I preordered the 'paperback' version of this book. It arrived today. It is, in fact, a wire ring-bound edition of the book (is there any other form? R & A Site hasn't got round to listing this one at all). This has resulted in the book being considerably bigger than the previous version. Also, just opening and closing it on a desk has not always been trouble-free on day one.
These books are designed to be carried by rules officials on the course. This one will not stand up to being crammed into a waterproof coat pocket like its predecessor. The contents are probably fine as usual but this won't help if the book becomes unusable. I'm just waiting to see if there is another version so I can return this one to Amazon. I probably should anyway as the price has dropped on the day I received it by £1.99!