if you do more than just watch movies or listen to songs on your computer.
To actually use a computer and get all your value from the system you bought you need to have the reference material at hand and no better way to do this is to buy this book. The Windows Vista Annoyances is a great reference to have handy and this is another book that will sit on my shelf and be used time and again just like my copy of The Missing Manual for Vista.
If you have any questions about Windows Vista and want to find the answers quickly and easily the best way to do this is searching. But searching for answers on the internet can take several minutes of your time and can often find too many results for your one question. For a quick answer to the common frustrations of Vista look no further than Windows Vista Annoyances.
I highly recommend Windows Vista Annoyances as a common reference book for anyone using Windows Vista.
