| Editor's Picks
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Reviewed by Sandra Haynes, content development manager, Microsoft Press
Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Step by Step provides in-depth coverage of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage--the core programs in all editions of Office for the Mac. This book is based on the Home and Student Edition, which also includes Microsoft Messenger for Mac.
In this book, readers will find straightforward instructions for using Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage. Readers will go from knowing little (or nothing) about these programs to a level of expertise that will enable them to create attractive, professional-looking documents, worksheets, and presentations — for home, school, play, or work. It also shows how to use Entourage to stay in touch and keep track of time and tasks. Readers can choose to go from chapter to chapter, jump in to review just the information they need, or both.
The book is organized in five parts:
• Office Basics. Explore and manage the Office interface, practice basic skills common across the different programs, practice moving around the different applications.
• Create Basic Office Files. Learn the basics for working in each of the core Office programs, from creating basic documents, workbooks, and presentations to moving around the different programs.
• Work with Office File Content. Edit and manage files, and practice working with themes, templates, and formulas.
• Enhance Office File Content. Manage the appearance, customize styles, and then prepare content for review or publication. Create and modify graphics and diagrams.
• Stay in Touch and on Time. Learn the basics of working in Entourage, setting up your e-mail account, and managing contacts and schedules.
The programs in Office 2008 are fun to use, and the information in this book will help readers take their knowledge of Office programs to the next level and use their own creativity to create just the document, workbook, or presentation they want. | For Developers
| | Reviewed by Lynn Finnel, project editor, Microsoft Press Dino teamed up with Andrea Saltarello to write his seventh Microsoft Press book on architecture principles and design for the .NET platform. The aim of this book is to help the architect control the complexity of the project. Dino writes, "Controlling the complexity and favoring maintainability are the sharpest tools we have to fight the canonical Murphy's Law of technology: 'Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget.'" The book is divided into two parts: principles and the design of the system. The first part focuses on the role of architects: what they do, who they interact with, and who they report to. The architect is primarily responsible for acknowledging the requirements, designing the system, and communicating that design to the development team. The communication often is based on Unified Modeling Language (UML) sketches; less often, it's based on UML blueprints. The architect applies general software engineering principles first, and object-oriented design principles later, to break down the system into smaller and smaller pieces in an attempt to separate what is architecture from what is not. One of the purposes of object-oriented design is to make your code easy to maintain and evolve—and easy to read and understand. Chapters 1, 2, and 3 cover UML, object-oriented design, design patterns, and aspect-oriented programming. The second part of the book focuses on the layers that form a typical enterprise system—the presentation layer, the business layer, and the data access layer. The book discusses design patterns for the various layers—including Domain Model, Model-View-Presenter, and Service Layer—and arguments about the evolution of technologies and summaries of the new wave of tools that have become a common presence in software projects—O/R mappers and dependency injection containers. Unlike many architecture books, this one is grounded in experience, full of concrete examples, and short on abstraction. While the book is stacked full of design patterns, they are explained in detail in a nonacademic language. Still, it's a good idea to have a strong background in object-oriented programming and a good foundation of knowledge of the .NET platform and data access techniques. The book also presents several code snippets and discusses sample applications, but with the primary purpose of illustrating principles and techniques for readers to apply in their own projects. As they state in the book, Andrea and Dino try "to teach fishing, but we don't provide some sample fish to take home." Their samples, located at http://www.codeplex.com/nsk, illustrate the design principles discussed. If you enjoy this book, look for Dino's next book: Microsoft ASP.NET and AJAX: Architecting Web Applications, coming out in spring 2009. |
Announcements
In Remembrance: Patrick Tisseghem Patrick Tisseghem, co-founder of U2U, died suddenly of heart failure on Wednesday, September 3, 2008, in Gothenburg, Sweden. Our sympathy and thoughts go out to his wife, Linda, their daughters, Anahi and Laura, and to the rest of his family. We are all deeply saddened by this tragic loss. We remember him as a caring father as well as a driven and warm-hearted colleague and friend. We miss you, Patrick. Visit the New Microsoft Press Branded Store on Amazon Microsoft Press has opened a new store on Amazon.com, where you can find the entire catalog of titles along with featured books, certification roadmaps, and a video on the value of having a Microsoft certification. The store will be updated continuously, so check back to find new and upcoming featured titles.
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New E-Book Offer for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Get a head start on working with SQL Server 2008 with this new e-book. Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008, by Peter DeBetta, Greg Low, and Mark Whitehorn, introduces and explores the product in a preliminary way, both conceptually and practically (with sample code). Readers will find plenty to interest them. Register and download the e-book today. Microsoft Press 25th Anniversary "Free E-Book of the Month" Offers Help celebrate our 25th anniversary with a free e-book offer. Read your Microsoft Press Book Connection Newsletter for notification of offers, register and download the selection each month. The Free E-Book offer of the month can be found in the top right hand corner of this monthly newsletter. The November offers expire on November 26, 2008, so download the e-books today: Windows CE 6.0 Embedded Fundamentals, by Stanisvlov Pavlov and Paavel Belevsky Windows Server 2008 Networking and Network Access Protection (NAP), by Joseph Davies, Tony Northrup, and the Microsoft Networking Team
| |  | November 19, 2008  | | 25th Anniversary Free E-Book Program Offers: | | |
