Windows Vista

Windows Vista is Microsoft's most important software release in more than a decade. It offers users an abundance of new and upgraded features that were more than five years in the making: a gorgeous, glass-like visual overhaul; superior searching and organization tools; a multimedia and collaboration suite; and above all, a massive, top-to-bottom security-shield overhaul. There's scarcely a single feature of the older versions of Windows that hasn't been tweaked, overhauled, or replaced entirely. But when users first encounter this beautiful new operating system, there's gonna be a whole lotta head-scratchin', starting with trying to figure out which of the five versions of Vista is installed on the PC (Home, Premium, Business, Enterprise, Ultimate). Thankfully, "Windows Vista: The Missing Manual" offers coverage of all five versions. Like its predecessors, this book from New York Times columnist, bestselling author, and Missing Manuals creator David Pogue illuminates its subject with technical insight, plenty of wit, and hardnosed objectivity for beginners, veteran standalone PC users, and those who know their way around a network. Readers will learn how to: navigate Vista's elegant new desktop; locate anything on your hard drive quickly with the fast, powerful, and fully integrated search function; use the Media Center to record TV and radio, present photos, play music, and record any of the above to DVD; chat, videoconference, and surf the Web with the vastly improved Internet Explorer 7 tabbed browser; build a network for file sharing, set up workgroups, and connect from the road; protect your PC and network with Vista's beefed up security; and much more. This jargon-free guide explains Vista's features clearly and thoroughly, revealing which work will and which don't. It's the book that should have been in the box!

David Pogue, Yale '85, is the personal-technology columnist for the New York Times. With nearly 3 million books in print, he is also one of the world's bestselling how-to authors, having written or co-written seven books in the "for Dummies" series (including Macs, Magic, Opera, and Classical Music), along with several computer-humor books and a technothriller, "Hard Drive" (a New York Times "notable book of the year"). Pogue is also the creator and primary author of the Missing Manual series of complete, funny computer books, a joint venture with O'Reilly Media, Inc. Titles in the series include Mac OS X, Windows XP, iPod, Microsoft Office, iPhoto, Dreamweaver, iMovie 2, and many others. His Web page is www.davidpogue.com, and his email address is david@pogueman.com.