Not a
general book, of course, but a one for those interested in and learning to use
the software with the hardware and operating system.
I thought
I knew Word, in particular, very well, but there were many lessons for me here.
I’ve learnt things that will hopefully increase my productivity and allow me
more freedom to express myself more fully. The ability to work with programs
like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint more effectively will certainly improve my
speed of work. But, as familiarity increases, I also expect that my confidence
in use will allow me to take advantage of many of the aspects of the programs
of which I was previously ignorant or uncertain. It solved a problem or me
involving Excel and charts; for that alone, it saved me much time that would
otherwise have been wasted.
Laid out
in a logical manner, which aids both learning and actual use, it’s a ‘Dummies’
guide in all but name. Of course, there are many aspects that are merely
alluded to and many others that aren’t covered at all, but that’s to be
expected with a subject so complex and multi-layered.
Illustrated
copiously with screen shots, the text gives excellent examples of the solutions
to many of the problems we deal with daily in our computer lives. The tone is
friendly and light, but the content is serious and fairly comprehensive. I’m by
no means a techie, but I found it easy to follow. I’m very new to the Mac, and
previously used Office 2010, so I had more than one set of changes to deal
with. The book led me easily through the maze of technical jargon, helping me
understand much that had previously been a mystery to me.
Organised
into chapters dealing with various aspects of each program, I found the whole
course easy to follow. I ignored the section on Outlook as I’ve tried this
program in three of its previous manifestations and always suffered major
problems with it. There are other programs available that do everything outlook
does, and are easier to deal with, so I’ll stick to those. My knowledge of PowerPoint
is very small, but as an author, I can think of ways in which it could be very
useful, especially for marketing, so I was glad of the help on that.
If, like
me, you’ve recently purchased either a Mac and/or the newer Office software, and
you’re having difficulty using either or both, then this is the book for you.
Of its type, it’s one of the better examples and I recommend it.
