Includes all curriculum objectives for the Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional exam (70-2. To give readers the skills they need to upgrade their certification to the Windows 2000 track. Offers a proven method for in-depth study, review, and real-life practice. Provides step-by step instructions on key topics for the successful implementation and integration of Windows 2000 Professional. Windows 2000 has many new features that must be learned by both the new user and users experienced with the prior Windows operating systems 3.51 and 4.0.
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Windows 2000 Professional Exam Prep is a fairly easy read that will allow you to pass the exam--but not on its own. If you have access to a Windows 2000 computer to run through the Real World exercises presented in the book, you should pass without a hitch. And if you get another book to shore up the minor weaknesses in this tome, you'll also pass. But reading this book and counting on the text alone to ace the exam? Not your best idea.
The book is small by MCSE standards, but it does focus nicely on what's actually in the exam. Almost every chapter focuses in on some practical aspect of Win2K that you can expect to be tested on, with little meandering off-course. The writing is curt but unambiguous when it explains the various concepts and features of Windows 2000 Professional, and it explains things in a way that even low-level Win2K novices should be able to understand.
However, the real gem here is the Real-World Project sections wedged in at the end of every chapter. These projects assume you have a Windows 2000 Professional computer to tinker with, of course, but editors have chosen their projects well. Each of the Project sections go over the everyday tasks in Win2K you'll be expected to know on the exam, bringing some of the more theoretical aspects of Win2K administration into focus so you'll know how to change disk configurations and audit files. If you have a cheap PC with a trial copy of Win2K to tinker with, the Exam Prep is an almost must-have which is good, because the exam questions presented in the book are fairly weak. Many of them are simple true/false questions, which you'd never expect to see on one of today's MCSE exams, and a lot of others are questions on simple Windows 2000 procedures. Situation questions and fill-in-the blanks are few and far between.
Also, there are some strange gaps in the book's presentation. IP addressing is barely covered at all--admittedly, it doesn't really come up on the exam, but the critical concept of subnetting isn't mentioned. Likewise, the RIS section is rather slim and doesn't go into the distinctions between the various forms of remote installation the way a good book on Windows 2000 should, so readers may well botch this section on the exam entirely. And the section on file security? Well, it's all over the book, which is slightly confusing.
Still, when all is said and done, it's a very good value for the money--competently written, low on errors, and as enjoyable as technical textbooks get. If you've got a test box to muck around with, definitely make this a part of your curriculum. If you haven't, it's still worth your dough, just don't count on it being the end-all and be-all of your exam course. --William Steinmetz
