BKPCCHSH.RVW   990508

"PCs Cheat Sheet", Shelley O'Hara, 1999, 0-7897-1874-X,
U$14.99/C$22.95/UK#13.99
%A   Shelley O'Hara
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   1999
%G   0-7897-1874-X
%I   Macmillan Computer Publishing (MCP)
%O   U$14.99/C$22.95/UK#13.99 317-581-3743 info@mcp.com
%P   334 p.
%T   "PCs Cheat Sheet"

As the title would suggest, this book is organized for point form
information and quick reference.  In fact, the division of the subject
into almost sixty chapters in slightly more than three hundred pages
would seem to take the categorization to extremes.  There are two
other formatting factors that go with the cheat sheet moniker: a
separation, within each chapter, of "basics" from "beyond," and
material that is already highlighted for you.

Part one supposedly talks about basic concepts for computers.  There
are chapters on computers, hardware, drives, software, setup, turning
the computer on and off, the MS Windows desktop, commands, windows,
and the Windows help system.  The alert reader will, by now, have
ascertained something the book seems to be a little coy about
admitting: the book is about Windows (mostly 98) rather than
computers.

Let's take a closer look at some of the most vital information
provided by the text, as selected by the book itself.  From the "Basic
Survival" section of chapter two, one of the highlighted points is
that "Your computer has memory chips inside, housed on the
motherboard."  Now, is this intelligence really vital to the operation
of a computer?  Certainly not.  Most computer users go for years
without ever seeing the inside of their machines.  Those who do pop
the lid will need a lot more information than the book provides.  (As
well as more accurate information: most personal computers now ship
with memory module daughterboards, rather than having chips directly
on the motherboard.)  The material is also very old: chapter three
talks about the four traditional formats of floppy disks at 360K,
1.2M, 720K, and 1.44M.  However, 5 1/4" drives now have to be searched
out in used computer shops, and so this material is basically only of
historical interest.  The chapter on disk errors recommends CHKDSK,
which Microsoft itself recommends against.  Again, for novice users
this information is unnecessary, and for anyone else it is too little.

Part two looks at standard Windows program interface functions,
including starting a program, switching tasks, a list of accessory
programs that come with Windows 98, selecting text, cut and paste,
saving, opening, closing, and printing.  The operations of Explorerare
reviewed in part three, including topics such as displaying objects,
creating folders and selecting, copying, deleting, renaming, and
displaying the properties of files.  Customization of shortcuts, the
Start Menu, the desktop, screensavers, Active Desktop, the Taskbar,
programs, date and time, the mouse, sounds, and printers are in part
four.  Part five runs through disk errors, viruses, defragmentation,
creating a startup disk, backup and restore, new hardware, and
troubleshooting.  Connecting to the net is just not as easy as part
six suggests.  The information in part seven will not allow you to set
up a network, and is unnecessary if you just want to use one.

There are a number of Windows 9x introductory books that provide
clearer and faster information about how to get going.  A great deal
of the content in this work is irrelevant to the needs of the novice
user, but not sufficient for those moving on to intermediate or
advanced operation.  I really can't think of any audience for which I
could recommend it.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999    BKPCCHSH.RVW   990508