[.ca] MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exams 70-292 and ... (ISBN 0735619719)

Nice book, but lacking important content:
I went through the book, and felt well prepared for the exam. Then, I took the exam. I found that I got questions that I assumed were kind of tricky questions. I was asked quite a few questions that were in no way mentioned or covered by this book. Emergency Management Services is something new, that I had no clue even existed. This book uses the word emergency 3 times (found by searching the PDF version of the book) not once in an important context. VERY LACKING in other areas also.

Typical Micro$oft press:
It's typical Micro$oft press garbage. First off, it reads like stereo instructions. Second, it lacks any real depth, without a doubt not nearly enough to pass this exam. I spent a good hour in a local bookstore browsing through this title before deciding to go with another vendor.

Lacks Depth:
I am not using this book to study for the Windows 2003 MCSE certification; I just want a book that would give me the information on the new features of Windows 2003. This book was a disappointment because it would do neither. If you have taken the MCSE exams, you would know that half the battle is knowing what to look for in the trick questions. In my opinion, only the Transcender exam preps gives you a feel for that. But you must first know the basics, and for me the MSCE Training books in the past were the prime source of information. In this new version of the MCSE Training Kit series, the book is divided into 2 parts. The first part discusses the features of Windows Server 2003 and the second part presents some exam questions. The content has changed in emphasis from teaching you how Windows 2003 works in depth to a diluted discussion of the features and a very limited number of exam type questions, with neither done satisfactorily. If you want to prepare for the MCSE exams, this book alone won't help you pass. If you're looking for a tutorial book on Windows Server 2003, this book lacks the depth that the Windows 2000 MCSE series had. In fact, much of the material such as DNS and Active Directory concepts should already be familiar to Windows 2000 MCSEs. The main reason for the repetitiveness could be that Windows 2003 is not too different from Windows 2000, except in the user interface. The biggest downside to this book is the electronic version of the book is now in PDF format instead of the familiar format used in previous Training Kit books. I personally used the electronic versions exclusively because it's so convenient. The new PDF format doesn't allow search by topics and is very clumsy to jump to different sections. Diagrams and screenshots cannot be opened in separate windows for detailed viewing; you must zoom in on the entire page and they are still very fuzzy. In conclusion, this book does not help the Windows 2000 MCSEs who just want to focus on upgrading to Windows 2003.

Get it.:
This book is worth the money - get it and pass the tests. I passed the 70-292 exam after spending a couple of weeks reading the pertinent chapters and carefully working through the corresponding problems. Back in 1996-1997 I bought a couple of Microsoft books to study for the NT4 MCSE, and afterwards I swore I'd never buy anything from Microsoft Press again. Well, they've certainly redeemed themselves with the recent series of training books.

Excellent for test prep and real life:
Best coverage of W2K3 material I've read and I've read at least 5 other books, some very good in their own right. Best introduction coverage of each topic, best detailed discussion, best "real-life" scenarios (that often map to test questions), and good practices. It's a big book, but for the material it is covering, I could not find a better book.