Inside Out系列书籍在质量方面享有当之无愧的声誉。当这些书涉及一个主题时，它们会以一种易读、图文并茂且易于理解的格式向读者提供该主题所必需的几乎所有内容的详细信息。因此，我对(Thus)Windows 8 Inside Out抱有很高的期望，它的篇幅肯定足以涵盖几乎所有人(everything anyone)想要了解的有关使用Windows 8的所有内容。这本书符合我的期望吗？让我们(Let)来了解一下。
注意：(NOTE:)我正在查看电子书版本。由于电子书版本有大量可点击的有用视频链接，我认为值得购买（请参阅下面的链接）。如果您购买印刷版，您始终可以自己输入视频URL 。(URLs)
Windows 8 Inside Out - 一个好的开始
由于Windows 8对熟悉的(Windows 8)Windows 界面(Windows interface)进行了彻底的重新设计，因此很多人都需要对其工作原理进行很好的解释，以便他们对使用这个版本和使用以前的版本一样有信心。Windows 8 Inside Out很好地引导读者从头开始浏览新界面。它没有对每一个功能进行详尽的审查，而是专注于人们最想使用的功能，我赞赏这种方法。
本书首先概述了Windows 8的新功能，然后提供了购买和安装它的详细说明，包括从以前版本的Windows升级的过程。由于从Windows XP升级并不像将磁盘放入驱动器并让安装过程那么简单，因此描述此过程的部分特别有用。涵盖了所有可能的问题。例如，很高兴预先知道Windows 8与它的前辈不同，它从一开始就要求产品密钥。还详细描述了从一台计算机迁移到另一台计算机的过程。我自己对Easy Transfer的体验(Easy Transfer)足够流畅，但我会很感激有这些说明只是为了让我对我正在做的事情充满信心。甚至还有卸载Windows 8并返回到以前版本的说明，尽管作者确实鼓励读者考虑不喜欢Windows 8界面不一定是立即摆脱它的理由。我发现这种方法非常令人耳目一新。
自定义 Windows 8 界面
我不确定微软(Microsoft)为什么减少在Windows 8中创建自定义界面(custom interface)的选项。作为一个喜欢修补我每天看到的屏幕的几乎每个方面的人，我必须承认我对锁定(Lock)和开始(Start)屏幕上缺乏内置选项感到有些恼火。Windows 8 Inside Out承认这些限制，并尽最大努力表明仍有可用的选择。我特别喜欢在“开始”屏幕中添加关机和重新启动以及从(Start)桌面(Desktop)开始的说明。当然，如果你是一个普通的7 教程(7 Tutorials)读者，你手头已经有了这些东西。🙂
我还喜欢在锁定(Lock)屏幕上显示来自应用程序的详细通知的说明。作者指出，这可能使您不必登录计算机来查看您经常查看的某些喜欢的应用程序，这非常有用。还有一些很好的说明可以让桌面(Desktop)看起来更像Windows 7界面。作者认为随着时间的推移人们会越来越习惯平铺界面，并且会更喜欢桌面(Desktop)。我觉得他有权发表他的意见，但不会那样工作。🙂
使用 Windows 8 应用程序
由于可以按任何顺序阅读技术书籍，我建议在处理有关添加应用程序的章节之前跳到设置网络连接的章节。(network connection)毕竟，除非您的互联网连接(internet connection)正常，否则您将无法从Store获得任何东西。涵盖网络的部分非常全面和详细，包括应该解决最常见问题的故障排除说明。设置好网络连接(network connection)后，是时候跳回“添加、删除和管理应用程序”("Adding, removing and managing apps")一章了，这应该让几乎任何人都有信心(anyone confidence)从商店中找到并安装任何类型的应用程序(Store). 本章的一个小问题：我认为作者没有足够清楚地说明Windows 8 应用程序(Windows 8 apps)一词的含义与它所说的完全一致——只能在应用商店(Store)中找到并且只能与Windows 8一起使用的应用程序。本章中有很多关于应用程序的技术细节，可能不是每个人都感兴趣。
尽管如此，如果您需要更多信息，它还是很有用的。
以新的方式做事，解释
我不认为只有我一个人一开始没有意识到 Windows 8 已经完全重新设计，以至于它使用了一种完全不同的方法来处理我们熟悉的大多数事情，而不是它的前辈。Windows 8 Inside Out以一种我以前从未见过的方式解释了这些变化，它让一切变得更加清晰。这(Which)是一件好事，因为我对基于应用程序与基于文件的方法没有真正的了解，并且一直在使用文件资源管理器(File Explorer)，就像我使用Windows 资源管理器(Windows Explorer)一样，因此（根据本书）没有做最多的事情有效的方式。任何使用过Windows(Windows)的人都会熟悉其中的许多概念，但是这一切背后的哲学是完全不同的。让我感到惊讶和高兴的一件事是，如果Windows 8出现问题，使用(Windows 8)Linux 磁盘(Linux disk)获取文件的说明。您将了解在哪里可以找到作者最喜欢的发行版 ( Puppy Linux )，以及如何创建 live CD，以及如何获取无法访问的文件。一个很好的补充。
处理媒体应用程序的部分同样彻底地解释了事情。我认为任何关注Windows 8 Inside Out的人都不会在音乐、视频、(Windows 8 Inside Out)电视和电影(TV and movies)方面遇到任何问题。而且对流的解释也做得很好。尽管自从他们填满房间并吃打孔卡以来，我一直在使用计算机，但对于家用计算机媒体使用我还是一个相对较新的人，读完这本书后，我觉得自己的脚更加坚定了因此，除了普通的旧文件和应用程序之外，做更多事情会更容易。
安保、安全和新技术
大多数关于安全性的讨论并不新鲜，任何没有使用过这些技术（Windows 防火墙(Windows Firewall)、Windows Defender等）的人都不太关心安全性。但是，由于Windows 8在设计时考虑到了触摸屏，因此从触摸屏用户的角度来看有关安全性的部分是件好事。很多人是触摸屏的新手，可能还没有发现其中的一些东西。例如，对图片密码的讨论彻底处理了使用它们的优点和缺点。我们中的许多人已经被告知智能手机屏幕上的污迹(smartphone screen)可以为触摸式密码提供线索，但在涉及计算机时可能不会考虑同样的问题。这本书对图片密码进行了全面的概述，然后得出结论，真正关心安全性的人不应该使用它们。在进行了如此深入的概述之后，这是一个令人惊讶的结论，但就我而言，就在金钱上。
还有一个部分描述了使用Hyper-V创建虚拟机，但由于这仅适用于Windows 8 Pro 和 Enterprise(Pro and Enterprise)的用户，因此对大多数人来说可能不是有用的信息。
维护，Windows 8 方式
处理维护和故障排除的部分从对Windows 更新(Windows Update)的全面讨论开始。更新是许多人在考虑维护计算机时不会想到的东西——要么他们只是接受自动下载和安装(download and installation)，要么他们在尝试工作时对需要重新启动感到恼火，他们关闭了整个系统. 还有很多其他的更新方法，本节首先介绍这些更新的重要性以及为什么有必要允许它们。但是您不必接受Windows 8的默认设置，这将得到令人满意的详细解释。
Windows 体验索引(Windows Experience Index)是人们可能不知道的非常有用的工具（尽管 7 教程的读者肯定会(7 Tutorials)知道）。Windows 8 Inside Out对此进行了令人满意的详细讨论。它还讨论了一些可能感兴趣的第三方基准测试工具。只要我一直在使用Windows作为(Windows)任务管理器(Task Manager)的常规用户，我很喜欢这个解释得很好。它是最有用的故障排除应用程序(troubleshooting apps)之一，这将帮助更多人放心使用它。我们已经讨论过任务管理器(Task Manager)非常详细，但这可以作为额外的有用参考。最后还有一个出色的部分，可以帮助读者找出(reader figure)并修复启动问题和崩溃，并提供广泛的索引，可以让读者直接找到任何给定问题的解决方案。
我认为这部分本身就值这本书的价格。
结论
我想你可以看出我真的很喜欢这本书。它写得很好，细节令人满意，并重新审视了我以前从未遇到过的Windows 8 。这不仅仅是一本好书，更是一种教育。🙂 插图色彩丰富，精心挑选，解释也很有意义。我认为任何想要在Windows 8上站稳脚跟的人都会发现这是一个宝贵的资源。
判决
我真的不认为购买印刷版或电子书格式的Windows 8 Inside Out不会出错。这本电子书确实具有可立即点击的视频链接的优势，这些视频说明了书中的所有概念，这应该可以帮助大多数人掌握所解释的内容。作者清楚地知道他的东西并且知道如何写它，以便于阅读和理解。它将帮助新用户快速上手，然后将成为一个很好的参考集合(reference collection)的极好补充。
Book Review - Windows 8 Inside Out, by Tony Northrup
The Inside Out series of books has a well-deserved reputation for quality. When these books tackle a subject, they give the reader the details on just about everything essential to the subject, in a readable, well-illustrated and easy to follow format. Thus, I had high expectations for Windows 8 Inside Out, which is certainly long enough to cover nearly everything anyone would want to know about working with Windows 8. Did the book live up to my expectations? Let's find out.
NOTE: I'm reviewing the e-book version. Since the e-book version has a wealth of clickable links to helpful videos, I think it's well worth the purchase (see our links below). You can always type in the video URLs yourself if you buy the printed version.
Windows 8 Inside Out - Off to a good start
Since Windows 8 is a radical redesign of the familiar Windows interface, a lot of people are going to need a good explanation of how it works, so that they will feel as confident about using this version as they did about previous versions. Windows 8 Inside Out does a great job of walking the reader through the new interface from the beginning. Instead of giving an exhaustive review of every single feature, it focuses on the features people will want to use most often, an approach I applaud.
The book starts with an overview of what is new in Windows 8, and then goes on to give detailed instructions for buying and installing it, including the upgrade process from previous versions of Windows. Since upgrading from Windows XP isn't quite as simple as putting a disk in the drive and letting the installation take its course, the section that describes this process is especially useful. All the possible problems are covered. It's good to know up front that Windows 8 is unlike its predecessors in demanding a product key right from the get-go, for example. The process of migrating from one computer to another is also described in detail. My own experience with Easy Transfer was smooth enough, but I would have appreciated having these instructions just to give me confidence in what I was doing. There are even instructions for uninstalling Windows 8 and going back to a previous version, although the author does encourage the reader to consider that not liking the Windows 8 interface is not necessarily a reason to get rid of it immediately. I found this approach very refreshing.
Customizing the Windows 8 interface
I'm not sure why Microsoft reduced the options for creating a custom interface in Windows 8. As someone who likes to tinker with just about every aspect of the screens I see every day, I must admit to having been somewhat annoyed at the lack of built-in choices, on the Lock and Start screen. Windows 8 Inside Out acknowledges these limitations and does its best to show that there are still choices available. I especially liked the instructions for adding shutdown and restart to the Start screen, and for starting with the Desktop instead. Of course, if you are a regular 7 Tutorials reader, you already have these things at hand. 🙂
I also liked the instructions for displaying detailed notifications from apps on the Lock screen. The author notes that this may save you from having to log into your computer just to check some favorite app that you look at frequently, which is very useful. There are also great instructions for making the Desktop look more like the Windows 7 interface. The author feels that people will get more used to the tiled interface over time and will prefer that to the Desktop. I feel he's entitled to his opinion and it's not going to work that way. 🙂
Getting to the Windows 8 apps
Since technical books can be read in any order, I would suggest skipping to the chapter on setting up your network connection before you tackle the chapter on adding apps. After all, unless your internet connection is working properly, you're not going to be able to get anything from the Store. The section that covers networking is very thorough and detailed and includes troubleshooting instructions that should solve most common problems. Once your network connection is set up, it's time to skip back to the chapter called "Adding, removing and managing apps", which should give just about anyone confidence to find and install any kind of app from the Store. One minor quibble with this chapter: I don't think the author makes it clear enough that the term Windows 8 apps means exactly what it says—apps that can only be found in the Store and only used with Windows 8. There is a lot of technical detail about apps in this chapter that may not be of interest to everyone.
Still, it's useful to have for reference should you ever need more information.
Doing things the new way, explained
I don't think I'm alone in not realizing at first that Windows 8 has been so totally redesigned that it uses an entirely different approach to most of the things we're familiar with from its predecessors. Windows 8 Inside Out explains these changes in a way I hadn't seen before, and it made everything a lot more clear. Which was a good thing, because I had no real understanding of the app-based versus file-based approach and had been using File Explorer the way I'd used Windows Explorer and therefore (according to the book) not doing things in the most efficient way. A lot of the concepts will be familiar to anyone who's ever used Windows, but the philosophy behind it all is radically different. And one of the things that really surprised and delighted me was the instructions for using a Linux disk to get at your files if Windows 8 is messed up. You'll learn where to find the author's favorite distribution (Puppy Linux) and how to create a live CD, and how to get at your unreachable files. An excellent addition.
The section that deals with media applications explains things just as thoroughly. I think anyone who pays attention to Windows 8 Inside Out will have no problems whatsoever with music, video, TV and movies. And the explanation of streaming is also well done. Despite the fact that I have used computers since they filled rooms and ate punch cards, I am a relative newcomer to the media uses for home computers, and after reading this book I feel I've gotten my feet a little more firmly on the ground so it will be easier to do more with things other than just plain old files and apps.
Security, safety, and the new technology
Most of the discussion of security was not new, and anyone who has not already been using these techniques (Windows Firewall, Windows Defender and so forth) doesn't care much about security. However, since Windows 8 was designed with touch screens in mind, it was good to see a section on security from the point of view of a touch-screen user. A lot of people are new to touch screens and might not yet have discovered some of these things. For example, the discussion of picture passwords thoroughly deals with the advantages and disadvantages of using them. Many of us have already been told that the smudges on a smartphone screen can provide a clue to a touch-oriented password, but may not think about the same problem when it comes to a computer. The book gives a thorough overview of picture passwords and then comes to the conclusion that people who really care about security should not use them. Rather a surprising conclusion after such an in-depth overview, but right on the money as far as I'm concerned.
There is also a section that describes creating a virtual machine with Hyper-V, but since that's only available to users of Windows 8 Pro and Enterprise, it may not be useful information for most people.
Maintenance, the Windows 8 way
The section that deals with maintenance and troubleshooting starts with a thorough discussion of Windows Update. Updates are something that many people don't think of when they think of maintaining their computers—either they just accept the automatic download and installation, or they get annoyed by required restarts while they're trying to work and they shut the whole thing down. There are plenty of other approaches to updates, and the section begins with how important these updates are and why it's necessary to allow them. But you don't have to accept Windows 8's defaults, and this is explained in satisfying detail.
The Windows Experience Index is a very useful tool that people might not know about (although readers of 7 Tutorials surely will ). Windows 8 Inside Out discusses this in satisfying detail. It also talks about some third-party benchmarking tools that might be of interest. And as someone who's been a regular user of Task Manager for as long as I've been using Windows, I liked how well this was explained. It's one of the most useful troubleshooting apps there is, and this will help more people feel at ease with it. We have talked about Task Manager in quite some detail, but this serves as an additional useful reference. There's also an excellent final section that should help the reader figure out and fix startup problems and crashes, with an extensive index that can take the reader directly to the solution to any given problem.
I think this section by itself is worth the price of the book.
Conclusion
I think you can tell that I really liked this book. It was well written, went into a satisfying amount of detail, and took a fresh look at Windows 8 that I had not encountered before. It's not just a good book, it's an education. 🙂 The illustrations are colorful and well chosen, and the explanations make sense. I think anyone who wants to get their feet on the ground with Windows 8 will find this a valuable resource.
Verdict
I really don't think you can go wrong buying Windows 8 Inside Out, in either the print or e-book format. The e-book does have the advantage of instantly clickable links to videos that illustrate all the book's concepts, which should help most people grasp what's being explained. The author clearly knows his stuff and knows how to write about it so that it's easy to read and understand. It will help a new user get up to speed quickly and will then be an excellent addition to a good reference collection.
