* 'Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Unleashed'
The “Unleashed” series of books, now published by Sams Publishing has for many years been unofficially nicknamed the “missing manuals” for software that no longer ship with any pre-printed documentation.
The unleashed books are also a lot like technical manuals in that there’s no need or reason to read them cover-to-cover. There may be, in fact, entire chapters you won’t ever look into – perhaps they hold background information you already know, or maybe they deal with aspects of the software package that holds no interest to you.
This all comes up because I recently got a copy of the second edition of “Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Unleashed” (Morimoto, Gardinier, Noel, Droubi). As with the first edition, the second tome is 1,300-plus-pages long and appears to be loaded with useful information on Windows Server 2003. But I do have two quibbles.
First, if I buy the Windows Server 2003 product, I get the service packs at no additional charge. If a new version comes out, I’ll get it for a reduction from the list price as an upgrade. Yet, Sams expects me to pay the same price ($59.99, CAN$86.99, GBP43.99) as I did for the first edition. That’s fine for those who are buying “Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Unleashed” for the first time, but I already own 90%, or so, of the copy and only want the update.
That leads to the second quibble. There’s no indication in the second edition of what has been changed. Many books, in the past, have used borders and special icons to indicate new material in a second (or subsequent) edition of the book. They’ll also use special symbols to indicate the service pack level, patches or updates that you need to implement some feature under discussion. This book has none of that. This actually punishes those who purchased the first edition.
Rather than quickly skim through looking for the updated parts in the chapters you are interested in, you’ll need to re-read those chapters in their entirety, just to see if something changed. That’s not right, that’s counter-productive.
When I purchase software, frequently I can simply download the service pack or patches and apply them to the original. I may need to purchase a maintenance contract or a subscription to an update service but this will be far less than the original cost of the software. Why should books be any different? Why can’t I buy the original book (at $59.99) with, say, 6 months of upgrade protection built in and then purchase an additional 6 months (at say, $15) or 12 months (at, perhaps, $25) of “upgrade protection,” which entitles me to download (as, perhaps, XML or hypertext) changes from any new editions. This saves the buyer money while making it easier to assimilate the new material. That certainly sounds like a reasonable solution to me. Publishers please take note. Book buyers should also take note.
“Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Unleashed” remains a good book in this, its second edition. I encourage those who do not own a copy of the first edition to look into acquiring it. If you already have the first edition, though, you’ll need to decide if handing out another $60 (and the time needed to find the changes) is really worth it.
