general

I hadn't even heard of SharePoint until a few months ago. It seems to be everywhere in everything we're doing at the office now. Inevitable double whammy they decide to finally upgrade to Windows Server 2003 at the same time we try to SharePoint. I picked up the SharePoint Resource Kit and Windows Server 2003 Inside Out and haven't looked back. Both turned out to be excellent choices.

I've been an IT professional since 1995, and over the years, the Micsrsoft Resource Kits have tended to be my bibles for the most in-depth, thorough information. But they've been slipping and slipping badly in recent years, and the seem to have less and less to say that isn't just as easy and user friendly to download off of MS.com. Well this book is a TRUE TREASURE. While there is a decent amount of okay Sharepoint information on MS.com, this is an in-depth, invaluable users manual for the real world that beautifully puts a ton of critical information in one place and with depth. It frames and organized everything I've been struggling with (and the list was pretty darned long) with an otherwise great product experience with SharePoint. It's back to the classic era of MS Resource Kits: if you are deploying and managing SharePoint, this kit is a MUST HAVE. Keep it up Microsoft--is there any way you can get the writers who did this book to create a similar effort for Windows 2003?

Bill English and crew have come through. Haven't completely digested it yet(1172 pages) but my initial take is that it is worth the investment. Easy reading for a technical tome. The first six parts, Chapters 1 - 18, provide everything you need to design, setup, and configure your solution. Parts VII through XI, Chapters 19 - 42, provide specific details for customizing, managing, and maintaining your implementation.