Windows Millennium: The Missing Manual

The handbook opens by explaining the Windows desktop and Start menu, including icons, shortcuts, and the help system. Part Two covers components such as accessories, games, new features including Movie Maker, and the all-important Control Panel. The third part tackles all things Internet, while Part Four concerns printing, adding new hardware and maintaining a healthy system. Finally there is a simple guide to home networking.

The writing is clear and good-humoured, and there are plenty of handy tips and common-sense explanations. The differences between Windows Me and its predecessor, Windows 98, are a little exaggerated, and skilled 98 users will not find much here that is new. Another problem, common with this type of book, is that the author tends to assume that everything works as advertised. There are a few troubleshooting sections, but they do not amount to much. But provided not much goes wrong under the bonnet, this manual will take you a long way towards Windows mastery. --Tim Anderson