PCs All-in-One For Dummies®, 5th Edition

Introduction

What's the definition of a reference book? Well, I like to think of this book as a snapshot. Sure, it's an extremely heavy photograph, weighing in at more than 600 pages. But nevertheless, it captures the current state of PCs, including hardware, the most popular applications, and of course, the latest and greatest incarnation of the Windows operating system that we all cherish (in this case, Windows 7).

That covers a lot of ground, especially when you consider how the PC has branched out into all sorts of new directions in the past 15 years. What used to be primarily a simple word processing platform in the early days of DOS has now become a hub for digital video and audio, an optical recording center, an Internet communications system, a digital darkroom, a 3D gaming console, an office productivity center — the list goes on and on. Therefore, fitting the features and functionality of today's PCs into a single volume was a challenge for me — and it proved singularly rewarding because PCs are both my career and my favorite hobby!

With that comprehensive approach in mind, this book still holds true to the For Dummies format: step-by-step instructions on each major feature within Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010, and other popular PC applications, with a little personal opinion, my recommendations, and my attempts at humor mixed in to add spice. I take the time to explain each topic for those who have just entered the PC universe, but you'll uncover plenty of advanced information ...