Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have a friend who's worked for years in IT at a major biotech company. He works with brilliant people from PhDs to MBAs, but 90% of the work he does isn't setting up complicated networks, recovering corrupted files, or troubleshooting complex compatibility issues. Ninety percent of his day is helping set up user accounts, restarting frozen computers, and generally helping navigate "basic" computing tasks. He jokes that he's got great job security, but that if the company offered a basic computing course and instilled some computing confidence in their employees they could cut two thirds of the IT work force. Its not that the people who need help aren't smart or can't pick up new technology, but they probably haven't ever been formally taught basic computer use skills and they're intimidated. Between not understanding the interface and fearing damaging the computer many people (not just seniors) opt for inaction over the unknown. This book can end that. Windows 8 For Seniors For Dummies isn't the end-all-be-all guide to Windows 8. It skims the surface of its functionality, but depth isn't its goal. This book is a confidence builder that's designed to get a new Windows 8 user up and running with confidence to spare so that they can play around with their new computer and discover additional functionality on their own. The book is meant to be read cover to cover, but between the table of contents and a very capable index it could be used as a reference as well. The book is laid out in four main parts: The first helps you get set up with a user account, introduces you to the new home screen, and helps you get your settings the way you want them. The second section covers the internet, emailing, and social apps. Probably the most important section here is the "search for anything" section. To a lot of us "google it" is the obvious first answer, but its not to everyone and letting people know that they can answer questions they have even if they aren't directly in the book is empowering. The third section is all about fun Apps, Music, and Photos (and sharing them). Like all the sections, this isn't a deep view of the topics. It's enough to get by, the step-by-step guides are well thought out and clear, and once you have a base you can explore on your own. The final section is a mash-up of maintenance, trouble shooting, organization, and compatibility guides (ie how to connect your printer or really anything else) and its probably one of my favorite sections because beyond being able to use the functions you need, knowing how to trouble shoot something that's not quite working right is one of the most important skills to have. It allows you to take little risks while you learn the interface because you know that if you do something and the computer freezes you can restart it. If you throw away an important file you know where to look for it. Again, this isn't a complete troubleshooting guide (that's probably a 600 page book on its own), but it's a few unintimidating things to try that will get you through 80% of the issues you run into. Overall the content is at times thin, but enough and it manages to be very user friendly. The step-by-step guides are well laid out, thorough, and are often helped along with helpful screenshots showing you exactly what to do (I do wish that the screenshots were in color, a reason this is 4 stars and not 5). If you've read a dummies book before the tips icons will look familiar and will help you navigate and find useful information quickly. This book isn't for an experience user and is probably simpler than someone upgrading from Windows 7 really needs, but if your Windows 8 computer intimidates you or you have a parent/grandparent using Windows 8 and you'd like IT support to be less than a full time on call job this book is going to be a great help.