Fit for purpose., 07 Sep 2008
I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was wanting in other more detailed areas. I think our needs would have been better met by something that spent less time covering the similarities between XP and Vista and more time dealing with the more advanced issues, but then that isn't the role and function of the 'Dummies' series. This book is generally very good, and I imagine excellent if you're on your first Windows operating system. It also doesn't crawl to the sensibilities of Microsoft, which is most refreshing. If you're moving from XP to Vista and you're anxious then this is great for general reference. At the risk of sounding cynical, I think that the myth that Vista is a total nightmare, excessively security conscious and so on has probably helped to shift a lot of copies of this. In reality, Vista isn't that scary.

Does what it says on the cover, 21 Jun 2008
If you are looking for a light introductory guide to Windows Vista then look no further. If you are looking for a book that will get you out of trouble, then you'd be better looking at (for want of a better expression) more serious titles.


LAP FOF DUMMEYS AND INTERNET FOR DUMMETS, 11 May 2008
VERY HELPFULL IN EVERY WAY PUT IN LINGO YOU UNDER STAND WITH ALL THE BULL TAKEN OUT ONE RE SAID THAY WHERE FOR USA MARKET NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT THAY GOOD FUN AS WELL AS DOING THE JOB THAY WHERE MADE FOR KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARRY ENGLAND

Learn and smile..., 11 Jan 2008
I remember buying Windows 3.1 for Dummies many moons ago and it was a big help in my fledgling IT career. Having bought a new PC with Vista pre-installed, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a Dummies book for the new Windows and I'm glad I did. It is a solid and welcome addition to the series, unbiased and informative text, well laid out and the Gary Larson style cartoons give it a friendly feel.

It explains clearly the different versions of Vista, installation issues and the differences between it and XP. All Vistas quirks and features are described in plain English. A useful crib-sheet lists useful shortcuts to impress your colleagues. Home users and office users alike of any skill level would benefit from this book.

What this book is :
A Windows Vista reference, not a comprehensive training manual - choose what you need to gen up on and look for that chapter. Having said that, working through the book a chapter at a time is of use and would not take months
Useful, un-patronising and pretty funny

What this book is not:
Microsoft propaganda - Rathbone tells it like it is and probably won't be top of Bill Gates Christmas card list for some of his comments
A full blown tech guide for geeks, though they would certainly find it useful (without admitting it of course!)

Great book and for this price, it's a steal


A Cracking Edition of For Dummies, 02 Jan 2008
After Purchasing Vista and not being able to get to grips with it my dad got me this book,

it explains in great detail how to do everything that you need to do, it uses friendly language and does not insult your intelligence like some books.

I got the one with the free DVD which i have found very useful.

Amazon are the cheapest retailers of this product that i have seen, it comes wrapped in a standard Amazon packaging -- however you must be at home for delivery as it does not fit through your letter box :(

In All buy this book, you will find it useful, either that look on Google and find the answers for free :P

Fit for purpose., 07 Sep 2008
I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was wanting in other more detailed areas. I think our needs would have been better met by something that spent less time covering the similarities between XP and Vista and more time dealing with the more advanced issues, but then that isn't the role and function of the 'Dummies' series. This book is generally very good, and I imagine excellent if you're on your first Windows operating system. It also doesn't crawl to the sensibilities of Microsoft, which is most refreshing. If you're moving from XP to Vista and you're anxious then this is great for general reference. At the risk of sounding cynical, I think that the myth that Vista is a total nightmare, excessively security conscious and so on has probably helped to shift a lot of copies of this. In reality, Vista isn't that scary.

Does what it says on the cover, 21 Jun 2008
If you are looking for a light introductory guide to Windows Vista then look no further. If you are looking for a book that will get you out of trouble, then you'd be better looking at (for want of a better expression) more serious titles.


LAP FOF DUMMEYS AND INTERNET FOR DUMMETS, 11 May 2008
VERY HELPFULL IN EVERY WAY PUT IN LINGO YOU UNDER STAND WITH ALL THE BULL TAKEN OUT ONE RE SAID THAY WHERE FOR USA MARKET NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT THAY GOOD FUN AS WELL AS DOING THE JOB THAY WHERE MADE FOR KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARRY ENGLAND

Learn and smile..., 11 Jan 2008
I remember buying Windows 3.1 for Dummies many moons ago and it was a big help in my fledgling IT career. Having bought a new PC with Vista pre-installed, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a Dummies book for the new Windows and I'm glad I did. It is a solid and welcome addition to the series, unbiased and informative text, well laid out and the Gary Larson style cartoons give it a friendly feel.

It explains clearly the different versions of Vista, installation issues and the differences between it and XP. All Vistas quirks and features are described in plain English. A useful crib-sheet lists useful shortcuts to impress your colleagues. Home users and office users alike of any skill level would benefit from this book.

What this book is :
A Windows Vista reference, not a comprehensive training manual - choose what you need to gen up on and look for that chapter. Having said that, working through the book a chapter at a time is of use and would not take months
Useful, un-patronising and pretty funny

What this book is not:
Microsoft propaganda - Rathbone tells it like it is and probably won't be top of Bill Gates Christmas card list for some of his comments
A full blown tech guide for geeks, though they would certainly find it useful (without admitting it of course!)

Great book and for this price, it's a steal


A Cracking Edition of For Dummies, 02 Jan 2008
After Purchasing Vista and not being able to get to grips with it my dad got me this book,

it explains in great detail how to do everything that you need to do, it uses friendly language and does not insult your intelligence like some books.

I got the one with the free DVD which i have found very useful.

Amazon are the cheapest retailers of this product that i have seen, it comes wrapped in a standard Amazon packaging -- however you must be at home for delivery as it does not fit through your letter box :(

In All buy this book, you will find it useful, either that look on Google and find the answers for free :P

A Must Buy!, 12 Oct 2008
Eveything in this book is written in a way that is fun, easy to understand AND invaluable if you intend to trade in shares. It's a steal at this price. I cannnot rate this book highly enough.

Nuff said.

Excellent Book, 18 Sep 2008
This book has full of practical trading tips and summarises the top ten mistakes made by traders. The book is written in plain English, so it's easy to understand and good fun to read too. I have found this book is very useful in my trading.


Without doubt..., 01 Sep 2008
.... the best book currently around for understanding the stock market. Robbie Burns is very good at explaining all the market jargon in a friendly and humourous tone, and there's masses of advice - particularly what not to do! The webiste is well worth a look too.

good book easy to read, 20 Jul 2008
good book easy to read, emphasises doing own research. Gives some usefull advice, such as avoiding shares with debt more than 3 times of Annual profit ( I would say rather Cash Flow)


Only regret is not buying it soon enough, 12 May 2008
I wish I bought it a year ago when I started trading... If I read this earlier, I could have avoided mistakes I made NT pointed out in the book.
The author's writing style is light and friendly so it's not a boring book to read. Clearly pointed out mistakes all newbie investors would make along with good habit of trading. It's not the investing bible nor get rich quick book but it definitely is investing 101 for newbies and intermediate investors.

Fit for purpose., 07 Sep 2008
I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was wanting in other more detailed areas. I think our needs would have been better met by something that spent less time covering the similarities between XP and Vista and more time dealing with the more advanced issues, but then that isn't the role and function of the 'Dummies' series. This book is generally very good, and I imagine excellent if you're on your first Windows operating system. It also doesn't crawl to the sensibilities of Microsoft, which is most refreshing. If you're moving from XP to Vista and you're anxious then this is great for general reference. At the risk of sounding cynical, I think that the myth that Vista is a total nightmare, excessively security conscious and so on has probably helped to shift a lot of copies of this. In reality, Vista isn't that scary.

Does what it says on the cover, 21 Jun 2008
If you are looking for a light introductory guide to Windows Vista then look no further. If you are looking for a book that will get you out of trouble, then you'd be better looking at (for want of a better expression) more serious titles.


LAP FOF DUMMEYS AND INTERNET FOR DUMMETS, 11 May 2008
VERY HELPFULL IN EVERY WAY PUT IN LINGO YOU UNDER STAND WITH ALL THE BULL TAKEN OUT ONE RE SAID THAY WHERE FOR USA MARKET NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT THAY GOOD FUN AS WELL AS DOING THE JOB THAY WHERE MADE FOR KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARRY ENGLAND

Learn and smile..., 11 Jan 2008
I remember buying Windows 3.1 for Dummies many moons ago and it was a big help in my fledgling IT career. Having bought a new PC with Vista pre-installed, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a Dummies book for the new Windows and I'm glad I did. It is a solid and welcome addition to the series, unbiased and informative text, well laid out and the Gary Larson style cartoons give it a friendly feel.

It explains clearly the different versions of Vista, installation issues and the differences between it and XP. All Vistas quirks and features are described in plain English. A useful crib-sheet lists useful shortcuts to impress your colleagues. Home users and office users alike of any skill level would benefit from this book.

What this book is :
A Windows Vista reference, not a comprehensive training manual - choose what you need to gen up on and look for that chapter. Having said that, working through the book a chapter at a time is of use and would not take months
Useful, un-patronising and pretty funny

What this book is not:
Microsoft propaganda - Rathbone tells it like it is and probably won't be top of Bill Gates Christmas card list for some of his comments
A full blown tech guide for geeks, though they would certainly find it useful (without admitting it of course!)

Great book and for this price, it's a steal


A Cracking Edition of For Dummies, 02 Jan 2008
After Purchasing Vista and not being able to get to grips with it my dad got me this book,

it explains in great detail how to do everything that you need to do, it uses friendly language and does not insult your intelligence like some books.

I got the one with the free DVD which i have found very useful.

Amazon are the cheapest retailers of this product that i have seen, it comes wrapped in a standard Amazon packaging -- however you must be at home for delivery as it does not fit through your letter box :(

In All buy this book, you will find it useful, either that look on Google and find the answers for free :P

A Must Buy!, 12 Oct 2008
Eveything in this book is written in a way that is fun, easy to understand AND invaluable if you intend to trade in shares. It's a steal at this price. I cannnot rate this book highly enough.

Nuff said.

Excellent Book, 18 Sep 2008
This book has full of practical trading tips and summarises the top ten mistakes made by traders. The book is written in plain English, so it's easy to understand and good fun to read too. I have found this book is very useful in my trading.


Without doubt..., 01 Sep 2008
.... the best book currently around for understanding the stock market. Robbie Burns is very good at explaining all the market jargon in a friendly and humourous tone, and there's masses of advice - particularly what not to do! The webiste is well worth a look too.

good book easy to read, 20 Jul 2008
good book easy to read, emphasises doing own research. Gives some usefull advice, such as avoiding shares with debt more than 3 times of Annual profit ( I would say rather Cash Flow)


Only regret is not buying it soon enough, 12 May 2008
I wish I bought it a year ago when I started trading... If I read this earlier, I could have avoided mistakes I made NT pointed out in the book.
The author's writing style is light and friendly so it's not a boring book to read. Clearly pointed out mistakes all newbie investors would make along with good habit of trading. It's not the investing bible nor get rich quick book but it definitely is investing 101 for newbies and intermediate investors.

Colour me unimpressed!, 10 Nov 2008
I've learned a large number of languages, toolkits and SDKs over the years and been part of the review process of a fairly well known book as well, so believe me when I say this is not a great quality book!

If you read the back cover and even the prerequisites, you might think this book is for you. The prerequisites page only mentions the following with regards to knowledge required: "Familiarity with Objective-C". No mention is made of familiarity with writing software for OS X, but by page 23 we're seeing statements like "These essential frameworks enable you to build your iPhone applications using the same fundamental classes and calls you are familiar with from the Macintosh". This is followed on 24 by a comment about Info.plist - "It works the same way Info.plist files work on the Mac." Even as early as page 7 we're seeing things like "As with the Macintosh..." This book does not stand well on its own and that will make it less accessible to some people.

Then we get to the missing stuff - in the very first project, we're instructed to "Drag the three image files from the Chapter One Project folder provided with this book..." Provided where? There's no CD in the back, and I've not found anything in Chapter 1 so far that tells me where this resource is supposed to be included.

The first code listing spans almost two full pages as a single block of text. While the code is commented, there is no in-line breakdown of what each section is and you'll find yourself flipping back to previous pages to tie what you read there back to the code being displayed. Once this two page block of code is over, you don't see it again during this chapter - there is no further discussion of the code so you have to take it on faith for now and learn about it later. That's fine for a 10 line "hello world" app, but not really acceptable for an introduction to a language / framework like Cocoa.

All in all, first impressions are not good. This is not a book to rival the kind of book we've become used to with the Aaron Hillegass definitive reference for starting OS X programming. It will serve more experienced Apple developers well, but will be frustrating for new users.

Good book, but lacking in places, 10 Nov 2008
I found this book useful, but it definitely lacks in places. I am using it as a resource for finding out little tricks or tips on how another programmer lays out their work. It's a useful resource, however it won't teach you the SDK from a beginner to an expert - grab Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X for that!

Useful samples, not for beginners however, 05 Nov 2008
I thought this book was well written but be aware it does throw you into the deep end pretty much immediately. I would recommend this book mainly to developers who are already familiar with the basics of building iPhone applications as there really isn't much of a beginners introduction here.


The book we've all been waiting for!, 29 Oct 2008
This is a brilliant book, and contains a whole host of fantastic examples that shed a lot of like on developing using the iPhone SDK. Clearly written, great examples, and covering all topics needed to create a great application. This book will take some beating.

Of course, there is much more possible with the SDK than is covered in the book but this book will give you all the knowledge you need to push forward on your own.

Fit for purpose., 07 Sep 2008
I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was wanting in other more detailed areas. I think our needs would have been better met by something that spent less time covering the similarities between XP and Vista and more time dealing with the more advanced issues, but then that isn't the role and function of the 'Dummies' series. This book is generally very good, and I imagine excellent if you're on your first Windows operating system. It also doesn't crawl to the sensibilities of Microsoft, which is most refreshing. If you're moving from XP to Vista and you're anxious then this is great for general reference. At the risk of sounding cynical, I think that the myth that Vista is a total nightmare, excessively security conscious and so on has probably helped to shift a lot of copies of this. In reality, Vista isn't that scary.

Does what it says on the cover, 21 Jun 2008
If you are looking for a light introductory guide to Windows Vista then look no further. If you are looking for a book that will get you out of trouble, then you'd be better looking at (for want of a better expression) more serious titles.


LAP FOF DUMMEYS AND INTERNET FOR DUMMETS, 11 May 2008
VERY HELPFULL IN EVERY WAY PUT IN LINGO YOU UNDER STAND WITH ALL THE BULL TAKEN OUT ONE RE SAID THAY WHERE FOR USA MARKET NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT THAY GOOD FUN AS WELL AS DOING THE JOB THAY WHERE MADE FOR KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARRY ENGLAND

Learn and smile..., 11 Jan 2008
I remember buying Windows 3.1 for Dummies many moons ago and it was a big help in my fledgling IT career. Having bought a new PC with Vista pre-installed, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a Dummies book for the new Windows and I'm glad I did. It is a solid and welcome addition to the series, unbiased and informative text, well laid out and the Gary Larson style cartoons give it a friendly feel.

It explains clearly the different versions of Vista, installation issues and the differences between it and XP. All Vistas quirks and features are described in plain English. A useful crib-sheet lists useful shortcuts to impress your colleagues. Home users and office users alike of any skill level would benefit from this book.

What this book is :
A Windows Vista reference, not a comprehensive training manual - choose what you need to gen up on and look for that chapter. Having said that, working through the book a chapter at a time is of use and would not take months
Useful, un-patronising and pretty funny

What this book is not:
Microsoft propaganda - Rathbone tells it like it is and probably won't be top of Bill Gates Christmas card list for some of his comments
A full blown tech guide for geeks, though they would certainly find it useful (without admitting it of course!)

Great book and for this price, it's a steal


A Cracking Edition of For Dummies, 02 Jan 2008
After Purchasing Vista and not being able to get to grips with it my dad got me this book,

it explains in great detail how to do everything that you need to do, it uses friendly language and does not insult your intelligence like some books.

I got the one with the free DVD which i have found very useful.

Amazon are the cheapest retailers of this product that i have seen, it comes wrapped in a standard Amazon packaging -- however you must be at home for delivery as it does not fit through your letter box :(

In All buy this book, you will find it useful, either that look on Google and find the answers for free :P

A Must Buy!, 12 Oct 2008
Eveything in this book is written in a way that is fun, easy to understand AND invaluable if you intend to trade in shares. It's a steal at this price. I cannnot rate this book highly enough.

Nuff said.

Excellent Book, 18 Sep 2008
This book has full of practical trading tips and summarises the top ten mistakes made by traders. The book is written in plain English, so it's easy to understand and good fun to read too. I have found this book is very useful in my trading.


Without doubt..., 01 Sep 2008
.... the best book currently around for understanding the stock market. Robbie Burns is very good at explaining all the market jargon in a friendly and humourous tone, and there's masses of advice - particularly what not to do! The webiste is well worth a look too.

good book easy to read, 20 Jul 2008
good book easy to read, emphasises doing own research. Gives some usefull advice, such as avoiding shares with debt more than 3 times of Annual profit ( I would say rather Cash Flow)


Only regret is not buying it soon enough, 12 May 2008
I wish I bought it a year ago when I started trading... If I read this earlier, I could have avoided mistakes I made NT pointed out in the book.
The author's writing style is light and friendly so it's not a boring book to read. Clearly pointed out mistakes all newbie investors would make along with good habit of trading. It's not the investing bible nor get rich quick book but it definitely is investing 101 for newbies and intermediate investors.

Colour me unimpressed!, 10 Nov 2008
I've learned a large number of languages, toolkits and SDKs over the years and been part of the review process of a fairly well known book as well, so believe me when I say this is not a great quality book!

If you read the back cover and even the prerequisites, you might think this book is for you. The prerequisites page only mentions the following with regards to knowledge required: "Familiarity with Objective-C". No mention is made of familiarity with writing software for OS X, but by page 23 we're seeing statements like "These essential frameworks enable you to build your iPhone applications using the same fundamental classes and calls you are familiar with from the Macintosh". This is followed on 24 by a comment about Info.plist - "It works the same way Info.plist files work on the Mac." Even as early as page 7 we're seeing things like "As with the Macintosh..." This book does not stand well on its own and that will make it less accessible to some people.

Then we get to the missing stuff - in the very first project, we're instructed to "Drag the three image files from the Chapter One Project folder provided with this book..." Provided where? There's no CD in the back, and I've not found anything in Chapter 1 so far that tells me where this resource is supposed to be included.

The first code listing spans almost two full pages as a single block of text. While the code is commented, there is no in-line breakdown of what each section is and you'll find yourself flipping back to previous pages to tie what you read there back to the code being displayed. Once this two page block of code is over, you don't see it again during this chapter - there is no further discussion of the code so you have to take it on faith for now and learn about it later. That's fine for a 10 line "hello world" app, but not really acceptable for an introduction to a language / framework like Cocoa.

All in all, first impressions are not good. This is not a book to rival the kind of book we've become used to with the Aaron Hillegass definitive reference for starting OS X programming. It will serve more experienced Apple developers well, but will be frustrating for new users.

Good book, but lacking in places, 10 Nov 2008
I found this book useful, but it definitely lacks in places. I am using it as a resource for finding out little tricks or tips on how another programmer lays out their work. It's a useful resource, however it won't teach you the SDK from a beginner to an expert - grab Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X for that!

Useful samples, not for beginners however, 05 Nov 2008
I thought this book was well written but be aware it does throw you into the deep end pretty much immediately. I would recommend this book mainly to developers who are already familiar with the basics of building iPhone applications as there really isn't much of a beginners introduction here.


The book we've all been waiting for!, 29 Oct 2008
This is a brilliant book, and contains a whole host of fantastic examples that shed a lot of like on developing using the iPhone SDK. Clearly written, great examples, and covering all topics needed to create a great application. This book will take some beating.

Of course, there is much more possible with the SDK than is covered in the book but this book will give you all the knowledge you need to push forward on your own.

Excellent for programmers who don't know Excel, 17 May 2008
As a professional programmer I wondered whether this was going to patronise me too much; I needn't have worried, Walkenbach's approach is just right.

He tells it like it is, with plenty of good examples and real world applications for those examples. I'm sure Walkenback doesn't expect this book to teach you everything about Excel and whilst using it I searched for other examples on the 'Net which reinforced what he was teaching me.

But this was the book that provided me with the central learning experience and for which I am eternally grateful. Thanks John!

A good book to start with., 09 Jun 2007
When I set out to learn a completely new technique in programming I like to start by reading a simple book, then follow that up by reading a higher level book. John Walkenbach's work is excellent for the first stage of this process. It is simply written (although I could manage without some of the "humor"), and he explains the basic techniques very well. I would argue with the "for dummies" part of the title, and would describe the book instead (apart from the humor) as suitable for the intelligent reader who starts Chapter 1 knowing little or nothing about VBA, but who is reasonably competent with Excel itself. By the end of Chapter 25, and after trying out some of the worked examples, such a reader should have a reasonable working knowledge of how to write VBA macros.

Excellent for getting familiar with th VBA "basics"!, 24 Mar 2007
This book is fantastic for those who know nothing, or next to nothing about VBA programming in Excel, and want to learn the "basics" (no pun intended!).
You can read this book from cover to cover, practising examples on the way , and learning something every chapter. The author also makes reference to an accomanying website where you can download some of the programs to see them in action.
Furthermore, the book is written in very good humour, and you can have a laugh at the same time!
It is however very much a beginner's book, and does not go into great depth with VBA - if you purchase the book with that in mind then you really are on to a winner!

If only I had an option to give this 6 stars !!, 13 Sep 2006
This book is a must have for anyone wanting to get to know VBA. Don't let previous books on VBA programming put you off, as these can either swing between patronising to the mega confusing (in my own experience). John Walkenbach takes you through this must have guide with patients and humour at an understandable and undaunting pace. Even when I was only half way through his book I was using the information I had gathered to streamline my many tedious excel spreadsheets and by the end of the book I wanted more. P.s. John, please bring part two !!

Found this really useful, 01 Apr 2006
This book is really accessible, with loads of working examples. I needed to write a couple of custom functions for use in Excel 2002 spreadseets. And needed to get them working as addins. This book told me all I needed to know. A lot simpler to follow than some other books on this topic - such as one of the author's other books "Excel 2002 Power Programming with VBA".

Brilliant.

Fit for purpose., 07 Sep 2008
I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was wanting in other more detailed areas. I think our needs would have been better met by something that spent less time covering the similarities between XP and Vista and more time dealing with the more advanced issues, but then that isn't the role and function of the 'Dummies' series. This book is generally very good, and I imagine excellent if you're on your first Windows operating system. It also doesn't crawl to the sensibilities of Microsoft, which is most refreshing. If you're moving from XP to Vista and you're anxious then this is great for general reference. At the risk of sounding cynical, I think that the myth that Vista is a total nightmare, excessively security conscious and so on has probably helped to shift a lot of copies of this. In reality, Vista isn't that scary.

Does what it says on the cover, 21 Jun 2008
If you are looking for a light introductory guide to Windows Vista then look no further. If you are looking for a book that will get you out of trouble, then you'd be better looking at (for want of a better expression) more serious titles.


LAP FOF DUMMEYS AND INTERNET FOR DUMMETS, 11 May 2008
VERY HELPFULL IN EVERY WAY PUT IN LINGO YOU UNDER STAND WITH ALL THE BULL TAKEN OUT ONE RE SAID THAY WHERE FOR USA MARKET NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT THAY GOOD FUN AS WELL AS DOING THE JOB THAY WHERE MADE FOR KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARRY ENGLAND

Learn and smile..., 11 Jan 2008
I remember buying Windows 3.1 for Dummies many moons ago and it was a big help in my fledgling IT career. Having bought a new PC with Vista pre-installed, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a Dummies book for the new Windows and I'm glad I did. It is a solid and welcome addition to the series, unbiased and informative text, well laid out and the Gary Larson style cartoons give it a friendly feel.

It explains clearly the different versions of Vista, installation issues and the differences between it and XP. All Vistas quirks and features are described in plain English. A useful crib-sheet lists useful shortcuts to impress your colleagues. Home users and office users alike of any skill level would benefit from this book.

What this book is :
A Windows Vista reference, not a comprehensive training manual - choose what you need to gen up on and look for that chapter. Having said that, working through the book a chapter at a time is of use and would not take months
Useful, un-patronising and pretty funny

What this book is not:
Microsoft propaganda - Rathbone tells it like it is and probably won't be top of Bill Gates Christmas card list for some of his comments
A full blown tech guide for geeks, though they would certainly find it useful (without admitting it of course!)

Great book and for this price, it's a steal


A Cracking Edition of For Dummies, 02 Jan 2008
After Purchasing Vista and not being able to get to grips with it my dad got me this book,

it explains in great detail how to do everything that you need to do, it uses friendly language and does not insult your intelligence like some books.

I got the one with the free DVD which i have found very useful.

Amazon are the cheapest retailers of this product that i have seen, it comes wrapped in a standard Amazon packaging -- however you must be at home for delivery as it does not fit through your letter box :(

In All buy this book, you will find it useful, either that look on Google and find the answers for free :P

A Must Buy!, 12 Oct 2008
Eveything in this book is written in a way that is fun, easy to understand AND invaluable if you intend to trade in shares. It's a steal at this price. I cannnot rate this book highly enough.

Nuff said.

Excellent Book, 18 Sep 2008
This book has full of practical trading tips and summarises the top ten mistakes made by traders. The book is written in plain English, so it's easy to understand and good fun to read too. I have found this book is very useful in my trading.


Without doubt..., 01 Sep 2008
.... the best book currently around for understanding the stock market. Robbie Burns is very good at explaining all the market jargon in a friendly and humourous tone, and there's masses of advice - particularly what not to do! The webiste is well worth a look too.

good book easy to read, 20 Jul 2008
good book easy to read, emphasises doing own research. Gives some usefull advice, such as avoiding shares with debt more than 3 times of Annual profit ( I would say rather Cash Flow)


Only regret is not buying it soon enough, 12 May 2008
I wish I bought it a year ago when I started trading... If I read this earlier, I could have avoided mistakes I made NT pointed out in the book.
The author's writing style is light and friendly so it's not a boring book to read. Clearly pointed out mistakes all newbie investors would make along with good habit of trading. It's not the investing bible nor get rich quick book but it definitely is investing 101 for newbies and intermediate investors.

Colour me unimpressed!, 10 Nov 2008
I've learned a large number of languages, toolkits and SDKs over the years and been part of the review process of a fairly well known book as well, so believe me when I say this is not a great quality book!

If you read the back cover and even the prerequisites, you might think this book is for you. The prerequisites page only mentions the following with regards to knowledge required: "Familiarity with Objective-C". No mention is made of familiarity with writing software for OS X, but by page 23 we're seeing statements like "These essential frameworks enable you to build your iPhone applications using the same fundamental classes and calls you are familiar with from the Macintosh". This is followed on 24 by a comment about Info.plist - "It works the same way Info.plist files work on the Mac." Even as early as page 7 we're seeing things like "As with the Macintosh..." This book does not stand well on its own and that will make it less accessible to some people.

Then we get to the missing stuff - in the very first project, we're instructed to "Drag the three image files from the Chapter One Project folder provided with this book..." Provided where? There's no CD in the back, and I've not found anything in Chapter 1 so far that tells me where this resource is supposed to be included.

The first code listing spans almost two full pages as a single block of text. While the code is commented, there is no in-line breakdown of what each section is and you'll find yourself flipping back to previous pages to tie what you read there back to the code being displayed. Once this two page block of code is over, you don't see it again during this chapter - there is no further discussion of the code so you have to take it on faith for now and learn about it later. That's fine for a 10 line "hello world" app, but not really acceptable for an introduction to a language / framework like Cocoa.

All in all, first impressions are not good. This is not a book to rival the kind of book we've become used to with the Aaron Hillegass definitive reference for starting OS X programming. It will serve more experienced Apple developers well, but will be frustrating for new users.

Good book, but lacking in places, 10 Nov 2008
I found this book useful, but it definitely lacks in places. I am using it as a resource for finding out little tricks or tips on how another programmer lays out their work. It's a useful resource, however it won't teach you the SDK from a beginner to an expert - grab Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X for that!

Useful samples, not for beginners however, 05 Nov 2008
I thought this book was well written but be aware it does throw you into the deep end pretty much immediately. I would recommend this book mainly to developers who are already familiar with the basics of building iPhone applications as there really isn't much of a beginners introduction here.


The book we've all been waiting for!, 29 Oct 2008
This is a brilliant book, and contains a whole host of fantastic examples that shed a lot of like on developing using the iPhone SDK. Clearly written, great examples, and covering all topics needed to create a great application. This book will take some beating.

Of course, there is much more possible with the SDK than is covered in the book but this book will give you all the knowledge you need to push forward on your own.

Excellent for programmers who don't know Excel, 17 May 2008
As a professional programmer I wondered whether this was going to patronise me too much; I needn't have worried, Walkenbach's approach is just right.

He tells it like it is, with plenty of good examples and real world applications for those examples. I'm sure Walkenback doesn't expect this book to teach you everything about Excel and whilst using it I searched for other examples on the 'Net which reinforced what he was teaching me.

But this was the book that provided me with the central learning experience and for which I am eternally grateful. Thanks John!

A good book to start with., 09 Jun 2007
When I set out to learn a completely new technique in programming I like to start by reading a simple book, then follow that up by reading a higher level book. John Walkenbach's work is excellent for the first stage of this process. It is simply written (although I could manage without some of the "humor"), and he explains the basic techniques very well. I would argue with the "for dummies" part of the title, and would describe the book instead (apart from the humor) as suitable for the intelligent reader who starts Chapter 1 knowing little or nothing about VBA, but who is reasonably competent with Excel itself. By the end of Chapter 25, and after trying out some of the worked examples, such a reader should have a reasonable working knowledge of how to write VBA macros.

Excellent for getting familiar with th VBA "basics"!, 24 Mar 2007
This book is fantastic for those who know nothing, or next to nothing about VBA programming in Excel, and want to learn the "basics" (no pun intended!).
You can read this book from cover to cover, practising examples on the way , and learning something every chapter. The author also makes reference to an accomanying website where you can download some of the programs to see them in action.
Furthermore, the book is written in very good humour, and you can have a laugh at the same time!
It is however very much a beginner's book, and does not go into great depth with VBA - if you purchase the book with that in mind then you really are on to a winner!

If only I had an option to give this 6 stars !!, 13 Sep 2006
This book is a must have for anyone wanting to get to know VBA. Don't let previous books on VBA programming put you off, as these can either swing between patronising to the mega confusing (in my own experience). John Walkenbach takes you through this must have guide with patients and humour at an understandable and undaunting pace. Even when I was only half way through his book I was using the information I had gathered to streamline my many tedious excel spreadsheets and by the end of the book I wanted more. P.s. John, please bring part two !!

Found this really useful, 01 Apr 2006
This book is really accessible, with loads of working examples. I needed to write a couple of custom functions for use in Excel 2002 spreadseets. And needed to get them working as addins. This book told me all I needed to know. A lot simpler to follow than some other books on this topic - such as one of the author's other books "Excel 2002 Power Programming with VBA".

Brilliant.

Pragmatic, insightful. Written by a true master of the Java language., 10 Nov 2008
I'd describe this book as being essential reading for any serious Java developer.
* Joshua provides a clear, concise and insightful guide that will help you better understand the intricacies of Java.
* The book of 78 recipes and helped me immensely to improve my understanding of Java.
* It's provides a no holds barred insight into some of the peculiarities of the Java API's as it has matured over the years.
* In particularly found the chapter on:
** Generics one of the most illuminating I've read. (Though I still find the Java syntax rather odd in places!)
** Enums and Annotations
** a good intro to the more up to date ways of doing Concurrency.
** I also found the defensive copying example most enlightening.

Suitable for anyone with a little C++ programming experience who wants to create software for the newest Mac platform, Cocoa Programming for Max OS X provides a slickly packaged and approachable tutorial that will get you started creating state-of-the-art Mac programs.

The smart presentation style and easy-to-understand code examples help make this text an excellent resource. It also helps that Hillegass is a truly engaging writer. He first explains how legacy NeXTSTEP platform has evolved into Cocoa on the Mac OS X. Starting with short examples illustrating the actual Cocoa tools in action, the author gets you started with simple programs for a random number generator, a raise calculator and other comprehensible examples. Rather than just listing APIs and classes, the emphasis is on hands-on Cocoa development. An early standout section provides a nice tour of essential Objective-C features you'll need to learn to use Cocoa effectively.

This book covers the several dozen built-in Cocoa controls, from basic text and buttons to more advanced widgets (including lists and tables). Subsequent sections look at user interface design (using the Interface Builder to create nib files) and how to add programmatic processing behind the visual layout. Along the way, the author introduces coverage of essential Cocoa APIs for strings, arrays and dictionaries. Later chapters look at saving and loading documents (and user defaults) and how to tap the powerful graphics abilities available in Cocoa. (Besides image and basic drawing, there are short sections on PDF support and printing.)

More advanced user interface features get their due by the end of the book, including cutting and pasting data through the Cocoa pasteboard and also adding drag-and-drop support. Final sections look at creating new controls for use with the Interface Builder palette, and, briefly, how to use Java with Cocoa (an option that the author doesn't necessarily recommend). Throughout this text, the author provides more advanced, challenging problems at the end of each chapter for the "more curious" reader. This approach helps that beginners will not get lost in the details of Cocoa development, but will give the more advanced reader something more to do.

While there a comparably fewer books on Mac OS X compared to other platforms, readers are lucky to have this one available. Anyone who wants to get onboard with Cocoa development will be well served by this title. It's a fine tutorial that earns high marks for its approachable, clear examples and an excellent presentation by an author who knows his stuff and, better still, knows how to teach it to others. --Richard Dragan

Fit for purpose., 07 Sep 2008
I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was wanting in other more detailed areas. I think our needs would have been better met by something that spent less time covering the similarities between XP and Vista and more time dealing with the more advanced issues, but then that isn't the role and function of the 'Dummies' series. This book is generally very good, and I imagine excellent if you're on your first Windows operating system. It also doesn't crawl to the sensibilities of Microsoft, which is most refreshing. If you're moving from XP to Vista and you're anxious then this is great for general reference. At the risk of sounding cynical, I think that the myth that Vista is a total nightmare, excessively security conscious and so on has probably helped to shift a lot of copies of this. In reality, Vista isn't that scary.

Does what it says on the cover, 21 Jun 2008
If you are looking for a light introductory guide to Windows Vista then look no further. If you are looking for a book that will get you out of trouble, then you'd be better looking at (for want of a better expression) more serious titles.


LAP FOF DUMMEYS AND INTERNET FOR DUMMETS, 11 May 2008
VERY HELPFULL IN EVERY WAY PUT IN LINGO YOU UNDER STAND WITH ALL THE BULL TAKEN OUT ONE RE SAID THAY WHERE FOR USA MARKET NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT THAY GOOD FUN AS WELL AS DOING THE JOB THAY WHERE MADE FOR KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARRY ENGLAND

Learn and smile..., 11 Jan 2008
I remember buying Windows 3.1 for Dummies many moons ago and it was a big help in my fledgling IT career. Having bought a new PC with Vista pre-installed, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a Dummies book for the new Windows and I'm glad I did. It is a solid and welcome addition to the series, unbiased and informative text, well laid out and the Gary Larson style cartoons give it a friendly feel.

It explains clearly the different versions of Vista, installation issues and the differences between it and XP. All Vistas quirks and features are described in plain English. A useful crib-sheet lists useful shortcuts to impress your colleagues. Home users and office users alike of any skill level would benefit from this book.

What this book is :
A Windows Vista reference, not a comprehensive training manual - choose what you need to gen up on and look for that chapter. Having said that, working through the book a chapter at a time is of use and would not take months
Useful, un-patronising and pretty funny

What this book is not:
Microsoft propaganda - Rathbone tells it like it is and probably won't be top of Bill Gates Christmas card list for some of his comments
A full blown tech guide for geeks, though they would certainly find it useful (without admitting it of course!)

Great book and for this price, it's a steal


A Cracking Edition of For Dummies, 02 Jan 2008
After Purchasing Vista and not being able to get to grips with it my dad got me this book,

it explains in great detail how to do everything that you need to do, it uses friendly language and does not insult your intelligence like some books.

I got the one with the free DVD which i have found very useful.

Amazon are the cheapest retailers of this product that i have seen, it comes wrapped in a standard Amazon packaging -- however you must be at home for delivery as it does not fit through your letter box :(

In All buy this book, you will find it useful, either that look on Google and find the answers for free :P

A Must Buy!, 12 Oct 2008
Eveything in this book is written in a way that is fun, easy to understand AND invaluable if you intend to trade in shares. It's a steal at this price. I cannnot rate this book highly enough.

Nuff said.

Excellent Book, 18 Sep 2008
This book has full of practical trading tips and summarises the top ten mistakes made by traders. The book is written in plain English, so it's easy to understand and good fun to read too. I have found this book is very useful in my trading.


Without doubt..., 01 Sep 2008
.... the best book currently around for understanding the stock market. Robbie Burns is very good at explaining all the market jargon in a friendly and humourous tone, and there's masses of advice - particularly what not to do! The webiste is well worth a look too.

good book easy to read, 20 Jul 2008
good book easy to read, emphasises doing own research. Gives some usefull advice, such as avoiding shares with debt more than 3 times of Annual profit ( I would say rather Cash Flow)


Only regret is not buying it soon enough, 12 May 2008
I wish I bought it a year ago when I started trading... If I read this earlier, I could have avoided mistakes I made NT pointed out in the book.
The author's writing style is light and friendly so it's not a boring book to read. Clearly pointed out mistakes all newbie investors would make along with good habit of trading. It's not the investing bible nor get rich quick book but it definitely is investing 101 for newbies and intermediate investors.

Colour me unimpressed!, 10 Nov 2008
I've learned a large number of languages, toolkits and SDKs over the years and been part of the review process of a fairly well known book as well, so believe me when I say this is not a great quality book!

If you read the back cover and even the prerequisites, you might think this book is for you. The prerequisites page only mentions the following with regards to knowledge required: "Familiarity with Objective-C". No mention is made of familiarity with writing software for OS X, but by page 23 we're seeing statements like "These essential frameworks enable you to build your iPhone applications using the same fundamental classes and calls you are familiar with from the Macintosh". This is followed on 24 by a comment about Info.plist - "It works the same way Info.plist files work on the Mac." Even as early as page 7 we're seeing things like "As with the Macintosh..." This book does not stand well on its own and that will make it less accessible to some people.

Then we get to the missing stuff - in the very first project, we're instructed to "Drag the three image files from the Chapter One Project folder provided with this book..." Provided where? There's no CD in the back, and I've not found anything in Chapter 1 so far that tells me where this resource is supposed to be included.

The first code listing spans almost two full pages as a single block of text. While the code is commented, there is no in-line breakdown of what each section is and you'll find yourself flipping back to previous pages to tie what you read there back to the code being displayed. Once this two page block of code is over, you don't see it again during this chapter - there is no further discussion of the code so you have to take it on faith for now and learn about it later. That's fine for a 10 line "hello world" app, but not really acceptable for an introduction to a language / framework like Cocoa.

All in all, first impressions are not good. This is not a book to rival the kind of book we've become used to with the Aaron Hillegass definitive reference for starting OS X programming. It will serve more experienced Apple developers well, but will be frustrating for new users.

Good book, but lacking in places, 10 Nov 2008
I found this book useful, but it definitely lacks in places. I am using it as a resource for finding out little tricks or tips on how another programmer lays out their work. It's a useful resource, however it won't teach you the SDK from a beginner to an expert - grab Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X for that!

Useful samples, not for beginners however, 05 Nov 2008
I thought this book was well written but be aware it does throw you into the deep end pretty much immediately. I would recommend this book mainly to developers who are already familiar with the basics of building iPhone applications as there really isn't much of a beginners introduction here.


The book we've all been waiting for!, 29 Oct 2008
This is a brilliant book, and contains a whole host of fantastic examples that shed a lot of like on developing using the iPhone SDK. Clearly written, great examples, and covering all topics needed to create a great application. This book will take some beating.

Of course, there is much more possible with the SDK than is covered in the book but this book will give you all the knowledge you need to push forward on your own.

Excellent for programmers who don't know Excel, 17 May 2008
As a professional programmer I wondered whether this was going to patronise me too much; I needn't have worried, Walkenbach's approach is just right.

He tells it like it is, with plenty of good examples and real world applications for those examples. I'm sure Walkenback doesn't expect this book to teach you everything about Excel and whilst using it I searched for other examples on the 'Net which reinforced what he was teaching me.

But this was the book that provided me with the central learning experience and for which I am eternally grateful. Thanks John!

A good book to start with., 09 Jun 2007
When I set out to learn a completely new technique in programming I like to start by reading a simple book, then follow that up by reading a higher level book. John Walkenbach's work is excellent for the first stage of this process. It is simply written (although I could manage without some of the "humor"), and he explains the basic techniques very well. I would argue with the "for dummies" part of the title, and would describe the book instead (apart from the humor) as suitable for the intelligent reader who starts Chapter 1 knowing little or nothing about VBA, but who is reasonably competent with Excel itself. By the end of Chapter 25, and after trying out some of the worked examples, such a reader should have a reasonable working knowledge of how to write VBA macros.

Excellent for getting familiar with th VBA "basics"!, 24 Mar 2007
This book is fantastic for those who know nothing, or next to nothing about VBA programming in Excel, and want to learn the "basics" (no pun intended!).
You can read this book from cover to cover, practising examples on the way , and learning something every chapter. The author also makes reference to an accomanying website where you can download some of the programs to see them in action.
Furthermore, the book is written in very good humour, and you can have a laugh at the same time!
It is however very much a beginner's book, and does not go into great depth with VBA - if you purchase the book with that in mind then you really are on to a winner!

If only I had an option to give this 6 stars !!, 13 Sep 2006
This book is a must have for anyone wanting to get to know VBA. Don't let previous books on VBA programming put you off, as these can either swing between patronising to the mega confusing (in my own experience). John Walkenbach takes you through this must have guide with patients and humour at an understandable and undaunting pace. Even when I was only half way through his book I was using the information I had gathered to streamline my many tedious excel spreadsheets and by the end of the book I wanted more. P.s. John, please bring part two !!

Found this really useful, 01 Apr 2006
This book is really accessible, with loads of working examples. I needed to write a couple of custom functions for use in Excel 2002 spreadseets. And needed to get them working as addins. This book told me all I needed to know. A lot simpler to follow than some other books on this topic - such as one of the author's other books "Excel 2002 Power Programming with VBA".

Brilliant.

Pragmatic, insightful. Written by a true master of the Java language., 10 Nov 2008
I'd describe this book as being essential reading for any serious Java developer.
* Joshua provides a clear, concise and insightful guide that will help you better understand the intricacies of Java.
* The book of 78 recipes and helped me immensely to improve my understanding of Java.
* It's provides a no holds barred insight into some of the peculiarities of the Java API's as it has matured over the years.
* In particularly found the chapter on:
** Generics one of the most illuminating I've read. (Though I still find the Java syntax rather odd in places!)
** Enums and Annotations
** a good intro to the more up to date ways of doing Concurrency.
** I also found the defensive copying example most enlightening.

Best book to start with!, 27 Aug 2008
Awesome book, very approachable. For anyone coming to Mac programming for the first time, this is the book to start with.

Not as scary as I thought., 09 Jul 2008
I've had a project on the back burner for some time that required me to get to grips with Cocoa: no ifs, no buts. My timing wasn't ideal as XCode had gone from version 2 to version 3 without the documentation being updated, so I've been gingerly playing with Cocoa for about 5 months, but not really getting very far owing to the hurdles presented by the many interface changes.

Starting this book was nothing less than a revelation. I'm up to p77 of 418 pages and am surprised how quickly I'm getting to grips with tricky objective-c syntax (although it's really not too bad once you stop being scared of square brackets) and working with Interface Builder. The trickiest subject is memory management, and I must say I was rocking backwards and forwards gibbering 'this is hard, I'm not stupid' and clutching tightly to my degree certificate as Aaron recommends, but even this rather murky subject is beginning to sink in.

His writing style is very fluent and his many years of experience teaching people this technology is evident from the content. I'd shy away from saying this is a book for beginners, but if you've got a smattering of programming experience (PHP and a spot of Ruby is my background) and want to write good programs for the Rolls Royces of home computing, then this book has got to be at the top of your shopping list (assuming you've already bought a Mac that is! ).

Beware Xcode3 is here!, 08 Jul 2008
I've just bought the 2nd edition of this book (yellow cover) to save money. It seems to be a good book - clear and well laid out... BUT THERES A PROBLEM...
To use this book, you download Xcode3 tool from Apple.com (easy and free)

The 2nd Edition of the this book (Yellow cover) relates to Xcode2 and is badly out of date.. its not possible to follow the picture instructions since one of the key applications (interface builder) has completely changed.
So I would strongly advise to buy the 3rd Edition (grey/green cover)... even though its a packet more expensive... I guess this is the cost of evolution!

Unless of course you would like to buy my 2nd edition.. which I now can't use?? :D




The perfect starting point for learning Cocoa/Obj-C, 14 Jun 2008
As someone who made the switch to Macs/OS X just over 18-months ago, my interest in how the OS worked led me to buying this book. It's probably the best computer book I've bought full-stop.

This is THE BOOK you need to buy for a first-class authoritative introduction to Cocoa, the programming environment for OS X.

A programming book that doesn't put you to sleep, 27 Nov 2003
I've just finished reading "Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X" and have to say its amongst the best programming books I've ever read. It's aimed at people with C or Java experience who are new to objective C and Cocoa. The author demonstrates his skills as a teacher by delivering information in a progressive and easily digested manner. He begins by introducing the language and tools with a basic random number generator application and then builds on this with a number of tutorial applications. Topics covered include localisation, custom views, mouse and key events, fonts, images, printing, cut and paste, drag and drop, timers, sheets, printing, and creating your own Interface Builder Palates and controls. Cocoa is vast but this serves as an excellent starting block, covering the essentials and tasters required to progress deeper. Its very easy and enjoyable to read with challenges at the end of each chapter to help solidify your understanding. I read it from cover to cover which is unusual for me with a programming book.

I've been using OS X 10.3 which has had changes to the development tools since the book was written For example Project Builder is now called XCode, has code completion facilities and some of the menus have moved. However this didn't prove to be a problem and differences were rather obvious.

Can't really recommend it any higher!

Fit for purpose., 07 Sep 2008
I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was wanting in other more detailed areas. I think our needs would have been better met by something that spent less time covering the similarities between XP and Vista and more time dealing with the more advanced issues, but then that isn't the role and function of the 'Dummies' series. This book is generally very good, and I imagine excellent if you're on your first Windows operating system. It also doesn't crawl to the sensibilities of Microsoft, which is most refreshing. If you're moving from XP to Vista and you're anxious then this is great for general reference. At the risk of sounding cynical, I think that the myth that Vista is a total nightmare, excessively security conscious and so on has probably helped to shift a lot of copies of this. In reality, Vista isn't that scary.

Does what it says on the cover, 21 Jun 2008
If you are looking for a light introductory guide to Windows Vista then look no further. If you are looking for a book that will get you out of trouble, then you'd be better looking at (for want of a better expression) more serious titles.


LAP FOF DUMMEYS AND INTERNET FOR DUMMETS, 11 May 2008
VERY HELPFULL IN EVERY WAY PUT IN LINGO YOU UNDER STAND WITH ALL THE BULL TAKEN OUT ONE RE SAID THAY WHERE FOR USA MARKET NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT THAY GOOD FUN AS WELL AS DOING THE JOB THAY WHERE MADE FOR KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARRY ENGLAND

Learn and smile..., 11 Jan 2008
I remember buying Windows 3.1 for Dummies many moons ago and it was a big help in my fledgling IT career. Having bought a new PC with Vista pre-installed, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a Dummies book for the new Windows and I'm glad I did. It is a solid and welcome addition to the series, unbiased and informative text, well laid out and the Gary Larson style cartoons give it a friendly feel.

It explains clearly the different versions of Vista, installation issues and the differences between it and XP. All Vistas quirks and features are described in plain English. A useful crib-sheet lists useful shortcuts to impress your colleagues. Home users and office users alike of any skill level would benefit from this book.

What this book is :
A Windows Vista reference, not a comprehensive training manual - choose what you need to gen up on and look for that chapter. Having said that, working through the book a chapter at a time is of use and would not take months
Useful, un-patronising and pretty funny

What this book is not:
Microsoft propaganda - Rathbone tells it like it is and probably won't be top of Bill Gates Christmas card list for some of his comments
A full blown tech guide for geeks, though they would certainly find it useful (without admitting it of course!)

Great book and for this price, it's a steal


A Cracking Edition of For Dummies, 02 Jan 2008
After Purchasing Vista and not being able to get to grips with it my dad got me this book,

it explains in great detail how to do everything that you need to do, it uses friendly language and does not insult your intelligence like some books.

I got the one with the free DVD which i have found very useful.

Amazon are the cheapest retailers of this product that i have seen, it comes wrapped in a standard Amazon packaging -- however you must be at home for delivery as it does not fit through your letter box :(

In All buy this book, you will find it useful, either that look on Google and find the answers for free :P

A Must Buy!, 12 Oct 2008
Eveything in this book is written in a way that is fun, easy to understand AND invaluable if you intend to trade in shares. It's a steal at this price. I cannnot rate this book highly enough.

Nuff said.

Excellent Book, 18 Sep 2008
This book has full of practical trading tips and summarises the top ten mistakes made by traders. The book is written in plain English, so it's easy to understand and good fun to read too. I have found this book is very useful in my trading.


Without doubt..., 01 Sep 2008
.... the best book currently around for understanding the stock market. Robbie Burns is very good at explaining all the market jargon in a friendly and humourous tone, and there's masses of advice - particularly what not to do! The webiste is well worth a look too.

good book easy to read, 20 Jul 2008
good book easy to read, emphasises doing own research. Gives some usefull advice, such as avoiding shares with debt more than 3 times of Annual profit ( I would say rather Cash Flow)


Only regret is not buying it soon enough, 12 May 2008
I wish I bought it a year ago when I started trading... If I read this earlier, I could have avoided mistakes I made NT pointed out in the book.
The author's writing style is light and friendly so it's not a boring book to read. Clearly pointed out mistakes all newbie investors would make along with good habit of trading. It's not the investing bible nor get rich quick book but it definitely is investing 101 for newbies and intermediate investors.

Colour me unimpressed!, 10 Nov 2008
I've learned a large number of languages, toolkits and SDKs over the years and been part of the review process of a fairly well known book as well, so believe me when I say this is not a great quality book!

If you read the back cover and even the prerequisites, you might think this book is for you. The prerequisites page only mentions the following with regards to knowledge required: "Familiarity with Objective-C". No mention is made of familiarity with writing software for OS X, but by page 23 we're seeing statements like "These essential frameworks enable you to build your iPhone applications using the same fundamental classes and calls you are familiar with from the Macintosh". This is followed on 24 by a comment about Info.plist - "It works the same way Info.plist files work on the Mac." Even as early as page 7 we're seeing things like "As with the Macintosh..." This book does not stand well on its own and that will make it less accessible to some people.

Then we get to the missing stuff - in the very first project, we're instructed to "Drag the three image files from the Chapter One Project folder provided with this book..." Provided where? There's no CD in the back, and I've not found anything in Chapter 1 so far that tells me where this resource is supposed to be included.

The first code listing spans almost two full pages as a single block of text. While the code is commented, there is no in-line breakdown of what each section is and you'll find yourself flipping back to previous pages to tie what you read there back to the code being displayed. Once this two page block of code is over, you don't see it again during this chapter - there is no further discussion of the code so you have to take it on faith for now and learn about it later. That's fine for a 10 line "hello world" app, but not really acceptable for an introduction to a language / framework like Cocoa.

All in all, first impressions are not good. This is not a book to rival the kind of book we've become used to with the Aaron Hillegass definitive reference for starting OS X programming. It will serve more experienced Apple developers well, but will be frustrating for new users.

Good book, but lacking in places, 10 Nov 2008
I found this book useful, but it definitely lacks in places. I am using it as a resource for finding out little tricks or tips on how another programmer lays out their work. It's a useful resource, however it won't teach you the SDK from a beginner to an expert - grab Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X for that!

Useful samples, not for beginners however, 05 Nov 2008
I thought this book was well written but be aware it does throw you into the deep end pretty much immediately. I would recommend this book mainly to developers who are already familiar with the basics of building iPhone applications as there really isn't much of a beginners introduction here.


The book we've all been waiting for!, 29 Oct 2008
This is a brilliant book, and contains a whole host of fantastic examples that shed a lot of like on developing using the iPhone SDK. Clearly written, great examples, and covering all topics needed to create a great application. This book will take some beating.

Of course, there is much more possible with the SDK than is covered in the book but this book will give you all the knowledge you need to push forward on your own.

Excellent for programmers who don't know Excel, 17 May 2008
As a professional programmer I wondered whether this was going to patronise me too much; I needn't have worried, Walkenbach's approach is just right.

He tells it like it is, with plenty of good examples and real world applications for those examples. I'm sure Walkenback doesn't expect this book to teach you everything about Excel and whilst using it I searched for other examples on the 'Net which reinforced what he was teaching me.

But this was the book that provided me with the central learning experience and for which I am eternally grateful. Thanks John!

A good book to start with., 09 Jun 2007
When I set out to learn a completely new technique in programming I like to start by reading a simple book, then follow that up by reading a higher level book. John Walkenbach's work is excellent for the first stage of this process. It is simply written (although I could manage without some of the "humor"), and he explains the basic techniques very well. I would argue with the "for dummies" part of the title, and would describe the book instead (apart from the humor) as suitable for the intelligent reader who starts Chapter 1 knowing little or nothing about VBA, but who is reasonably competent with Excel itself. By the end of Chapter 25, and after trying out some of the worked examples, such a reader should have a reasonable working knowledge of how to write VBA macros.

Excellent for getting familiar with th VBA "basics"!, 24 Mar 2007
This book is fantastic for those who know nothing, or next to nothing about VBA programming in Excel, and want to learn the "basics" (no pun intended!).
You can read this book from cover to cover, practising examples on the way , and learning something every chapter. The author also makes reference to an accomanying website where you can download some of the programs to see them in action.
Furthermore, the book is written in very good humour, and you can have a laugh at the same time!
It is however very much a beginner's book, and does not go into great depth with VBA - if you purchase the book with that in mind then you really are on to a winner!

If only I had an option to give this 6 stars !!, 13 Sep 2006
This book is a must have for anyone wanting to get to know VBA. Don't let previous books on VBA programming put you off, as these can either swing between patronising to the mega confusing (in my own experience). John Walkenbach takes you through this must have guide with patients and humour at an understandable and undaunting pace. Even when I was only half way through his book I was using the information I had gathered to streamline my many tedious excel spreadsheets and by the end of the book I wanted more. P.s. John, please bring part two !!

Found this really useful, 01 Apr 2006
This book is really accessible, with loads of working examples. I needed to write a couple of custom functions for use in Excel 2002 spreadseets. And needed to get them working as addins. This book told me all I needed to know. A lot simpler to follow than some other books on this topic - such as one of the author's other books "Excel 2002 Power Programming with VBA".

Brilliant.

Pragmatic, insightful. Written by a true master of the Java language., 10 Nov 2008
I'd describe this book as being essential reading for any serious Java developer.
* Joshua provides a clear, concise and insightful guide that will help you better understand the intricacies of Java.
* The book of 78 recipes and helped me immensely to improve my understanding of Java.
* It's provides a no holds barred insight into some of the peculiarities of the Java API's as it has matured over the years.
* In particularly found the chapter on:
** Generics one of the most illuminating I've read. (Though I still find the Java syntax rather odd in places!)
** Enums and Annotations
** a good intro to the more up to date ways of doing Concurrency.
** I also found the defensive copying example most enlightening.

Best book to start with!, 27 Aug 2008
Awesome book, very approachable. For anyone coming to Mac programming for the first time, this is the book to start with.

Not as scary as I thought., 09 Jul 2008
I've had a project on the back burner for some time that required me to get to grips with Cocoa: no ifs, no buts. My timing wasn't ideal as XCode had gone from version 2 to version 3 without the documentation being updated, so I've been gingerly playing with Cocoa for about 5 months, but not really getting very far owing to the hurdles presented by the many interface changes.

Starting this book was nothing less than a revelation. I'm up to p77 of 418 pages and am surprised how quickly I'm getting to grips with tricky objective-c syntax (although it's really not too bad once you stop being scared of square brackets) and working with Interface Builder. The trickiest subject is memory management, and I must say I was rocking backwards and forwards gibbering 'this is hard, I'm not stupid' and clutching tightly to my degree certificate as Aaron recommends, but even this rather murky subject is beginning to sink in.

His writing style is very fluent and his many years of experience teaching people this technology is evident from the content. I'd shy away from saying this is a book for beginners, but if you've got a smattering of programming experience (PHP and a spot of Ruby is my background) and want to write good programs for the Rolls Royces of home computing, then this book has got to be at the top of your shopping list (assuming you've already bought a Mac that is! ).

Beware Xcode3 is here!, 08 Jul 2008
I've just bought the 2nd edition of this book (yellow cover) to save money. It seems to be a good book - clear and well laid out... BUT THERES A PROBLEM...
To use this book, you download Xcode3 tool from Apple.com (easy and free)

The 2nd Edition of the this book (Yellow cover) relates to Xcode2 and is badly out of date.. its not possible to follow the picture instructions since one of the key applications (interface builder) has completely changed.
So I would strongly advise to buy the 3rd Edition (grey/green cover)... even though its a packet more expensive... I guess this is the cost of evolution!

Unless of course you would like to buy my 2nd edition.. which I now can't use?? :D




The perfect starting point for learning Cocoa/Obj-C, 14 Jun 2008
As someone who made the switch to Macs/OS X just over 18-months ago, my interest in how the OS worked led me to buying this book. It's probably the best computer book I've bought full-stop.

This is THE BOOK you need to buy for a first-class authoritative introduction to Cocoa, the programming environment for OS X.

A programming book that doesn't put you to sleep, 27 Nov 2003
I've just finished reading "Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X" and have to say its amongst the best programming books I've ever read. It's aimed at people with C or Java experience who are new to objective C and Cocoa. The author demonstrates his skills as a teacher by delivering information in a progressive and easily digested manner. He begins by introducing the language and tools with a basic random number generator application and then builds on this with a number of tutorial applications. Topics covered include localisation, custom views, mouse and key events, fonts, images, printing, cut and paste, drag and drop, timers, sheets, printing, and creating your own Interface Builder Palates and controls. Cocoa is vast but this serves as an excellent starting block, covering the essentials and tasters required to progress deeper. Its very easy and enjoyable to read with challenges at the end of each chapter to help solidify your understanding. I read it from cover to cover which is unusual for me with a programming book.

I've been using OS X 10.3 which has had changes to the development tools since the book was written For example Project Builder is now called XCode, has code completion facilities and some of the menus have moved. However this didn't prove to be a problem and differences were rather obvious.

Can't really recommend it any higher!

A head of the game, 26 Sep 2008
This book is a head of the game, it will teach you the fundamentals of php6 and it tells you when the code is only for php6 (and that php5 code won't work). The good thing about this book is that it teaches you how php and mysql dance together. Don't miss this book, get it while it is still new. Even if you don't know much about mysql this book has an introduction chapter to mysql. I highly recommend this book to all levels except those who are super advanced programmers.

Whoever formatted this book needs to be shot., 15 Sep 2008
This is the worst technical book I have ever attempted to read. Not because of its content, which may or may not be fine, but because of its formatting.

I don't know whether I have a newer edition to everybody else but my copy is formatted in two narrow columns per page, instead of the usual one column.

This makes listings look ridiculous. Lines of code which should fit on one line are instead splayed over 3 or 4 lines.

In one particularly bad example, the page layout went as follows:

Column 1: standard text. Then mid way down column 1 a listing starts. The listing continues to the end of column 1 then goes to the next page, where it goes down column 1 and column 2. You now have to go back two pages to pick up on the standard text, which continued on column 2 of the first page.

The content of this book may well be excellent, I couldn't really say, but its presentation is awful.

Excellent primer for PHP MySQL, 03 Sep 2008
This is an excellent starter for learning how to use PHP/ MySQL.

It goes along at a fair pace, and may be too fast if you don't have previous HTML and programming experience. The separate PHP for the World Wide Web: Visual Quickstart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)and MySQL: Visual Quickstart Guide (Visual QuickStart Guides)books in this series take this a bit more slowly, so if you're struggling they might be a good place to look.

Otherwise this will quickly introduce you to the concepts and use of both products. I'm still using this when I do some PHP programming, and other members of my team are also using it. It's excellent and the code is all available for download which avoids either losing/ scratching the CD or lots of typing.

The install Appendix A is worth the money alone, as I've used it to install both PHP and MySQL on Windows servers and my Mac at home. It points to easy installs on the web for the Mac.

My only gripe is that the layout is difficult to follow and it was hard to work out what the projects were actually doing, a little more explanation here might be useful.

Otherwise excellent, recommended particularly as PHP/ MySQL are free leaving you with some spare cash to buy this!

excellent communicator, 29 Aug 2008
I bought this book at the same time as 2 others on similar topics. I've hardly used the other 2. This book is well-written, with useful examples and the author has explained the sample code line-by-line... a real help when trying to amend one of his examples to produce something for your own purposes. As a teacher with some experience of HTML/ VB / ASP.NET I found this book really easy to follow.

There are a few very minor typos in the text (not surprising, given the number of pages), but if you visit the author's website there's a full list of corrections. It took me about 5 mins to go through and correct them, so it didn't really reduce the effectiveness of the book.

One feature I've really found useful... there are occasional little tables of other functions that do similar things. There isn't space in the book to describe them all in detail, but knowing the name of a fucntion makes it really easy to find out more using your favourite search engine.

Strongly recommended.

I also boughtHow to Do Everything with PHP and MySQL (How to Do Everything) (which is absolutely useless) and Mysql Crash Course (Sams Teach Yourself) (which is just about OK as a reference, but has awful page layout that makes it really hard to read). This book was far better than either of those.

Perfect starting point, 21 Aug 2008
This books is a perfect starting point for people coming from HTML, CSS and Javascript.

It goes through all the necessary and most basic parts of PHP and MySQL, but doesn't go into any depth with anything. So if you want to become an expert at PHP, you WILL need to get other books as well.

The book is set up in a tutorial fashion, where you are taken through a step by step description of everything.

Having coded PHP for a few years, i still go back to this book to look up stuff i can't quite remember.

It's definitely worth buying if you want to learn PHP and MySQL.

Fit for purpose., 07 Sep 2008
I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was wanting in other more detailed areas. I think our needs would have been better met by something that spent less time covering the similarities between XP and Vista and more time dealing with the more advanced issues, but then that isn't the role and function of the 'Dummies' series. This book is generally very good, and I imagine excellent if you're on your first Windows operating system. It also doesn't crawl to the sensibilities of Microsoft, which is most refreshing. If you're moving from XP to Vista and you're anxious then this is great for general refe