Rating: 

The first thing to strike you about this book is the simple but elegant layout which is liberally scattered with handy tips and screenshots (all monochrome but I don’t think it suffers any because of this). Each section also clearly indicates whether the topic for discussion applies to all versions of Vista or is restricted to the high-end implementations: something that can save a lot of head-scratching given the plethora of different flavours of Vista that Microsoft unveiled.

Pogue strikes a good balance between step-by-step instructions that make life easier for the beginner and being over simplistic which would put off more experienced Windows user and his sense of humour is apparent but never oversteps the mark to being irritating.

The book comprises seven main sections – starting with the revamped Vista desktop including the new Aero interface, before moving on to cover the Vista Software (the gadgets and utilities that come with Vista), Vista Online (getting connected to the online world and keeping it safe), Multimedia in Vista, Hardware and Peripherals, “PC Health” (keeping Vista running efficiently) and finally a section on networking your machine in Vista.

Appendices cover things like installing or dual-booting Vista and a definitive list of keyboard shortcuts, plus “Where’d It Go?” which lists all the things that used to be there in XP and have now been re-located or replaced. Only three and a half pages but an excellent resource to prevent you pulling your hair out trying to find where the “Run” command has gone or how to “Add and remove programs”.

I first picked this guide up after about a month of playing with Vista, having upgraded from XP and almost every page has something in it that I hadn’t picked up just through diving into Vista. Its excellent indexing and structure make it ideal for a reference manual or you can read it cover to cover and unearth lots of useful hints and tips.

Definitely recommended – it really is the book that should have been in the box.