微软对软件的改进越多，每个程序的功能就越多。添加的功能可能意味着该软件更易于使用，或者可能意味着有更多的东西可以点击并被混淆。或者这两个陈述都可以同样正确。尤其是在谈论Microsoft Office 2010时。由于其功能和复杂性，有很多书籍声称可以解释Office 2010，Microsoft Office 2010 for Dummies就是其中之一。它与所有For Dummies书籍中的轻松语气和清晰的解释相同，但是您应该购买它来帮助您在Office 2010中找到自己的方式吗？
注意：(NOTE:)本书有一个版本，附带一张DVD。我只是在看这本书，没有关于DVD的信息。
Microsoft Office 2010 for Dummies涵盖Word、Excel、PowerPoint、Outlook 和 Access ，这些是(Outlook and Access)Office最常用的组件。像大多数自助计算机书籍一样，它可以按任何顺序阅读，或者如果您愿意，也可以仅供参考。索引和(index and table)目录相当广泛，因此找到感兴趣的主题的帮助相当容易。作者王华莱士还写过《(Wallace Wang)傻瓜(For Dummies)》系列的其他几本书，他对常用格式和可读性很好的写作风格掌握得很好。他介绍这本书是针对几乎所有新人Microsoft Office 2010 —(Microsoft Office 2010—people)使用过Microsoft Office 2007的人、使用过旧版Office的人以及对任何类型的Office几乎没有经验的人。对于任何一本书来说，这都是一个非常雄心勃勃的目标，我很想看看他能否实现。
简单介绍
很快就很明显，这本书主要面向Microsoft Office的绝对新手。已经熟悉Office 2007的人可以跳过第一部分的大部分内容，即了解 Microsoft Office 2010(Getting to Know Microsoft Office 2010)，而不会遗漏任何内容。该部分包括关于选择文本、复制、粘贴和使用剪贴板等内容的详细说明。即使是没有使用过Microsoft Office的人也可能已经熟悉这些东西，只是从一般使用Windows开始，但是对于可能需要提醒的人来说，这些材料是一个很好的概述。有一章介绍了Microsoft Office 2007中首次引入的功能(Microsoft Office 2007)，所以那些只使用过早期版本的Office的人应该看看，因为这些功能也出现在Office 2010中。对Backstage View(Backstage View)、Ribbon和Quick Access Toolbar有很好的介绍。有一章涉及自定义界面，应该对每个人都有帮助。我完全赞成尽一切努力使软件更易于使用，并且将界面更改为比盒子更有意义的东西总是朝着这个方向迈出的一大步。
在应用程序上
Word、Excel、PowerPoint、Outlook和Access上的部分以相同的一般形式布局。首先(First)是对应用程序的介绍，然后是一些关于使用该应用程序（文档、电子表格、演示文稿、电子邮件和数据库）可以做的基本事情的图解课程，然后是描述稍微高级一点的章节技巧。
同样，重点是绝对初学者(absolute beginner)。例如，关于Word的部分在前 30 页中涵盖了诸如移动光标、使用鼠标、检查拼写和语法等内容（因为这些内容在(spelling and grammar)Office 2010中默认打开，这主要意味着解释如何处理红色和绿色的波浪线）并处理字体和行间距(line spacing)。Excel部分解释了电子表格是什么，单元格、列和行是什么，以及如何搜索和导航。关于PowerPoint的部分(PowerPoint)解释什么是一个好的演示文稿（而不是一个非常华丽的演示文稿），并概述在幻灯片上输入和格式化文本。然而，关于Outlook的部分，仅仅提到了基本的电子邮件帐户(email account)设置，而没有解释它们是什么，或者读者应该在哪里找到这些信息，就立即变得平淡无奇。初学者会知道POP、IMAP、传入和传出邮件服务器吗？对于更高级的用户来说，这些事情可能会让人感到困惑，并且没有任何解释。正如他们在网上所说：失败！访问(Access)部分通过引导读者创建示例数据库，对于初学者来说可能会得到很大的改进。虽然解释了诸如字段、记录和表单之类的内容，但可用的选择令人困惑，以至于添加一个真实世界的示例确实可以帮助新手理解它是如何工作的。
超越基础
每个应用程序中用于更高级工作的空间远没有用于初学者级别工作的空间那么广泛。不幸的是，这意味着想要了解更多基础知识的读者可能在这里找不到太多帮助。而且由于这是一本一体化的书，Office的每个组件的可用空间都是有限的，这进一步限制了高级材料的可能性。这里的解释很好，并且有插图可以帮助澄清文本，但总而言之，这本书仅限于一个简短的主题和相当简洁的说明。如果读者是新手并且想要一本书在学习过程中形象地握住他或她的手，这可能根本不重要。书中的信息（除了关于Outlook 和 Access(Outlook and Access)）绝对足以让新手启动并运行最有可能出现在他或她的Microsoft Office 套件(Microsoft Office suite)中的应用程序。
优点和缺点
优点：(Pro:)写得好，插图清晰，并为初学者提供了大量良好的基本信息。每个Office 组件(Office component)都有一个合理的概述，没有很好解释的两个组件（Outlook 和 Access(Outlook and Access)）不太可能在没有某种额外帮助的情况下被初学者处理。
缺点：(Con:) 办公室(Office)实在是太大了，这么大的书根本装不下。专注于初学者级别的材料(beginner level material)意味着没有太多空间可供想要了解更多信息的人使用。太多(Too)的初学者级别的解释专门用于任何使用过Windows或旧版本Microsoft Office的人很可能已经知道的事情。
判决
当我不得不对一本写得很好的书说“不要打扰”时，我总是很抱歉，它是一系列好书的一部分，但不幸的是，这是我对Microsoft Office 2010 for Dummies的结论。还有其他更好的书，特别是Word、Excel和Access，它们足够复杂，以至于它们都需要一本独立的书(standalone book)来涵盖基础知识和更高级的功能。此外，关于Outlook的部分几乎毫无用处，因为关键信息被遗漏了。如果您想要一本(all-in-one book)关于Microsoft Office 2010的好书(Microsoft Office 2010)，查看我们的其他一些评论，或向您当地的图书馆员寻求建议。
Book Review - Microsoft Office 2010 for Dummies
The more Microsoft improves their software, the more featυres each program has. The added features may mean the software is easier to υse, or іt may mеan that there are just that many more thіngs to сlick on and get confused by. Оr both those stаtements can be equally true. Especiallу when one's talking about Microsoft Office 2010. Βecause оf itѕ features and complexity, there are a lot of books that claim to explain Office 2010, and Microsoft Office 2010 for Dummies is among them. It shares the lighthearted tone and clear explanations found in all the For Dummies books, but is it the one you should buy to help you find your way around Office 2010?
NOTE: There is a version of this book that comes with a DVD. I'm reviewing just the book and have no information on the DVD.
Microsoft Office 2010 for Dummies covers Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Access, the most commonly used components of Office. Like most self-help computer books, it can be read in any order, or used just for reference if you like. The index and table of contents are reasonably extensive, so finding help with the topics one is interested in is fairly easy. The author, Wallace Wang, has written several other books in the For Dummies series, and he's got a good grasp of the common format and a very readable writing style. He presents this book as being aimed toward just about every newcomer to Microsoft Office 2010—people who've used Microsoft Office 2007, people who've used older versions of Office, and people who have little or no experience with Office of any kind. That's a pretty ambitious goal for any book, and I was interested to see if he could deliver.
Simple introductions
It was soon apparent that the book is mostly aimed toward the absolute newcomer to Microsoft Office. People who are already familiar with Office 2007 can skip most of the first section, Getting to Know Microsoft Office 2010, without missing anything. That section includes well-illustrated instructions for things like selecting text, copying, pasting, and using the clipboard. Even people who haven't used Microsoft Office are likely to be familiar with those things already, just from using Windows in general, but the material is a good overview for people who might need a reminder. There is a chapter that talks about the features that were first introduced in Microsoft Office 2007, so those who have only used earlier versions of Office should take a look at that, since those features also appear in Office 2010. There's a good introduction to Backstage View, the Ribbon and the Quick Access Toolbar. There's a chapter that deals with customizing the interface that should be helpful for just about everyone. I am all in favor of doing whatever it takes to make software easier to use, and changing the interface to something that makes more sense than what came from the box is always a good step in that direction.
On to the apps
The sections on Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access are laid out in the same general form. First there is an introduction to the application, then some illustrated lessons on the basic things one would do with that application (a document, a spreadsheet, a presentation, email, and a database), and then there are chapters that describe slightly more advanced techniques.
Again, the focus is on the absolute beginner. The section on Word, for example, spends its first 30 pages covering things like moving the cursor, using a mouse, checking spelling and grammar (since those things are turned on by default in Office 2010, that mostly means explaining how to deal with the red and green squiggly lines) and dealing with fonts and line spacing. The section on Excel explains what a spreadsheet is, what cells, columns and rows are, and how to search and navigate. The section on PowerPoint explains what makes a good presentation (as opposed to an overwhelmingly flashy one) and gives an overview of entering and formatting text on slides. The section on Outlook, however, immediately falls flat on its face by merely mentioning essential email account settings without explaining what they are or where the reader is expected to find the information. Would a beginner know about POP, IMAP, incoming and outgoing mail servers? Those things can be confusing enough to the more advanced user, and there's no explanation of any kind. As they say online: Fail! The section on Access could have been greatly improved for the beginner by walking the reader through the creation of a sample database. While such things as fields, records, and forms are explained, the choices available are confusing enough that the addition of a real-world example would have really helped the newcomer understand how it works.
Beyond the basics
The space devoted to more advanced work in each application is not nearly as extensive as that devoted to beginner-level work. Unfortunately, this means that readers who want to learn more than the basics may not find much help here. And since this is an all-in-one book, the space available for each of Office's components is limited, which further limits the possibilities for advanced material. The explanations here are good, and there are illustrations that help to clarify the text, but all in all the book is limited to a short range of topics and fairly concise instructions. This may not matter at all if the reader is a newcomer and wants a book that will figuratively hold his or her hand during the learning process. The information in the book (with the exception of the sections on Outlook and Access) is definitely good enough to get a newcomer up and running on the applications most likely to appear in his or her Microsoft Office suite.
Pros and cons
Pro: Well written, clearly illustrated and with plenty of good basic information for beginners. Each Office component gets a reasonable overview and the two components that are not so well explained (Outlook and Access) are less likely to be tackled by the beginner without some kind of additional help.
Con: Office is really too big to be covered adequately in a book this size. The focus on beginner level material means there is not much space left for people who want to learn more. Too much of the beginner-level explanations is devoted to things that anyone who's used Windows or older versions of Microsoft Office will very likely already know.
Verdict
I'm always sorry when I have to say "Don't bother" about a well-written book that's part of a good series of books but, unfortunately, that's my conclusion on Microsoft Office 2010 for Dummies. There are other books that are better, and Word, Excel, and Access, in particular, are complex enough that they really each need a standalone book to cover both the basics and the more advanced features. Also, the section on Outlook was pretty nearly useless because critical information was left out. If you'd like a good all-in-one book on Microsoft Office 2010, check out some of our other reviews, or ask your local librarian for recommendations.
