Date: 19970918 From: computer-general-editor@amazon.com To: computer-general-editors-subscribers@amazon.com Subject: Your Editors Computer Books E-mail from Amazon.com The principal title reviewed in this Expert Editors message is: "Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible: Premier Edition" by Winn L. Rosch Publisher: Sams You can find this book and more at http://www.amazon.com/computer-general ****** In the beginning was the Machine? Not to drive the analogy too far, but the "Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible: Premier Edition" certainly has an imposing heft and--within its field--an almost biblical authority. The new packaging also helps convey a certain magisterial quality: 1,206 pages, an upscale and very appealing cover with gold inlaid lettering, and an information-heavy CD-ROM. This bible is an unparalleled hardware reference, an encyclopedia covering everything from display adapters to disk drives to audio hardware. And for each technology covered, it provides thorough coverage of interfaces, tables of settings, and other excruciating detail from every arcane corner of the PC. Who needs this much comprehensive detail about the inner workings of PCs from the 8086 to the Pentium II? Anyone with a desire to know the inner workings of the machine from a theoretical point of view. The "Hardware Bible" is a complete lesson in how the Intel-based computer works. Reading through the chapter on "The Bios," for example, will give you an in-depth understanding of how the BIOS works, differences between implementations from different vendors, the nitty-gritty of the CMOS, and what happens when a PC boots up. Imagine having that kind of detail available for input devices, tape drives, CD-ROM, DVD, serial and parallel ports, and display adapters: just about every technology, subsystem, chipset, power supply and spare part of the PC. It's an impressive and serious collection for those who need to know a lot of the inner workings of the machine. Anyone attempting to write programs dealing with the PC at a relatively low-level will also find the book useful as a reference. Besides the explanatory text, the book has a fine selection of infographics, and the various tables and reference sections from the book are also available in electronic format on the CD-ROM. The CD-ROM in this edition has a lot of depth: besides the usual run of shareware and demos, it's packed with some 700 extra pages of text, along with the charts and tables, and sources of even more detailed information should you find that necessary. The "Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible" is big, definitive, and handsomely packaged. The hardcover Premier Edition is built to last as a well-thumbed reference source for the serious PC user who needs to know everything about how the PC works. --Scott McGrath is a Web developer and writer specializing in content creation for electronic publishing. You'll find Scott's favorite computer books on the shelves of Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/computer-general Visit our Computer and Internet Super Room at http://www.amazon.com/computers for more great books, articles, and interviews. ****** And now, a book from AP Professional: "Solving the Year 2000 Problem," by James Edward Keogh and Stephen C. Ruten. You'll find this book at http://www.amazon.com/computer-general Jim Keogh, who calls the year 2000 problem, "the mother of all bugs," explains the problem in great detail and suggests various strategies for fixing it. If you need help convincing management of the problem's severity, you'll be particularly interested in Keogh's descriptions of the potential errors that can arise. In one example, a criminal who committed a crime on Saturday, January 1, 2000, is not convicted because the security camera dates the crime as being committed on Monday, January 1, 1900. The book concludes with a five-step plan for assessing and solving year-2000 situations. The plan involves an inventory process, an assessment process, a planning process, a testing process, and an implementation process. ****** We want to be sure that our Editors e-mail message delivers the type and quality of information you want to receive. To register your opinion, hit "reply," and make the first word of your message: good Your thumbs-up. OK Not bad. bad You were expecting better. If you'd like to make additional comments, we'd love to hear them. Just include them after your one-word vote. ****** If you have friends who might enjoy this mailing, please feel free to forward it to them. To become a new Editors subscriber, or to sign up for additional categories, visit http://www.amazon.com/editors ****** To unsubscribe from this mailing, send a blank e-mail message to unsubscribe-computer-general@amazon.com Copyright 1997 Amazon.com, Inc. All rights reserved.