If Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional were used only by computer professionals, things would be much simpler. The reality is that IT departments are deploying Microsoft's latest workstation OS throughout entire organizations, which means that anyone who uses a computer in any way has to learn Windows 2000 Professional. Windows 2000 Professional Simplified flattens the learning curve a bit, distilling this complicated and feature-rich OS system into a heavily illustrated guide that drives home hundreds of features, capabilities, and procedures. It's a great place for the novice (and the generally overwhelmed) to start an education in Windows 2000 Professional.

This book is heavily illustrated in full color, but only about half of the graphics are screen shots of Windows 2000 itself. The others are beautifully rendered images that help clarify concepts. For example, in a section on creating shortcuts to files and programs, the design team has included a picture of a highway off-ramp that leads directly to the resource that you need. The approach might strike more experienced users as too basic, but it's just the ticket for new users who don't know much about Windows 2000 features and terminology. The illustrations aren't the extent of it, either: key procedures are detailed step by step, with lots of arrows to identify and explain important things that you'll see on your screen. This is the book for you if you're starting from zero. --David Wall

Topics covered: Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, explained in a way that a novice can understand. All of the key user-level functionality of the OS, including mouse maneuvers, window manipulation, the essentials of text editing and formatting, file management, interface customization, and multimedia, are covered. Relatively advanced material is covered, too: how to share files and folders across a local network, send and receive faxes, and use the Internet for Web browsing and e-mail.