Others say...

"It is what it is... which is not very good"
The book does what it says... sort of. It is a prep guide. So there is some content that preps you... sort of.

The first chapter is probably the gayest first chapter I have ever read in any book... ever. It the "lets get excited!" chapter. The writer speaks down to you as if this simple exam is going to be the biggest accomplishment of your life and you will magically make "tons of money" once you get finished. If I was 16 years old, I would have loved it.

The worse part about the book is that none of the chapters have anything to do with preparing you for the test. The end of chapter quiz's, however, do.

They give you good questions and then good explanations as why the correct answer is correct. However, let me reiterate, It is a complete waste of time reading anything outside of the end of chapter quiz's. They are full of stupid jibber-jabber and contain absolutely NO useful information... I mean NONE. I challenge you to find one answer to any of the end of chapter quiz's that was even remotely discussed in the chapter that the quiz is for.

"Warning! This is not an exam primer!"
I was very disappointed with this book. Unfortunately, at the time, it was the only book out there that claimed to be geard toward the SBS exam.

Specific issues I came across were:

* They are very loose with terminology to the point of being vague, or ambiguous.
* They give detailed information (like telling us what the text mode of server installation does as opposed to GUI mode) but fail to mention if this knowledge is necessary for the exam.
* Many of the "sample" questions have no basis in what was covered in the previous chapters.
* The sample questions aren't even samples, as they were (by their own admission) written by someone who didn't take the exam and then edited by someone who did take it so as to remove any questions that were too much like the real thing!
* The phrase "We can't emphasize enough the importance of exact terminology" appears two pages after they give the definition of "MMC" as "Multimedia Command Set"! (It's "Microsoft Management Console".)
* In chapter 10 we are told that "top students. . . Selectively pick which topics are important and which are not [and] Have an innate sense to anticipate what content will be tested and what content will be ignored". Funny. I thought that's the kind of information I expected to find in this book.

The book was useful to me to get quickly familiar with SBS 2003, but it was certainly not the determining factor in my passing the exam. Microsoft's own online, free training was more informative.

"Read the book... pass the test!"
If your goal is to pass the test, it is hard to find a more comprehensive manual to learn and review the material! If you take all the practice exams and do well (i.e. understand the reasoning behind each of the correct answers) you can be assured of passing this very difficult exam.

I studied this book the night before the exam (my only study material) and passed with flying colors! A great testimonial to a great reference!

"Fluff"
This book is simply cash flow. The information it contains is best described as brochure quips. If there were any depth at all it is in the likeness of exercise questions to typical Microsoft exam questions. Who is to say if they are relevant because no one in their right mind would take an exam based on reading this book alone. If you can get a free copy, its worth it. Otherwise the cost of shipping makes this an expensive bookend for your library of real books.

Here is an example from Chapter 4, page 4. The reader is informed that 'anything and everything' one needs to know about Exchange will be given in chapter 6. Chapter 6 is on security; its title does not match the reference made to it in chapter 4 and the index has no mention of Exchange in chapter 6 at all. Aside from a few paragraphs scattered throughout the book, Exchange has only fleeting references made to it. As I said that is one example. There are so many holes that the designation as an exam preparation guide is misleading. I suppose if all you want to know is what you need to study, then perhaps this is a useful guide, albeit a long winded effort to delineate a study guide. The 'friendly', 'I am your pal', 'jaunt along the bikepath' tone and anecdotes serve only to catalog this work as a simple draft whose aim is to fleece its audience of a few too many 'certification' dollars.

I don't trust this material as adequate exam preparation and have found it of little use even as a reference in the process of working with SBS03; I can't recommend it either.

"Arrived in great condition and on time"
Had no problems with the book condition (was great) or the delivary.