Writing Windows 7 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant was a lot of fun—and a lot of work. As I set out to write this book, my initial goals were to determine how Windows 7 was different from Windows Vista and Windows XP and what new administration options were available. As with any new operating system—but especially with Windows 7—I had to do a great deal of research and a lot of digging into the operating system internals to determine exactly how things work.

When you start working with Windows 7, you’ll see at once that the operating system is different from earlier releases of Windows. What won’t be apparent, however, is just how different Windows 7 is from its predecessors—and that’s because many of the most significant changes to the operating system are below the surface. These changes affect the underlying architecture, as well as the user interfaces, and they were some of the hardest for me to research and write about.

Because Administrator’s Pocket Consultants are meant to be portable and readable— the kind of book you use to solve problems and get the job done wherever you might be—I had to carefully review my research to make sure I focused on the core aspects of Windows 7 administration. The result is the book you hold in your hands, which I hope you’ll agree is one of the best practical, portable guides to Windows 7. Toward that end, the book covers everything you need to perform the core administrative tasks for computers running Windows 7.

Because my focus is on giving you maximum value in a pocket-size guide, you don’t have to wade through hundreds of pages of extraneous information to find what you’re looking for. Instead, you’ll find exactly what you need to address a specific issue or perform a particular task. In short, the book is designed to be the one resource you turn to whenever you have questions regarding Windows 7 administration. It zeroes in on daily administration procedures, frequently used tasks, documented examples, and options that are representative while not necessarily inclusive.

One of the goals for this book is to keep its content concise so that it remains compact and easy to navigate while at the same time packing it with as much information as possible to make it a valuable resource. Instead of a hefty 1,000-page tome or a lightweight, 100-page quick reference, you get a valuable resource guide that can help you quickly and easily perform common tasks, solve problems, and implement everyday solutions for systems and users.