Rescued by Windows

COMPUTER BOOK REVIEW  

344 words

Title: Rescued by Windows;  Kris Jamsa; 
Jamsa Press; ISBN: 0-9635851-3-4; paperback; 
256 pages; US$19.95, CAN$25.95 

Reviewer: A. T. Connellan, "With this book, Windows 
has become a walk in the park. Have fun." 

Windows To The Rescue

Windows was invented for people like me. All those 
text-intensive exercises I endured on DOS to play 
games, copy, move, delete, and make directories, 
became "point and shoot" fun when Windows 
entered my computer life. 

The "Rescued" series from Jamsa [say it as in James 
not jam] Press was also created for folks like me. I'm 
one of those who finds the Microsoft-supplied manuals 
a little obscure, slightly intimidating, and long on 
"what is," but short on "how to." This book gave me 
a new view of Windows. 

Author Kris Jamsa has brought the tried and true 
teaching formula; tell 'em what you're going to tell 'em, 
tell 'em, tell 'em what you told 'em, and then ask 'em 
what you said, to new levels of effectiveness. He 
even rates his books on a "skill level guide," labelling 
them for Beginner [as this one is], Intermediate, 
Advanced, and All Users. 

Rescued by Windows is logically structured in five 
sections containing 49 brief, easily understood lessons 
that build upon each other in complexity. Various colors 
are used to identify the sections, and to accentuate 
illustrations, screen reproductions and reminder panels. 

This book is meant to be read while using the detailed 
table of contents and comprehensive index as a guide 
for skipping around, trying out all the magical things
Windows can do. 

Windows is infinitely variable in the hands of the user. 
Readers are encouraged to experiment in managing 
files, a task that was viewed with great trepidation 
under DOS. Paintbrush becomes an ally, swapping 
screen colors an adventure, and embedding and 
linking objects with a document something to boast 
about at the water cooler. 

Best of all, with Terminal telecommunications program, 
access to the Internet is click, click easy, transferring 
files between computers simplified, and by the last 
page Windows has become a walk in the park. 
Have fun.