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The Book MannAdvanced Windows 95 BooksBy: Richard O. Mann |
Windows 95
is a complex program; once you’ve mastered the basics, many
challenges remain. This time we examine "advanced"
books: books designed as complete references, books of offbeat
tips and secrets, and books for the technically minded who like
to mess around under the hood. There’s something here for
everyone.
One caution: As I mentioned last time, authors of the first wave
of Win95 books had to work with beta versions of the product,
resulting in books that are not totally accurate in describing
the way the final product works. I’ve seen one Second
Edition of a Win95 title already (one of the beginner’s
books); watch for more shortly. Second Editions will have
adjusted the books to the reality of the final shipping version
of Win95. It’s also likely that new titles coming out from
now on will be based on final code.
It’s All In There—The Complete References
Complete references are the two to three-inch thick books that
try to explain everything you’ll need to know about the
product, from installing it through all its normal uses to...
Well, that’s where they differ: Just how technical does the
book get? Does the book tell you about the Windows Registry and
if so, does it cover how to edit and customize it? (Most
non-programmer users will never need to fuss with the Registry
file.) How much does the book tell you about the way Windows 95
manages memory and what you can do to change it? That advanced
technical info can be a life-saver for those who understand it,
but it may also be pounds and pounds of wasted tree carcasses for
those who have no desire or need to get that far into
Win95’s complex innards. As you select one of these books,
try to find one that matches your technical needs. They are not
all equal.
Inside Windows 95 by Jim Boyce and others (New Riders Publishing,
$40.00) is one of the more technical titles, covering the
Registry editor, memory management, OLE2 in some detail, and
other less frequently mentioned items. The tone and
understandability of the text varies among the seven authors and
generally depends on how technical the subject matter is. A
section on making Win95 recognize an enhanced parallel port, for
instance, is an impenetrable fog of acronyms and jargon.
Nevertheless, if you needed that specific information, the
step-by-step instructions would get the job done nicely (even if
you didn’t completely understand them). It’s admirably
well indexed but includes detailed explanations of features that
were removed from the final shipping version of Win95.
Using Windows 95, Special Edition by Ron Person (Que Corporation,
$39.99) is an attempt to provide as much useful information as
possible about Win95 without getting into the more technical
matters. (For instance, it merely mentions the enhanced parallel
port, providing no detail.) Memory management is covered only in
connection with specific issues and the Registry editor gets only
a page and a stern warning not to change anything on your own. It
provides extensive coverage of networking matters and even has
appendices on Microsoft Plus! and the Windows 95 Resource
Kit—useful items you can purchase separately from Win95.
Highly recommended; this one’s a winner.
Peter Norton’s Complete Guide to Windows 95 by Peter Norton
and John Mueller (Sams Publishing, $29.99) invokes the famous
Peter Norton brand name, but appears to be written by John
Mueller. In any case, this one is for the under-the-hood crowd.
One of the early chapters, entitled "The Windows 95
Architecture," moves directly into CONFIG.SYS and WIN.INI,
for instance, leaving no doubt as to the intended audience. Once
you’ve moved beyond the how-to-install-and-use-it books, get
this one to fine tune Win95 for peak performance.
Mastering Windows 95: The Windows 95 Bible by Robert Cowart
(Sybex, $29.99) is probably my favorite of these books. Its clear
explanations, thorough coverage at the normal user level, and
accuracy move it to the top of the class of books for the
non-technical reader. There’s no chapter on memory
management, only brief mention of the Windows Registry, and the
index doesn’t even mention enhanced parallel ports. As
I’ve spent the past few months with Win95, however, it was
this book that I found most useful, most accurate, and most
accessible. It does not, however, provide a CD-ROM full of
utilities and Win95 shareware, while Using Windows 95 (above)
does.
The Windows Resource Kit
In a class by itself is Microsoft’s own Windows Resource Kit
(Microsoft Press, $49.95). Here, Microsoft provides documentation
of Windows 95 ostensibly for system administrators, but normal
technically-inclined readers will also find it indispensible.
While it spends hundreds of pages on deployment plans and
configuring networks for Win95 (the system administrator stuff),
it also covers the nitty-gritty details of many otherwise
undocumented functions. It has a full chapter on the Registry
Editor and and an appendix on MSBATCH.INF parameters, which
should give you a flavor for the kind of coverage it includes.
The entire book’s text is included in a massive Windows Help
file on the included CD-ROM, along with a number of other
goodies, including an animated cursor editor. At first, Microsoft
was selling this book faster than they could print it, even with
a much larger than normal initial press run.
Tapping Into Win95’s Secrets
Once I know my way around a program, I always look for a book
with tips, secrets, hints, tricks, voodoo, or similar words in
the title. These great books share the sometimes offbeat ways
that power users have discovered to make living with the program
easier. The tips and secrets range from obvious ("Everybody
knows that!") to brilliant ("How did they ever discover
that?"). You’ll probably ignore 90% of the tips, but
the 10% you use are usually worth the price of admission.
Voodoo Windows 95 (Ventana Press, $24.95) continues Kay
Yarborough Nelson’s popular series of Voodoo titles. Written
for beginners and mid-range users, this book hits on some of the
more obvious items, but still delivers a healthy dose of simple
things you probably haven’t happened upon. I was
particularly pleased with the section on using Win95’s
"Send To" function. I knew "send-to"was going
to be helpful, but I hadn’t had time to figure out all these
wonderful uses on my own. I keep this book next to the computer;
when I’m bored I look up the next few tips and try them out.
It’s fun.
For the heavy duty secrets and techniques, however, you need
Windows 95 Secrets, 3rd Edition by Brian Livingston and Davis
Straub (IDG Books, $39.99). This magnificent collection of Win95
knowledge is not for the faint of heart, but if you’re not
afraid of learning technical details, it’s a delight. I can
read from this book by the hour, learning invaluable details of
how things work. Livingston explains such arcane matters as
hinting in fonts and the inner secrets of the Registry file. As
technical as it is, the writing style is clear and logical,
making all but the deepest matters understandable to mid-range
users. The accompanying CD-ROM includes a well-organized
collection of shareware programs of all kinds. Highly
recommended.
Other Miscellaneous Titles
Windows 95 Answers: Certified Tech Support by Matthews &
Matthews (Osborne/McGraw-Hill, $19.95) uses the accumulated
experience of a company Microsoft used to augment their initial
tech support team. They tracked the questions asked; this book
contains the most frequently asked questions and their answers.
It’s clear, concise, and aimed right at our most likely
problems. Save yourself minutes and hours of waiting on hold for
telephone tech support—the answers you need are likely to be
in this book.
The Whole Internet for Windows 95 by Krol & Ferguson
(O’Reilly & Assoc., $24.95) is another one of
O’Reilly’s masterful Internet guides. It covers all you
really need to know about the net and offers a catalog of
interesting sites—from a specific Win95 vantage point.
Book of the Month
I usually like to shift gears and award Book of the Month honors
to a book unrelated to the column’s topic. This time,
however, clearly the most interesting and useful book to come in
these last few months is The Mother of All Windows 95 Books by
Woody Leonhard and Barry Simon (Addison-Wesley, $39.95). Leonhard
and Simon have written similar irreverent but useful guides to
other programs; this one upholds the tradition. Featuring a cast
of characters represented by icons in the margins and led by Mom
herself (a grandmotherly type), the book reads like an extended
conversation between these characters. It points out bugs in the
program and ways around them, reveals undocumented features, and
teaches about the important underpinnings of Windows 95—all
in a light, entertaining way. The information is excellent and
the presentation is great fun. Who could ask for anything more?
Richard O. Mann, CPA, a contributing editor here and at PC Laptop Computers Magazine, writes regularly for many national magazines from his home in Roy, Utah. An accountant and auditor by day, Rich magically transforms into the Book Mann by night. Read any good computer books lately? Rich would love to hear about them for possible future Books of the Month. Contact him at RichMann@unforgettable.com.
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