The following disclaimer precedes the main text in this survey of Windows 95 for prospective users: “This book is based on information on Windows 95 made public by Microsoft as of September 26, 1994.” As of this writing (June 1995), although the trade press and the Internet traffic have been full of speculation about which features the released product will contain, the long-delayed Windows 95 has yet to appear. It is thus unclear how closely it will match Nimersheim’s description.

The author contradicts himself regarding his sources of information. While he complains that “it’s a little difficult to write a book about a program without having that program installed on your computer,” he also refers to a beta version of Chicago, the former name of Windows 95.

Users of beta versions of Windows 95 have offered hope and praise, but have also heaped criticism upon it. By contrast, this volume approaches flackery. Couched in a cutesy, dumbed-down style, it is sometimes offensive but typically merely boring or irrelevant. The overriding message, so often articulated by software industry executives, is that this application will fundamentally and forever change everybody’s computing life--but users must wait patiently until the wizards have worked their magic.

Nimersheim slogs through the projected Windows interface--window by window, box by box, and button by button--as if the reader could follow along, with a working program in front of him or her. Since I did not have such a program, I could neither experiment nor evaluate the author’s claims, and soon became bored.

No conclusion is offered, other than a statement that the book does not cover every Windows feature. Omitted features are not specified. No mention is made of the controversial Microsoft Network. I can recommend this book only to beta version users or Windows historians.