Book details of 'Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary, 4th Edition'

Title	Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary, 4th Edition
Author(s)	Microsoft Press
ISBN	0735606153
Language	English
Publisher	Microsoft Press

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Reviewer amazon.com wrote:
Computers--and the community of people that surrounds them--do an excellent job of generating jargon. They've created a world of RJ-11 jacks, Lempel Ziv compression, TACACS protocols, and data forks. Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fourth Edition, explains all these terms and thousands more. It's a sort of miniencyclopedia of computing topics. The dictionary focuses on providing beginning and intermediate computer users with a solid grounding in terms, technologies, and concepts related to productivity software, databases, and networks. Communications technologies--such as those related to mobile phones--get attention too. This latest edition of the dictionary includes a selection of terms related to the Year 2000 bug, though these terms are inexplicably isolated in a special appendix. The Microsoft Computer Dictionary generally treats non-Microsoft technologies evenhandedly--the entries related to Sun Microsystems' Java language might even be construed as boosterish. However, a Microsoft slant sometimes appears, as in the coverage of palm-size PCs. There's no mention of 3Com's topselling Palm computers or its operating systems, though Windows CE is mentioned. Cross-referencing, particularly of acronyms, is excellent. The companion CD-ROM allows you to quickly search for dictionary terms and also includes The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications.
Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
I suppose I have to give a point to a dictionary that starts out with "$0.02 mi` too sents' *see* my two cents." On the other hand, a book that gives you the pronunciation for ".." (dot-dot) is maybe pushing it a bit. (They've given up on "1024x768.") About the only Microsoft propaganda I could find was a negative entry: "blue screen" only talks about film matting effects, with no mention of the infamous BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). (Lest someone object that BSOD is slang, what do you call "$0.02," "BRB" (Be Right Back), "TANSTAAFL" (There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch), "YHBT" (You Have Been Trolled), and the Macintosh "chimes of doom?") Well, OK, the "Windows,", "Windows 95," and "Windows NT" entries were kinda preachy. And there is, of course, still no entry for "WINE." The range of the dictionary is extensive, covering desktop computing, departmental and larger systems, networking, data communications, graphics, data base management, electronics, and a whole host of other topics. (Security isn't one.) There are some excellent explanatory listings, such as those for boolean algebra and bubble sort, which also use graphics very effectively. "Kermit" is not maligned as being slow, although "Lynx" is still relegated to the UNIX platform. There are some definite defects: "cascade connection" sends you to "pipe," which has nothing to say about it. I was intrigued by the dismissal of the possibility of email viruses, in the entry for "Good Times virus," given that Microsoft is responsible for technology that has made Melissa and Explore.Zip possible. Yes, of course I checked "virus." It wasn't any good. "Worm," as is oddly often the case for most computer dictionaries, is better. Very little has been changed since the third edition. In fact, of all the problems I noted in the earlier review (which has, of course, been submitted to Microsoft Press), only three are addressed or corrected in this edition. Internet country codes have been collected into an appendix, rather than being scattered throughout the book (although "major geographic domain" is not the entry I would have looked for first). Some additional material has been included: there is now an entry for Windows 2000. However, this edition does promise quarterly updates on http://mspress.microsoft.com/mspress/products/1031/. Although words like "ultimate" and "authoritative" on book jackets are red flags to a reviewer, I must admit that I am very favourably impressed with this work. It is reasonably comprehensive and careful, with reliable explanations in a wide range of areas. I would have little hesitation in recommending it to any general computer user who wants a large and useful reference. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999
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Book description:

MICROSOFT COMPUTER DICTIONARY, FOURTH EDITION, continues the tradition of being the authoritative source of definitions for computer terms, concepts, and acronyms. With over 8,000 entries, the Fourth Edition is now fully updated to include the latest technology, including expanded coverage of e-commerce, cyberculture, networks, standards, enterprise and component terminology, Windows(r) 98, and UNIX. As an added bonus, the dictionary expands its coverage of jargon and slang, which are often the most confusing terms in the computer world. The dictionary also now includes stylish new line drawings to help clarify concepts and illustrate key terms.