PC Complete

A complete guide to personal computer hardware and software, getting the reader up to speed with Windows 98 and MS Office, Word and Excel. Also contains information on the Internet, how to browse with MS Internet explorer or Netscape Navigator. Includes PC reference guides including a hardware dictionary and a hardware vendor's guide. Softcover.

Taking the more-for-your-money approach, Sybex has compiled pieces of its considerable collection of user-level computer books into PC Complete. The result is an encyclopedic resource of system information for beginning and intermediate-level personal computer users.

PC Complete teaches PCs from the ground up, starting with hardware before explaining how to install Windows 98. From there, the compilation proceeds to show you how to use most of that operating system's features, including (helpfully and in-depth) its implementation of the DOS command line.

Applications get addressed next: the authors cover the essentials of Word and Excel, Microsoft's word processing and spreadsheet programs. There's also information on the Netscape Communicator 4 suite and the Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 programs (including Outlook Express), though both of these packages have been superseded by new versions. A fine explanation of setting up an Internet connection in Windows 98 (with little coverage of America Online) rounds out the online information. The back of the book includes a sizable glossary of hardware terms and a directory of product vendors.

The main shortcoming of this book comes from its oft too simplistic approach. If the reader really needs help opening a new document in Microsoft Word, for example, he or she needs a book much more elementary than this one. Also, be aware that this book covers IBM-compatible PCs exclusively. --David Wall