This is the definitive text on Excel 2010. It is both lucid and thorough in its coverage of the world's leading PC spreadsheet software. Unfortunately, the publisher and Amazon have chosen to penalize the user for buying the Kindle edition. I bought an iPad primarily to be able to use ebooks instead of having to lug around heavy texts such as this one. Hence, I was ready to buy the Kindle edition until I realized that it didn't include the contents of the CD that accompanies the printed edition. The CD includes numerous examples, formulas, and VB programs that are referred to extensively in the text. It also includes a searchable PDF file of the entire text, which you can load on your PC and/or iPad. Amazon cleverly hides this information by requiring you to click on a Show More link at the bottom of the book description section. So, if you buy the Kindle edition, you miss critical accompanying information and you don't get the PDF, which would be very useful when you're working at your PC. Moreover, since the PDF can be loaded on your iPad, you in effect get both the printed book and the electronic book for just $1.22 more than the price of the Kindle edition. When I asked Amazon's customer service representative why Amazon doesn't fix this, he said it's the publisher's fault and that Amazon can't do anything about it except transmit customers' negative feedback. As it turns out, there are a number of instances where books that include a CD with the printed edition don't include the CD contents with the Kindle Edition, and not just from this publisher.
There is another issue that somewhat compromises the quality of the text - namely, the quality of the PDF file. There are numerous graphics in the text that show what appears on the screen when using Excel. Most, if not all, of them are difficult or impossible to read in the PDF version; the graphics in the text are readable, though they would be easier to read if they were larger. Still, the printed edition is a much better value than the Kindle edition. If, like me, you decide to buy the printed edition because of the better value but would much rather have the electronic edition, please at least let Amazon and the publisher know that this is not acceptable and will likely jeopardize the wide acceptance of electronic books.
*** UPDATE 07/09/2012 ***
It turns out that buyers of the Kindle edition can get the CD files that accompany the printed edition. I contacted the publisher (Wiley) to complain about not providing the CD files with the Kindle edition and they told me I could download them from their website via a link they would provide, once I had sent them a copy of my purchase confirmation from Amazon. Just go to [...] click on the Ask A Question tab, and tell them what you want. I told Amazon that they need to edit their book description to make sure customers know this.
