BKTG2MSN.RVW   960220
 
"The Trail Guide to the Microsoft Network", Newrock, 1996, 0-201-48943-0,
U$12.95/C$18.00
%A   Melody S. Newrock
%C   1 Jacob Way, Reading, MA   01867-9984
%D   1996
%G   0-201-48943-0
%I   Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
%O   U$12.95/C$18.00 416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948 bkexpress@aw.com
%P   248
%S   Trail Guide
%T   "The Trail Guide to the Microsoft Network"
 
While this book does provide you with an overview of MSN, it is not up to the
standard of others in the Trail Guide series.
 
The chapter on getting started does not provide even rudimentary
troubleshooting.  Having recently "handheld" a new MSN user I was able to check
for "real world" concerns, and not one of the user's questions was answered in
the book.  The installation instructions assume that almost everything happens
as designed, a most dangerous assumption when dealing with data communications. 
(Yes, the Microsoft support is mentioned.  Yes, the user did call it.  No, it
wasn't a whole awful lot of help.)
 
The description of general functions and applications is straightforward.  It
does not, however, give much space or thought to what is probably the most
sought after feature of MSN--access to the Internet.  Yes, there is a (late and
very tentative) mention of sending email to Internet addresses.  (If you read
carefully, there is even a sentence which implies that all the cute formatting
you can do in MSN email won't make it through to the Internet.)  Yes, there is
an (eleven) page chapter on the rest of the Internet (mostly Usenet news and
the World Wide Web), but almost all that it tells you is that the access is
there.
 
Finally, although there is almost no technical material of any significance in
the book, there are a troubling number of technical errors.  Windows 95 will
*not* run on "an IBM PC or 100 percent compatible."  The DOS wildcard template
"?et" will *not* match with words that *start* with "net" or "bet".  And telnet
is probably the Internet application least affected by slow modem lines. 
Although a great number of MSN users will be "net newbies", it doesn't do to
assume that they are *all* technopeasants.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1996   BKTG2MSN.RVW   960220

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