当我们想要对一些我们还不太了解的复杂主题进行清晰而简单的解释时，我们中的很多人，包括我在内，都会求助于Wiley的For Dummies系列书籍。(For Dummies)For Dummies书籍旨在教育初学者并给予他们信心，因此它们非常受欢迎。Microsoft Office 365 for Dummies旨在解释一种新的、复杂的产品，该产品旨在将Microsoft Office带到更多组织的范围内。当然，产品越复杂，解释就越清楚。这本书能胜任吗？让我们(Let)在这篇评论中找出答案。
什么是Microsoft Office 365？
多年来，Microsoft Office已成为企业、学校和家庭的“黄金标准”生产力应用程序。(productivity app)但是， Microsoft Office(Microsoft Office)的合法副本价格昂贵，这是无法回避的事实，如果要在企业或学校(business or school)使用它们，则站点许可证的成本可能会使购买完全遥不可及。
认识到这一点，微软(Microsoft)创建了Microsoft Office 365，它是“基于云的”并且可以按月订阅。这降低了更多组织的成本（Microsoft Office 365在设计时考虑到了组而不是个人用户），并且每个组都可以订阅完成工作所需的功能。
解释云
由于“云计算”是一个很多人可能还不太了解的概念，因此本书深入探讨并尝试对其进行解释。不幸的是，作者没有使用通常轻松的For Dummies写作风格，而是更喜欢修改后的律师语。从第一章开始：
“云是互联网的隐喻。用非常简单的术语来说，云计算意味着您的应用程序或软件、数据和计算需求可以通过互联网或云进行访问、存储和发生。”
定义云计算(Defining Cloud Computing)的整个部分就是这样。嗯……“访问、存储和发生”？作者没有简单明了地解释您将使用Internet上可用的软件，而不是安装在您自己的计算机上，而是继续翻页，从不使用 53 可以使用的一个词。伙计们，这不是一个好的开始。
还有对云计算(cloud computing)历史和可用服务模型的解释，然后是为开发人员提供的大量信息，这些信息似乎都与理解如何使用Microsoft Office 365无关。如果必须将其包括在内，最好将其放在附录(Appendix)中。再摘录一段向您展示您所面临的问题：
“在私有云实施中，您仍然可以享受公共云计算的好处，即：自助服务、可扩展性和弹性。此外，您的专用资源允许更多的控制和定制，无论您的实施是在本地还是在场外-前提。”
一个懂得如何写出清晰、直截了当的日常英语(English)的人，本可以聘请自己作为这本书的编辑和校对员赚大钱。(editor and proofreader)我什至没有提到所有的印刷错误。显然，排字机的空格键(space bar)那天要维修了。甚至解释各种订阅计划的表格也令人困惑并且充满了行话。
继续前进……与否。
在“迁移到 Office 365 云(Moving to the Office 365 Cloud)”一章中，作者终于开始以他们从一开始就应该有的方式来解释事情，但仍有一些部分让他们看起来像是按字面意思行事，而且明显缺乏编辑还是很眼花缭乱。给你一些本章中的指甲在黑板上的例子：我可以更轻松地完成我的工作吗？呃，不，伙计们，我能不能更轻松地完成我的工作。(Can I do my job more easily or not.)真的。访问位于中心的数据的另一个好处是您始终拥有单一的事实来源。我认为“真理的单一来源”通常出现在宗教教义中，而不是基于互联网(Internet)的计算中。如果您遇到过 IT 人员，您可能已经概括了关于他们的一件事。他们是控制狂。
他们希望我们在那之后继续阅读？如果我没有阅读Microsoft Office 365 for Dummies来复习它，那它(Microsoft Office 365 for Dummies)会(book drop)直接回到书店或图书馆的书店。
解释应用程序......或不。
Exchange Online的第一章首先详细介绍了大多数使用Outlook的人实际上并不关心Exchange服务器，只要它完成了发送电子邮件的工作。这(Which)很可能是真的。但随后他们详细介绍了如何让Exchange 服务器联机(server online)是一个好主意，以及不同类型的部署选项（再次）以及为什么使用Microsoft Office 365的人可以从几乎任何地方获取他们的Outlook邮件。(Outlook)如果人们真的不在乎，为什么要占用空间呢？在他们开始为您提供如何使用的详细信息之前，您必须进入下一章Outlook 的(Outlook's)新功能，这些解释充其量只是粗略的。
SharePoint Online部分从社交网络功能开始，除非您的组织订阅企业计划(Enterprise Plan)，否则这些功能甚至不可用。并且将SharePoint Online的“(SharePoint Online)我的网站(My Site)”功能描述为“工作场所的Facebook ”不太可能鼓励雇主将其包含在他们的订阅中。Team Site上的部分谈到使用它进行协作，并表示作者确信它是该软件中使用最广泛的功能。然后他们回到技术问题：您的 Office 365 订阅会自动为您的组织预配默认团队网站。“规定”？有简单的解释文件命名(file naming)要求，恢复以前版本的文档（如果按照他们的描述，版本控制已打开），使用团队日历并与“外部合作伙伴”共享团队网站。(Team Sites)然后有一些部分讨论了创建内部网和“新闻稿子网站(press release subsite)”，但如果一个组织订阅了企业计划(Enterprise Plan)，那么他们肯定会有一些“控制狂”（我仍然不能相信作者是这么说的）来设置这一切，他们不会阅读Microsoft Office 365 for Dummies以获取有关如何执行此操作的说明。
出于某种原因，文档库(document library)、幻灯片库(slide library)、标签和注释(tags & notes)以及文档集被称为SharePoint 场景(SharePoint Scenarios)。图书馆是一个场景？就是这样。他们提到搜索功能(search functionality)和可配置的精简(configurable refiners)程序，并使用术语“入职员工”作为示例。不包括 technobble-to-English 的词汇表。
其余章节以同样冗长、过于技术化和绝对不适合傻瓜的方式介绍Office Web 应用程序(Office Web Apps)（Word、Excel、PowerPoint和OneNote ）。由于Office Web Apps显然与其桌面版(Office Web Apps)Microsoft Office 2010的同类产品没有太大区别，因此一本详细介绍Microsoft Office 2010的书应该可以为大多数人提供他们需要了解的几乎所有内容。请参阅我们在本文底部推荐的评论。这些是关于Microsoft Office 2010的更好的书籍。
最后一节详细介绍了组织如何确定其设备是否满足硬件要求，以及订阅和维护Microsoft Office 365需要做什么。(Microsoft Office 365)但这不也是IT 部门(IT department)那些“控制狂”的工作吗？
还有更多，但为什么要打扰？
我真的尽我最大的努力彻底阅读了这本书，以便给它一个诚实的评论，但事实证明，诚实迫使我说，在我放弃并开始略读看之前，我只是无法通过一半以上的方式来阅读那里有什么。写作令人沮丧，解释要么矫枉过正，要么轻描淡写(overkill or skimpy)，而且作者显然不了解他们的目标受众(target audience)。我认为这本书最终会使新用户感到困惑，而不是教育。这不值得。
判决
我和许多人一样，一直欣赏For Dummies系列（这些年来我买了很多这样的书）的原因之一是他们一贯的写作风格(writing style)和出色的编辑监督(editorial oversight)。通常这些书都专注于为新用户解释事物，风格清晰，语气轻松，页面绝对不会出现印刷错误。我不知道Microsoft Office 365 for Dummies是如何以悲惨的状态超越(Microsoft Office 365 for Dummies)Wiley通常出色的编辑人员的。我什至不建议将其从图书馆中检出，因为您会立即将其扔回书以刻意的速度掉落。(book drop)
Book Review - Microsoft Office 365 for Dummies
A lot of us, mе included, turn to Wiley's For Dummies series of books when we want a clear and simple explanation of some complex topic that we don't quite understand yet. For Dummies books are created to educate beginners and give them confidence and they are extremely popular as a result. Microsoft Office 365 for Dummies was written to explain a new, sophisticated product that's designed to bring Microsoft Office within reach of more organizations. And of course the more sophisticated the product, the more clear the explanation needs to be. Does this book do the job? Let's find out in this review.
What is Microsoft Office 365, anyway?
Over the years, Microsoft Office has become the "gold standard" productivity app for business, school, and home. But there is no getting around the fact that legal copies of Microsoft Office are expensive, and if they're to be used at a business or school, the cost of site licenses can put the purchase completely out of reach.
Acknowledging this, Microsoft has created Microsoft Office 365, which is "cloud based" and available by monthly subscription. This brings the cost down within reach of a lot more organizations (Microsoft Office 365 is designed with groups rather than with individual users in mind) and each group can subscribe to just the features necessary to get the job done.
Explaining the cloud
Since "cloud computing" is a concept many people might not know a lot about yet, the book dives right in and tries to explain it. Unfortunately, the authors don't use the usual breezy For Dummies writing style, preferring something that comes across as modified lawyer-speak. From the first chapter:
"The cloud is a metaphor for the Internet. In very simplistic terms, cloud computing means that your applications or software, data, and computing needs are accessed, stored, and occur over the Internet or the cloud."
The whole section Defining Cloud Computing is like that. Um... "accessed, stored, and occur"? Instead of a brisk and simple explanation that you're going to be using software that's available on the Internet rather than installed on your own computer, the authors go on for pages, never using one word where 53 will do. Not off to a good start here, guys.
There's also an explanation of the history of cloud computing and the service models that are available, followed by a bunch of information for developers, none of which seemed relevant to understanding how to use Microsoft Office 365. If it had to be included, it would have been better put in an Appendix. One more excerpt to show you what you're up against:
"In a private cloud implementation, you still enjoy the benefits of public cloud computing, namely: self-service, scalability, and elasticity. In addition, your dedicated resources allow more control and customization regardless of whether your implementation exists on-premises or off-premises."
Someone who understands how to write clear, straightforward everyday English could have made serious money hiring themselves out as an editor and proofreader on this book. And I haven't even mentioned all the typographical errors. Apparently the typesetters' space bar was out for repairs that day. Even the tables explaining the various subscription plans were confusing and full of jargon.
Moving right along... or not.
With the chapter Moving to the Office 365 Cloud, the authors finally start explaining things the way they should have from the get-go, but there are still sections that make it look like they got paid by the word, and the apparent lack of an editor is still glaring. To give you some fingernails-on-the-blackboard examples from this chapter: Can I do my job easier or not? Uh, no, fellas, it's Can I do my job more easily or not. Really. Another benefit of accessing centrally located data is that you always have a single source of the truth. I think "single sources of the truth" are usually found in religious teachings, not Internet based computing. If you have ever met an IT person, you might have generalized one thing about them. They are control freaks.
And they expect us to keep reading after that? If I hadn't been reading Microsoft Office 365 for Dummies to review it, it would have gone right back to the bookstore, or into the library book drop, at that point.
Explaining the apps... or not.
The first chapter on Exchange Online starts off by going into a lot of detail about how most people who use Outlook really don't care about the Exchange server, as long as it does its job of delivering email. Which is very likely true. But then they go into a lot of detail about how having the Exchange server online is a great idea, and about the different kinds of deployment options (again) and why people who use Microsoft Office 365 can get their Outlook mail from pretty much anywhere. If people really don't care, why take up space with all that? You have to move along to the next chapter before they start giving you the details of how to use Outlook's new features, and those explanations are cursory at best.
The section on SharePoint Online starts off with the social-networking features, which aren't even available unless your organization subscribes to the Enterprise Plan. And describing the My Site feature of SharePoint Online as "Facebook for the workplace" is not likely to encourage employers to include it in their subscription. The section on Team Site talks about using it for collaboration and says the authors are sure it's the most widely used feature of the software. Then they go back to the technobabble: Your Office 365 subscription automatically provisions a default team site for your organization. "Provisions"? There are brief explanations of the file naming requirements, restoring previous versions of documents (if, as they describe it, versioning is turned on), using team calendars and sharing Team Sites with "outside partners." Then there are sections that talk about creating an intranet and a "press release subsite," but if an organization has subscribed to the Enterprise Plan it's a pretty good bet they've got some of those "control freaks" (I still can't believe the authors said that) to set that all up, and they're not going to be reading Microsoft Office 365 for Dummies for instructions on how to do it.
For some reason the document library, slide library, tags & notes and document sets are referred to as SharePoint Scenarios. A library is a scenario? Sure it is. They refer to search functionality and configurable refiners and use the term "onboarding employees" as their example. No technobabble-to-English glossary is included.
The remaining chapters cover the Office Web Apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote) in the same wordy, overly technical, and definitely-not-For-Dummies fashion. Since the Office Web Apps are apparently not much different from their desktop Microsoft Office 2010 equivalents, a book that covers Microsoft Office 2010 in detail should supply most people with nearly everything they need to know. See the reviews we recommend at the bottom of this article. Those are better books about Microsoft Office 2010.
There's a final section that gives details on how an organization can determine if their equipment meets the hardware requirements, and what needs to be done to subscribe to Microsoft Office 365 and maintain it. But wouldn't that also be the job of those "control freaks" in the IT department?
There's more, but why bother?
I really did my best to read this book thoroughly to give it an honest review, but as it turned out, honesty compels me to say that I just could not plow my way through more than halfway before I gave up and started just skimming to see what was there. The writing is dismal, the explanations are either overkill or skimpy, and the authors clearly have no idea of their target audience. I think this book would end up confusing a new user far more than it would educate. It's not worth it.
Verdict
One of the reasons I, like many people, have always appreciated the For Dummies series (and I have bought a lot of those books over the years) is their consistent writing style and excellent editorial oversight. Ordinarily the books are focused on explaining things for the new user, have a clear style and a lighthearted tone, and the pages are definitely not riddled with typographical mistakes. I don't know how Microsoft Office 365 for Dummies made it past the usually outstanding editorial staff at Wiley in the sad shape it's in. I wouldn't even recommend checking it out of the library because you'd be throwing it right back in the book drop with all deliberate speed.
