As of today, I am about half way through this ground level textbook designed to fill in the serious gaps in understanding functionality of the PC and even why it matters to know these things. The format is fast paced and includes two support media through-out the chapters; Help Desk and Soundbytes. By the way, I now know what a byte is just in case some techy tries to impress me with how boring he is by dropping techno language on me. The online accessible Help Desk is a "let's pretend you're the 12 year old tech support guy in a third world country" answering the phone calls at 2:00 AM from YOU or ME because we already pressed all the buttons and rebooted three times but still can't make the PC do what we want. Personally, I don't like the Help Desk simulations because they are quite anal-retentive and being the guy that takes those phone calls all night is pretty close to what I imagine working in H-E-L-L to be like. Soundbytes are quick and easy and interesting and add a bit more depth while including plenty of pretty graphics to hold my attention. Soundbytes = fun, Help Desk = a time-out with God to find out why He is punishing me with this. My only real difficulty with this format is that the authors thought it was funny to add additional information - critical information - at the end of some of the chapters, AFTER the review questions and AFTER the self test. EVERYONE knows that the self test is the END. My rating of the book takes into consideration: the format, the content, what is covered, the value of the information and the most important part, the usefulness. It's gotta be a three. I'll update this if my mind changes by the end of the book. ( )