Acknowledgments

I’ve been using Windows since its beginnings as a toy-like front end for MS-DOS, but I’ve had plenty of help along the way in reaching this point.

Thanks first and always to God, who showed me my life’s work (with much help from my wife Cheryl’s encouragement) and has been with me in good times and bad.

I also want to thank the many people who helped me learn about Windows 7 and its many predecessors, including Jim Peck and Mayer Rubin, who gave me the opportunity to teach thousands of students about earlier versions of Windows; magazine editors Edie Rockwood and Ron Kobler, for assigning me to dig deeper into Windows; Ed Bott, who provided my first opportunity to contribute to a major Windows book; Ivy Tech State College, Bob Cowart, and Brian Knittel, who have continued my real-world Windows education. And, of course, the Microsoft family.

Thanks also to my family, both for their encouragement over the years and for the opportunity to explain various Windows features and to fix things that go wrong. Even though some of them have joined the “dark side” (they have Macs), we all still love each other.

I also want to thank the editorial and design team that Que put together for this book: Many thanks to Michelle Newcomb for bringing me back for another Easy series book, and thanks to Kevin Howard, Vince Averello, and Andy Beaster for overseeing their respective parts of the publishing process. Thanks also to Cindy Teeters for keeping track of invoices and making sure payments were timely. And I also want to thank Sarah, Dan, Lisa, and Nonie for the nuts and bolts work they do to make sure you have an outstanding book. This is my tenth year working with Que Publishing, and it’s the best yet. May there be many more!