I’ve never been a big fan of computer books because if it’s in a book, it’s probably on the interweb. But relying on this ‘internet’ might not be as reliable as Senator Ted Stevens explains, the internet is made up of tubes and those tubes can be clogged. I’ll spare you the rest of the Senator’s scientific explanation, but basically it’s probably a good idea to still buy books.
Speaking of books, Steve Sinchak’s latest masterpiece is “Hacking Windows Vista“. The book tells a story about a young man by the name of “Windows Vista”. The youngest sibling of the Windows family, Vista is much improved than his older brother, Eks-Pee, but he is still far from perfect.
In the first act, the story begins with Vista looking to change his appearance, especially his interface. Vista becomes a frequent in several plastic surgeries including the “Registry” and “Control Panel”. In the second act Vista is off to tone up his fitness for improved performance. He is able to achieve a few gains by turning off some unnecessary organs. In the third and last act, Vista is feeling a little insecure from the school bullies. He identifies his weaknesses and hires several protection services including “Defender”.
In all seriousness, “Hacking Windows Vista” is a great all-in-one collection of most Windows Vista tweaks known to date. It’s very easy to read and follow with clear instructions illustrated by bundles of screenshots. The variety of tweaks include the most basic like hiding icons in the task tray to the more advanced modifying resource files for the sidebar background.
I must admit though by having come across dozens of tweaking and hacking sites including Steve’s own TweakVista.com, this book didn’t contain much that hasn’t been documented before. So if you think you know all the tweaks out there, you’re probably right. This book is more catered towards the user who likes the idea of tinkering with his Windows with some confidence – not “this tweak may render your system inoperable”.
Due to an error, I’ve received two review copies of the book from Wiley Publishings. I tried reading two books at a time but that didn’t work out very well, so I’m going to give both away.
Update: The winners have been drawn and notified by email.
Looks like a nice book.
I want, I WAAANT!
I would love to win this book as it would help me figure out all the crazy changes MS has made in Vista and to get the best performance out of it.
I’m off to uni soon, and would love this book to try and help improve my sluggish and crash-prone new laptop running Vista. I’m contemplating downgrading it to Eks-Pee as it’s so unreliable, but your kind generosity could save me the time and effort. =P
Great offer, Long! Sounds like a good read.
I’m quite familiar with Vista (since Beta 2), but it’s certainly difficult to teach a friend or relative by word of mouth, so the book will be handy no doubt.
Sept. 11 is my mum’s birthday so I think ‘Hacking Windows Vista’ would be a great present for her to figure out how to fully take advantage of all the features Vista has to offer, courtesy of you of course.
Cheers!
Hey Long u got a great blog man.. Keep up the good work!!
and yes dont forget to enroll me into draw
Winning this book will make my life spent in front of the computer so much more fullfilling.
Greetings from Adelaide, btw.
Windows Vista!!!!!!
i wannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnt one! though i’m not using vista as of yet.. maybe till SP1 is officially released.
That book looks awesome, I wouldn’t mind a copy, lol =P
I have to admit that the book looks pretty interesting, and I’m curious how much stuff it will have that I didn’t know about. Count me in!
Let’s try this and hope for the best! Mariano, mail is nanexcool at gmail.
cool a computer tips book with a sense of humor – now that would be fun to read LOL .. as for bribes I’m reminded by a line in a Popeye cartoon “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today”. Mind you I always wondered what would happen if wimpy had asked that on a Tuesday.
I want this one ! I have heard about it months ago .. and it would be nice to have one.
Thanks Long for sharing so many presents with your fans ^^ (yes that’s what some of we.. are !)
I want one!
And to make this comment contain more than just that sentence:
Once upon a time there was a cow who liked crowing at 4 AM so her owners gave her a book: Hacking Windows Vista and she was so busy trying out all the tweaks she never crowed again.
The End
“Bribes are accepted via PayPal.”
I can never be sure if Long is being serious…
Sounds like a good read, can’t be as good as this blog though… (Why bribe when flattery is free?)
I could go for free anything.
As a poor college student, I’d love a free book
I believe there’s a lot of thing to learn from that book!!.. I want a copy..
Well instead of drivling on about how much I need the book and all that, I’m not. So I’m going to say this instead.
Time flies like an arrow… fruit flies like a banana.
Looks like a nice book. I would like to win a copy. Good luck!
-Orion
Count me in Long!
That does sound like a very interesting and humorous read, doesn’t get much better than that. I’m all in.
I want that!!!
Reading is good.
How does he get the applications to fly straight out the monitor like that?
Lets take a chance…
Looks like an interesting book. I wonder if it will cover the drastic change of the Sidebar from earlier builds and Longhorn demo videos?
I want one ^^ I never win anyways
still i want one
Yummy. Yes Please!!!
Hey, I guess I’ll give it a shot!
Nice offer, Long
Ok, I’d like to participate
Count me in!!
Sounds good
hey, i guess I’ll try this out. great site….
ahaha.. any chances for sending to europe lol?
hey i want it. why don’t u send it to Sri Lanka. thant’s where i live
I want it so I can make Flip 3D come out of the screen like the cover
All i can say is Gimme :p
Yes, I’d like that book.
Now let’s see if you can throw that book all the way to South Africa.
That’ll be me please.
I’ll take a chance
Is it paper back or hard cover?
I like my Windows’ Glass stained, thankyou very much! (or for that matter tinted so I don’t get blinded by all those bright applications with white pixels glaring back at me!)
If his book is as good as exemplified in his “Windows Vista Usability Tips Articles” (which I added to Vista Bookmarks about the time I started the bookmark blog) I expect that all of the instructions are very clear and easy to follow.
See http://www.stevesinchak.com/ShowCategory278.aspx
http://vistabookmarks.blogspot.com/2007/02/reviews-and-collections.htm l
Hey Long,
Sign me up too mate, kthxbai
Pick me, please.
Lets me save a little more money for a new PC before the old clunker finally gives out on me.
cheers from the Gold Coast
Normally I wouldn’t go for a free book, as you say, “…if it’s in a book, it’s probably on the interweb.” I can’t pass up this opportunity as it would save a fair bit of time trawling through the web as Steve has already done that for us!
Ehhhhxcelleeent…
I want dat book
This looks fantastic! I had Vista since it came out and it’s been a real pain trying to figure everything out. The bugs also are a real menice.. It’s time that I get something like this book.
Microsoft did a nice job, but the bugs.. My God the bugs!!!
I would really love to be able to hack Vista.
-Nick C.
nice book!!!
Cool book!
)
Just do it.
This book would be *sooooooo* helpful!!!!
If I had Vista, that is…
Long, I want this boooooook
ooh, I want a copy! =D
Count me in.
I won! Yay thanks!!
OMGVISTAHAX!
lol may as well give this a try.
I want the book!
Cheers Long.
Cool:) I love to have this:) I try to win something in this web-site for so long… maybe I will now;)
yay. everybody loves a giveaway
I would love to win one
Yes, thanks, I’ll read every page of the book
Give me this or I swear I will sock you in the eye. Seriously.
Long, my friend, please count me into the drawing. Hacking Vista to bite sized chucks sounds awesome!
Wow.. thats a great great offer …
and u Rock Man …
i am a Big Fan of U ..
Please let me know by my email what are your activities and what u do ..
i mean studying and other things ..
i really love the way u keep your site updated
i am from Pakistan and want to make a site like yours but for that i would have to be some thing like you
please let me know what i can do ..
thanks
love you ZeeBee
bye!
I read the “Hacking Windows XP” book, it was alright I guess, but with all the Vista blogs and guides out there, this would have to be SOME BOOK!!!
“Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.”
– Rick Cook, The Wizardry Compiled
Damn leechers, only comment when there is a giveaway! *hides* Thanks Long!
I want this book
Please.
yo damn man nice.. I want this book thanks for giving to one of us lucky person…..
Nice, I wouldn’t mind a copy.
Me neither.
I
Freaky my last comment never worked right?
anyways…
I would love this book, it looks like it is a real winner, I read Hacking Windows XP, it was lovely but already pretty old when I read it! Thank you for the oppurtunity, even though I probably wont win!
Hey Long!
I’m a C9 bro.
And plus, I never win anything. :’(
O HAI LONG,
LONG TIGHM no SEA
SAIN ME UP PLZ K THX BAI
(the above lolcat dialect was intended)
Paul
Seems cool, maybe worth a read…
In light of other items on your blog such as the Microsoft “Ohana” project and Jackson Fish Market, does any one else think that the cover of this book is hideous?
Nice Hacking!!
I want to receive a copy
i am computer engg student so this book will be very helpful for me !
thank u very much for giving me one copy !
can u give it to me????????????
What is there to say?
hey Long i have been a long time fan of your site and regardless if i win or not. ill always come back….daily!
dont get me wrong id still like to have the book though
peas
cityboy
Wooow that would be nice to have one copy here in Slovakia.
please pick me!!!!!!!
Long knows I love him.
I won’t win. But I will enter bravely!
Feelin’ lucky…
And one more for luck
Pick me!
Name: Rafael
Email: rafaelanti-tgtsoft.com
Your asshole filter removed my anti-spam tags in my email address. It’s obvious where to stick the @, however.
Sounds interesting.
Two eyes = Two books.
Are you sure it was a mistake?
If I win I promise to keep one eye closed in deference to the books twin.
Drew.
(This comment intentionally left blank.)
Looks like a great read.
This book would be a great addition indeed.
@Rafael: do you really think you’ll win like that? ;/
u can download the book from here
—————————————
Edit by Long: As much as I appreciate you sharing the book, I think Steve deserves something for his work.
Count me in!!
Count me in.
Now Now! Since there are so Many Comments in here already and Probability of getting any one of the 2 would definitely be very very bleak, So Let me just comment about the fact the The Book is an Amazing read. I read a couple of reviews of the same and some review chapters available on the site, and it does sound good.
I would suggest that every one here should give the author what he deserves and go ahead and buy the darn book.
P.S. Cruel Intentions in the Comment about going to buy the book, Maybe den I would have a better chance!
\JCB
\CI
Nice book. I agree with what you say, if its in a book, its probably online (as far as computers are concerned). Still having a book to read when you are traveling or just sitting around at home is fun. This is certainly worth a read.
Me wants
and I thought vista’s security was hard to penetrate…
Nice book, how big of a bribe do you require?
Count me in!!
Give me. GIVE ME. GIVE ME.
hey, why not?
Harrumph. Didn’t win the Expressions web contest; prolly not a good chance that the random-number-automaton-picker will reward me this time, either.
All goood though…and thanks for the informative insiderism on Forum 07.
I never win anything.
This contest ends today – maybe I have a chance to win, then everybody will be my friend just like Zoidberg!
pretty please long
i want the book soooooooooooooooooooooooo much