Peter Norton's Inside the PC, Eighth Edition

Peter Norton's Inside the PC, this new edition included, is an excellent resource for those who need a broad-brush introduction to personal computer technology. It gives succinct explanations of important technologies--including information for shoppers--and even provides a high-level explanation of what computer programming is all about.

A book like this can't expect to stay current for long, and time has already introduced some shortcomings: There's no coverage of the new 66 Mbps Ultra DMA standard and the controller cards needed to implement it. Similarly, the authors neglect any discussion of the controversial serial number feature of the Intel Pentium III and (less excusably) barely touch on digital photography.

Nonetheless, Peter Norton's Inside the PC has a very readable style--it's possible to sit down with this book, enjoy reading it, and come away more knowledgeable than when you began. It's also handy as a reference--you can look up mysterious PC terms here and expect to find a good explanation. --David Wall

Topics covered: Inside IBM-standard PCs, processors, disks, memory, peripherals, networking (including the Internet), and the newest developments in 3-D audio and video.