Vista is imminent. We know this. It does not include some of the features initially promised. We know this too. It looks prettier thanks to the new graphics subsystem. Yup. It has a new IP stack rewritten from scratch, new key additions to its default group policy objects, and revamped system backups and restores to name but a few others. Maybe some of this is news?
There’s a lot of brouhaha in the general press about what there is and isn’t in Vista any more. With the release of RC2 though, people’s attentions are being brought back to actually what it does contain and whether it’s worth the upgrade. Enter “Introducing Vista” which, while it was written against a previous version of the O\S, gives you a pretty good and thorough overview of all the features within and where to find them too. Exactly what’s required at this point with volume licensed copies due out before the end of the year.
This guide is well written and pretty clinical with its coverage - there’s not really much discussion of the applications for the new features for example - but it’s pretty typical of it’s author, William Stanek (more known for his SysAdmin guides than intro books). Still, that’s not a bad thing; the book reads like a manual and not a piece of propaganda as it might have done otherwise. And it’s a good book too, covering many features you might not have found otherwise. Given the target audience for this book is early adopters and system admins trying to get a jump start on business managers with the green flag for actually upgrading operating systems in a business, you could argue that the chapter order of the book should be different, but the book does exactly what it says on the tin. And, because it’s Vista, you know that there’ll be a second edition (or equivalent) put out for the release version of Vista too. A good investment if you actually want to know what’s in this new O\S from Microsoft.