Introduction

IN THIS INTRODUCTION

Who Should Read This Book xxviii

How This Book Is Organized xxviii

Special Features in This Book xxx

I've used a lot of different computer operating systems over the years. The first personal computer operating system I used was CP/M, on a Kaypro II computer back in the very early 1980s. CP/M looked and worked a lot like MS-DOS, which I used in a number of versions from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. Then I switched to Windows, which I used from version 3.0 through Windows 95, 98, and Me.

Finally, in 2001, I switched to the latest and greatest version of Microsoft's primary operating system, Microsoft Windows XP. I know that Windows XP is the latest and the greatest because that's what Microsoft tells me, but this particular version of Windows actually seems to live up to all the hype surrounding its launch. For perhaps the first time in the history of personal computing, Microsoft has created an operating system that is actually easy to use and doesn't crash all the time.

In other words, Windows XP is the operating system we've been waiting for…well, forever.

Of course, just because Windows XP is easier to use than any other Microsoft operating system doesn't mean you can figure it out by yourself. And just because it doesn't crash all the time doesn't mean that it is totally free of…well, let's be kind and call them idiosyncrasies.

In other words, even though Windows XP is the greatest thing since sliced bagels, you'll still probably need some help to learn your way around.

That is where this book comes in.

Microsoft Windows XP for Home Users, Third Edition, is your guide to all the pieces and parts of Microsoft's latest operating system. This book is designed to help you get up and running with Windows XP, and then help you keep it up and running over the long haul. There's lots here to learn, which is why a book like this is necessary so necessary that this is the third edition of the book, updated with all the fixes and changes that come with the installation of Service Pack and Microsoft's latest official utilities and applications.