A few years ago, software publishers decided to stop shipping manuals with their software, and instead rely on online help that's built into the software. The problem with this approach--for starters--is that in order to use online help you have to go into the program and find it. Additionally, no one really likes to read text on a computer screen, and it's hard to find the same page twice. Enter Windows Millennium: The Missing Manual. This brilliant book explains everything that you need to know to use and enjoy Microsoft's everyday OS, yet manages to be fun to read. If you never really have used a computer before, or if you're trying to expand your knowledge beyond the limited procedures that you've learned on the job, you'll appreciate the contents of this well-written guide.

Author David Pogue earned his stripes in the Macintosh community--he's immensely popular among Mac fans--but he's made the transition to Windows admirably. He approaches Windows Me's features (including Outlook Express and Internet Explorer) one at a time, and explains how to use each. His approach is detailed without being dull, and friendly without being fluffy or flippant. Newcomers who need lots of guidance will find this book a handy tutorial, and independent users who need to do a bit of research from time to time will find it a handy reference. --David Wall

Topics covered: Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (a.k.a. Windows Me) for beginning and intermediate users. The author explains the essentials of files, folders, and icons, and proceeds to document the Control Panel. Appropriately, the Internet gets a lot of attention, and there's fine coverage of setting up a small local area network (LAN), including one that employs Internet Connection Sharing (ICS).


Book Description
Windows Me, the hotly anticipated successor to Windows 98, comes with dozens of important new features. They include a home-networking Wizard; Movie Maker, for creating digital sounds and movies; and self-healing, self-updating software components. But one major failing of Windows remains unaddressed in the Me edition: it comes without a single page of printed instructions. In Windows Me: The Missing Manual, author David Pogue provides the friendly, authoritative book that should have been in the box. It's the ideal user's guide for the world's most popular operating system. The book begins at the beginning: with a tour of the Desktop, the enhanced Start menu, and instructions for customizing the Taskbar and toolbars. There's a special focus on organizing files, folders, and windows for maximum efficiency and minimum clutter. More advanced chapters explore each control panel and built-in application; walk readers through every conceivable kind of configuration (for Internet use, for peripheral equipment, and so on); and guide them in setting up a small network--an essential skill in today's home or small office--including how to share a single Internet connection among several PCs. The book even shows readers how to access one of today's hottest PC features: listening to live radio, or watching live TV, from all over the world, via the Internet. Special appendixes cover more technical ground: the various DOS applications that govern the startup and shutdown process, instructions for installing and updating Windows, and so on. Windows Me: The Missing Manual is a one-stop reference for the professional and consumer Windows user. In keeping with the high standards of the Missing Manual line, the book features superb writing, offers special features for both absolute novices and power users, and covers its topic completely. If Microsoft could close its eyes and wish for the perfect user's guide for its flagship product, Windows Me: The Missing Manual would magically appear.


Book Info
Witty guide covers getting started, figuring out what's what, mastering networks, and flying the net. Author lights the way for first-time and intermediate PC fans. Softcover.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Whether you ran out and bought the Windows Me upgrade or it's already installed on your shiny new PC, there's one thing you didn't get from Microsoft: a "real" manual. But you can have one. It's called Windows Millennium: The Missing Manual. We're talking crisp, to-the-point explanations, relevant and well-annotated screen shots, zillions of tips, careful organization and indexing, plus a tough binding designed to survive constant day-to-day use. We're also talking some things you never found in "real" software manuals: objectivity -- even a little wit sprinkled around the edges.

You'll start with the Desktop and Start menu -- and here, David Pogue offers tips Microsoft would've never mentioned. (Did you know you can save some clicks and display the contents of a folder by typing its path in the Start, Run dialog box? Or that you can often track down a missing computer on your network by using the Search for Computers feature even when My Network Places (Network Neighborhood) can't find them? Very cool.)

Then, Pogue covers every aspect of Windows Me, with a complete section of the book reserved for home networking, and another for Internet connections (including web connection sharing, NetMeeting video conferencing, and MSN's instant messaging system). Of course, there's also a hands-on overview of Windows Me's "sexiest" feature: the Movie Maker, which brings digital video moviemaking to Windows.

This is a hefty, thorough book at a very attractive price. It'll be the first WinMe book you refer to, and might well be the only one you'll ever need. (Bill Camarda)

Bill Camarda is a consultant and writer with nearly 20 years' experience in helping technology companies deploy and market advanced software, computing, and networking products and services. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks For Dummies®, Second Edition.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me) brings refinement and new features to the most popular operating system on earth: drastically improved reliability, interactive Internet games, a movie/radio/MP3 player, and more. Unfortunately, it lacks one of the most important features of all: a printed manual. Windows Millennium: The Missing Manual is the book that should have been in the box. In this superbly written guide, bestselling author David Pogue lights the way for first-time and intermediate PC fans. The book covers:
* Getting Started. The book's early chapters cover using menus, finding lost files, reducing window clutter, and taming the wild Start menu.
* Figuring out what's what. A complete guide, this book covers every single software crumb included with Windows Me, including every control panel, accessory program, and troubleshooting tool.
* Flying the Net. This book demystifies Windows Me's rich Internet suite: its email, Web-browsing, video conferencing, and chat-room programs. It even explains how to use the PC for free long-distance phone calls. Above all, Windows Millennium: The Missing Manual offers warm, witty jargon-free writing, with enough basics for the novice and enough depth for the power user. The book bursts with enough shortcuts, advice, and surprising tricks to make using Windows comprehensible - and even delightful.

About the author:
David Pogue is the award-winning computer columnist and creator of The Missing Manual series. He is the author of 15 bestsellers including PalmPilot: The Ultimate Guide and Mac OS 9: The Missing Manual.

SYNOPSIS

Windows ME, the hotly anticipated successor to Windows 98, comes with dozens of important new features. They include a home-networking Wizard; Movie Maker, for creating digital sounds and movies; and self-healing, self-updating software components. But one major failing of Windows remains unaddressed in the ME edition: it comes without a single page of printed instructions.

In Windows Millennium: The Missing Manual, author David Pogue provides the friendly, authoritative book that should have been in the box. It's the ideal user's guide for the world's most popular operating system.

The book begins at the beginning: with a tour of the Desktop, the enhanced Start menu, and instructions for customizing the Taskbar and toolbars. There's a special focus on organizing files, folders, and windows for maximum efficiency and minimum clutter.

More advanced chapters explore each control panel and built-in application; walk readers through every conceivable kind of configuration (for Internet use, for peripheral equipment, and so on); and guide them in setting up a small network--an essential skill in today's home or small office--including how to share a single Internet connection among several PCs. The book even shows readers how to access one of today's hottest PC features: listening to live radio, or watching live TV, from all over the world, via the Internet.

Special appendixes cover more technical ground: the various DOS applications that govern the startup and shutdown process, instructions for installing and updating Windows, and so on.

Windows Millennium: The Missing Manual is a one-stop reference for the professional and consumer Windows user. In keepingwith the high standards of the Missing Manual line, the book features superb writing, offers special features for both absolute novices and power users, and covers its topic completely. If Microsoft could close its eyes and wish for the perfect user's guide for its flagship product, Windows Millennium: The Missing Manual would magically appear.

AUTHOR DESCRIPTION