MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-680): Configuring Windows 7 Book/CD Package (Corrected Reprint Edition) [Hardcover]

Above all, i passed my exam after reading this book.

There was just about enough information in the book to allow me to pass. Though the exam DEFINATELY asked lots of questions on subjects that the book didnt even touch, or at the very least glossed over vaguely.

The book has so many spelling mistakes, erroneous characters (IN SYSTEM COMMANDS!!) which can set you back hours and days in troubleshooting until you find them. I have a whole questions/answers part printed in my book BACK TO FRONT! This leads to a fun experience trying to work out if you have studied the chapter or not.

I cannot stress how much this book needs to be updated, some sections were laughable.

On the other hand, alot of parts were in depth, accurate and on topic - which kept you interested.

I passed every practice exam on the CD that i took, and i didnt see one single similar question in my exam - i was VERY worried.

So, after i read my Windows Vista book by the same authors, i thought this was natural progression. It seems as though this was not proof read and was rushed out. How many other parts have i been taught wronly by this book?

I have read lots of similar reviews to this, so be careful...

Sorry guys!

The book was easy to follow although as mentioned there are some mistakes.

It covers Windows 7 new features and the test questions will make you feel confident booking an exam.

Each practise test I did - over eight seen a lowest score of 82% and highest of 91%. Unfortunately what a complete waste of time this book and test questions have been. Less than 10% applied to the exam that I sat and I questioned myself if I had booked the right one.

By all means read the book but you will want to study with something else as well that is more in-depth. This on its own is simply not enough.

Windows 7 was definitely not Orin Thomas' idea and I'm not a PC.

One word to sum this up disappointing.

This book is a good guide for those taking the exam and identifying the knowledge that is required to pass successfully. However, the number of errors and the confusing format of some parts make it very difficult to use as a tutorial guide that functioned so well in other SPTK's. Other work by Orin Thomas is generally very high quality and informative and possibly this book was rushed out by MS Press to cover the lack of other training materials for Windows 7.

More Detailed Review:
Firstly, it's clear that meeting the prerequisites for this book is not enough. You really need some very stable experience of using Windows 7 in a business environment, not just any Windows client as stated in the book. The book guides you through the setup of at least two Windows 7 machines which can be performed in a virtual machine (make sure you understand the VM software) but make sure your PC has got a fair chunk of RAM and a decent processor (preferably with hardware VT). A lot of the book also requires a working knowledge of Server 2008 and a VM of this would be a good idea too. Note that this is not the fault of the book but the exam can have a few Server 2008 related questions shoved in there too.

The first three chapters are unbelievably confusing and some parts seem to be done in the wrong order. Some hard to understand topics are discussed early on and you spend a lot of time trying to wrap your head round it only to find a much simpler explanation in a later lesson/chapter. Accurately skim the chapters first, then read again from the beginning. From chapter four onwards things get much easier and the errors much less frequent. It's also important to try the free Microsoft resources that are recommended in the book. There are also errata available on the net but make sure to use the Microsoft Press site one because it details more errors. I actually printed each corrected error out and placed them on slips of paper inside the pages they affect because there are a lot of them. Some exercise cannot be completed successfully without the errata!

The included CD is quite useful and on the contrary to other reviews about the tests I actually did get some very similar questions from the sim-test on my real exam. The way the book is organised helps you make sure that you are covering each objective and have quite a thorough understanding of the operating system. Don't go to the exam expecting commonsense to get you through (like was possible on the Windows XP one).

On the whole the book is actually quite informative and very useful if you read every last drop of information. Try all the practical examples for yourself and use the Technet website for help - it is the only way you will realise that there are errors in the book and make sure you get it right in the exam. If it wasn't for the confusing descriptions in some parts and the crazy numbers of errors in the book this would have been 5 stars.

Please note that Orin's and Ian's usual work is to a very high standard and their knowledge is great mentoring for Microsoft products.... I think this one probably just missed a couple of editing and proofreading stages to get it on the shelf fast.