Special Edition Using Microsoft Office 2000 [With *]

by Ed Bott

All-star author Ed Bott (PC Computing senior editor) understands business users and how they want to be productive without becoming hard core computer geeks. In this book, you'll quickly find all of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0789718421
• ISBN13: 9780789718426
• Release Date: May 1999
• Publisher: Que
• Length: 1520 Pages
• Weight: 4.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.1" x 7.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

The book is great! But the software...

I have found the book to be absolutely indispensable! I found every thing I needed, spelled out in plain and easy to understand language. I am no computer geek, but now I can certainly make Office 2000 do geeky things! My friends are in awe!However... The book comes with a set of enhancements called the WOPR pack. Many of the utilities are very useful, though some of them are handy only to certain types of writing. One problem is that there are a few bugs in the programs (The Zip code lookup feature for one) that have not been remedied. Posts at the WOPR website indicate that this problem has existed since at least January 2000, and there is still no fix, or even a mention that they are working on it! Emails asking for help or information go unanswered and the posts on the message boards keep piling up asking when there will be a fix.For people so good at asking Microsoft where the fixes are, you would think they would take some of their own advice and at least admit they have been unable to fix the darn thing!Don't let this criticism dissuade you from buying the book, just be aware that the software is not perfect and the support leaves a lot to be desired.

Forget the rest -- this is the one and only!

I've dealt with my share of program guide books, and I've never found one as readable, helpful, and well organized as this. These guys tell do an amazing job of getting the info across. For example, I have a so-called "complete reference" for FrontPage2000 that tells me less in 953 pages than this book does in just 175! And no, I am NOT kidding! There are plenty of great tricks and shortcuts, helpful graphics and a varied layout that keeps things from getting tedious. The prose is refreshingly conversational and not "tech" heavy. Woody's other book ("WL Teaches MS Office 2000") is good, but not nearly as comprehensive. And for once, a book provides a CD ROM with genuinely useful software, not just "trial" programs that amount to little more than advertising. If you or your office team need the full lowdown on MS 2000 in one book, this is the only choice. Compared to what it would cost to either take courses or buy complete books on each program in the MS 2000 suite, this book is a remarkable bargain.

The essential Office 2000 book

I'm another lucky person who happened upon Woody's free email newsletter - Woody's Office Watch which lead me to get his books. Woody's books always tell you how the software really works -- unlike Microsoft Press books that are often extended press releases that never mention bugs or problems. I think the guy from Brooklyn must have meant another book -- Special Edition Using Office 2000 has over 1450 pages of great information plus the CD. The index and TOC are comprehensive and lead me to the pages I need. No grammar or spelling errors have leapt out at me. I have plenty of computer books -- but only Woody Leonhard's books have a permanent place on my desk.

Priceless information! Miles ahead of other Office books

I have spent years yelling and screaming at Microsoft Office, and I hate to even think of how many dollars I wasted on other books that just cut and pasted text from the help files. This one is different. Oh man, is it different. This book doesn't waste your time with basic details any idiot can figure out. Instead, they show you how to really make these programs work. Just skimming through this book, I found myself stopping to try new and cool things I didn't know, and I think of myself as an Office expert. If you've already learned the basics of Office, think of this as your graduate course. It's good stuff.

The Best Office 2000 book by the Best Office 2000 authors.

If you are not a developer, this is the only Office 2000 book you will ever need. As usual, Woody Leonhard (not to slight co-author Ed Bott) has produced the definitive guide to Office 2000. I've read his books religiously since the old Word for Windows days, and no one beats his understanding of what makes Office tick. You'll get the unvarnished truth--good and bad--about Office, not just a re-written Help file. Every chapter contains one final section: "Secrets of the Office Masters" which is often worth the price of the book itself. Add to this a registered copy of Woody's Office Power Pack on CD and no other book can touch the value and plain usefulness of this one. Just get it, and don't look back.