Introduction

The First Unleashed Series

Sams Publishing, a division of Macmillan Computer Press, started the Unleashed series several years ago with the intermediate to advanced level reader in mind. The idea of this and other book lines had some similarity to the product placement strategy of modern marketing theory. That is, there would be a specific product for every market segment with the Unleashed series aimed at the most technically adept. This book returns to the original format.

The initial series was a success due to its adhesion to the promise of delivering value to this market at a time when most computer books aimed at the novice to intermediate reader. People who had some computer experience didn't need to hear once again how to use a mouse, what a window is, or how to use a menu. They were reluctant to buy books that may have had some content relevant to their needs but was mostly taken up by topics they had long ago mastered.

Along with a plethora of beginner books, there were advanced topics and concepts not being covered at all. These tended to fall into the categories of what a system Administrator needed to know to run a corporate network or what an advanced workstation user needed to know about tuning his computer for optimal performance for a specific use (like video production).

The Unleashed series addressed this need. It made it a point not to discuss topics at a level a reader could find in the great mass of beginner books but, instead, delved deeply into those topics and introduced concepts and discussions not even mentioned in lower-level books.

Changes to the Format

The original idea worked until we Unleashed authors grew greedy. We had a hit series on our hands with many loyal readers who would buy these books based on the strength of having read another in the series. So an Unleashed book on Microsoft Windows would be an easy sell to a system administrator who had benefited from a language Unleashed book. It would never sell (or be returned after the sale) to a novice user, which was all right because the beginners weren't the target market. However, there were many more novices than intermediate to advanced users, so we decided that we were leaving money on the table by starting the material at such a high level.

We began to sneak novice topics into our Unleashed books in hopes of snaring a few lower-level sales. Within a short while, the few sneaks turned into a flood. This had two ill effects. First, we had to bump some advanced material to fit in the novice material. Second, the meat of the book was lost in a sea of featherweight topics. We broke faith with the readers and we ended up losing sales because our books didn't meet the needs of either novices or the adepts.

You see, the novices were still better served by other books that really targeted their needs and weren't larded up (to the novice view) with incomprehensible material. The adepts were upset at the loss of some advanced topics so material they could have written got included.

The Making of a High Value Book

Macmillan is in the business of selling books. When books from hit series start to sell poorly, it will get the company's attention. The situation with the Unleashed series got a lot of attention starting in the beginning of 1999. The fix to indifferent sales was obvious—again include only intermediate to advanced material in the series to deliver a terrific amount of value to the upper-level reader.

To achieve this, Macmillan returned to the original formula adding some modern twists. Windows 2000 Professional Unleashed is the first wave of this trend. We spent a great deal of time deciding which topics would be of greatest value to the intended readership—the intermediate, advanced, and system-administrator level users. We then looked at each topic and decided what needed to be covered within it.

The next stage was getting it written. To that end, we recruited some of the best Windows NT and Windows 2000 authors to collaborate on this book. Nobody can be an expert on all aspects of any product. Rather than me, the lead author, doing the entire task (and leaving some areas covered in a mediocre fashion), it was decided that only top experts for each area could produce top material. Top material is what we wished for, and it's what we got.

The final stages are development, technical, and copy editing. The development cycle takes the author material and runs it by one or more experts to assure that nothing of value has been omitted. This cycle also makes sure the material is presented clearly for the intended readership (you, I hope). The technical edit is a very exacting cycle where editors who are intensely familiar with Windows 2000 Professional review the chapters making sure the material is technically correct. Finally, the copy editor polishes the writing presentation for word usage, grammar, style, and clarity.

The end product is a book, written by some of the best people in the field, that is reviewed and edited by more of the best people. This assures you that the material is not only what a intermediate to highly-advanced reader will find useful, but that it's presented in an accurate, well organized, and lucid manner.

What's Included, What's Excluded

Take a look at the Table of Contents. You'll find no chapters on the meaning of the Desktop in Windows, how to use a menu, or what it means to copy a file. These are valid topics for the novice market, but not for this book's intended readership.

In lieu of these novice topics, you'll find serious discussions on setting up Internet Information Services (IIS), setting up and interfacing with Linux, advanced information on how to set up and use security features in Windows 2000, a lot of material on optimizing the operating system for various purposes, and so on.

You'll notice that the vast majority of the topics in this book are of no interest to novices. In many cases, they won't even know what the topic means and, in almost all cases, they won't be able to understand the material even if they understand the topic. This book isn't for them.

It is for the serious computer user who, having mastered the basics, wants to extend his knowledge into advanced territory. It's for the system administrator who, instead of re-inventing the wheel, will learn from the experiences of top-system administrators who have contributed to this volume. It's for the advanced user who wants to polish up his skills in a particular area.

Do You Need This Book?

This book isn't cheap. You can buy books that purport to contain good, if not exactly equivalent, information for less money. However, time and success have value, actual monetary value too. Where this book stands out from the others is in the density and volume of information contained within it.

Just as no one author could have written this entire book, no single reader is likely to be familiar with, much less an expert on, all the material contained in this book. A highly capable and successful system administrator will find value in the material that's newly noted to be part of his or her job, such as Linux, IIS, or setting up an intranet. An expert video producer will find value in the chapters dealing with optimizing the operating system for maximum throughput. A newly-minted Microsoft systems engineer will find value in simply being able to look up the answers to his company's users' questions.

In short, there is something of value for every intermediate-and-up reader contained in this book, or we've failed our design goal. Is this book for you? Because you're holding it, why not take a look at the Table of Contents or Index now and turn to a section that you have an interest in? Did you find that the chapter covered the information you wanted? If so, this book is for you.