Date: Wed, 28 Sep 1994 16:46:55 EST From: "Rob Slade, Ed. DECrypt & ComNet, VARUG rep, 604-984-4067" Subject: "In Plain English: Windows 3.1" by Nimersheim BKIPEWIN.RVW 940524 WorldComm/Creativity Inc. 65 Macedonia Road Alexander, NC 28701 704/252-9515 "In Plain English: Windows 3.1", Nimersheim, 1993, 1-56664-007-5, U$9.95/ C$12.95 Aside from reminding people to keep the mouse on the desk when trying to move the screen pointer around, and teaching the arcane art of "double clicking," it is difficult to see why anyone needs an "easy" guide to Windows. After all, Windows was supposed to make the computer easy (easier?) to use, wasn't it? So let's have less talk about how to select an icon. Perhaps it might have been better to explain the difference between window and program icons? or how to find "lost" items in a window? Most of this book is, then, a simplistic subset of the Windows documentation. We have chapters on the basics (an introduction), getting started (another introduction), the workspace, the control panel, fonts, groups, using applications (listing the "common" menu items), and manipulating data (more common menu items). There are also chapters on setup, personalizing Windows, and two on File Manager, which may be more helpful. A chapter on memory management tells of what is possible, but is short on the "how" part. This book is not carefully written. The second page of the actual text (page 10 of the book) compares MS-DOS unfavourably with Windows because DOS doesn't have a "MOVE" function. This, ironically, is only three paragraphs removed >from a reference to "In Plain English: MS-DOS 6.0" (cf BKIPEDOS.RVW) by the same publisher, and the same author, which details the use of the "MOVE" command. The book also compares the output of the "DIR" command versus the File Manager display, ignoring the almost identical DOSSHELL display, which is the subject of an entire chapter in the DOS book. I suspect that if you need this level of help with Windows, you need help. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKIPEWIN.RVW 940524 ====================== DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 DECUS Symposium '95, Toronto, ON, February 13-17, 1995, contact: rulag@decus.ca