Using Microsoft Publisher 2010 [Paperback]

Lucky I checked this book out of the library rather than buy it. I've learned that the best strategy for acquiring good software manuals for my personal library is to borrow them before I buy them. They're just too expensive, so mistakes are costly.

I won't be buying a copy of this one for my reference shelf.

It's not a bad book. It covers all the basics quite well, for the total novice. Explanations are clear and the "how to" sections are helpful. But if you know a bit about Publisher or, like me, you've upgraded from an earlier version to 2010, you're not going to get the kind of help you need.

Like many of the Office applications, Microsoft has over-engineered the "user interface" at the cost of funcationality. I don't mind learning new menus, toolbars and interfaces - but the 2010 attempt by MSFT to "improve usability" is not as successful as in earlier attempts with its upgrades. Too many functions that serious users need are just GONE. And this book doesn't help you with workarounds, and it doesn't even cover key topics.

For example, "sections" in a Publisher document are important. This topic is not even in the index. Microsoft has eliminated your ability to force a page break - this is a key function. The book doesn't even mention it. I finally gave up when my n-th attempt to find something in the index came up empty.

One good thing the book does provide that I've seen nowhere else: Discussion of large documents. Publisher isn't really built to handle big docs, like books. The author does a nice job of showing you how to handle them, and also points out something MSFT hasn't publicly admitted: To work with large docs, you need to install the 64-bit version of Publisher 2010, and that means you must install the 64-bit version of Office 2010. The trouble is, if you're a power user, you're not going to install 64-bit because all those add-ins you rely on, like e-mail anti-virus checking, are probably not available yet for 64-bit Outlook. So if you go with Office 2010 64-bit, good luck with your AV. That's very unfortunate, because it would be nice to handle big docs with the new Publisher. The author discloses this little secret, and kudos to him for even knowing about it, because I didn't!

So if you are getting started with Publisher, and haven't done lots of "publishing," this book is pretty good. If you're a long-time Publisher user, get the book from the library for the few insider tips it offers. But don't count on it as a Publisher 2010 manual or reference guide.

Using Microsoft Publisher 2010 offers an integrated package pairing video tutorials, web access and audio sidebars with a book covering all the basics. For the price of the book you get online access anywhere with a web connection, and get to enjoy the audio and video learning tools. A top pick for any self-taught Microsoft Publisher 2010 beginner!

The book is a good introduction to MS Publisher 2010. The program is really not very complicaed, but is tops for any document you want to assemble. I create a 32-page quarterly journal with ease.