Book Review: Discover Internet Explorer 4.
By David C. Gardner, Grace Joely Beatty and David Sauer. Published by IDG. ISBN 0-7645-3067-4. UK Price ??.??
This book is a gem ! I got a copy recently from the local library, thinking that it was about time I got a handle on IE 4.0 (I am still using version 2.0, by the way !).
My first reaction was "This is the way technical books are meant to be written". Firstly, it takes a clever author (or team of authors) to write a book which is neither too patronising, nor takes people through things too quickly. Secondly, this is not just a book, it's a treasure trove of useful information.
One of the interesting things which the authors have done it to make very sensible use of the various fonts, layout tricks etc, so this book becomes a very "browsable" item. There are screen-shots, blocked-out hint boxes, Feature Focus bullets etc. but the overall effect is very balanced.
The first couple of chapters are, predictably "Getting Started", with a walk-through of the Active Desktop including, helpfully, how to turn the darn thing off ! Then we get into the meat, with topics such as...
- Exploring the Internet, including Web subscriptions, and a list of useful www sites for beginners
- Communicating - how to use Email (now called Outlook, for some reason), the new Address book, Virtual business cards, and, of course, NetNews Newsgroups
- Netmeeting - now this is interesting, including how to use the Whiteboard to communicate between people over the internet or intranet, and how to exchange files using the same technique.
- Using Frontpage Express to create your own HTML files. This I must get, as I am currently using just NOTEPAD to create html files. Worhtwhile mentioning, also, that the book also includes advice on planning and layout, and also shows you how to get hold of some useful template layout files.
There are also sections on how to get update information on IE4. A further section just includes annotated screen shots, as a form of quick-reference guide. On the other hand, if your prefer text, the next section is a blow-by-blow summary of all menu options and features mentioned in the book.
This is more than just a good book, though. There are "bonus slots" scattered through the chapters. A list of free sites for GIF files, shareware download sites, even a list of good recipes ! The authors clearly know their way round the internet.
Often with a book written by several people, you can "see the joins". I can't. This book as a consistant feel which belies the number of people who put work into it.
For reference, you could look up the publisher's home page;- http://www.idgbooks.com
"The best book every written by a committee". Now I need to buy a copy !
Book Reviewed by Dennis Adams in June 1998.