The first thing I noticed about this book was how thin it is. At only 211 pages not including the index, I didn't think it was possible to cover all the annoying things about XP in a book that small. But it is.

The thing I appreciate about the Annoyances books so far is that they aren't afraid of telling you about third-party solutions, as a book written and sponsored by Microsoft would be. In discussing tweaks to the Windows XP environment itself, Karp quickly points out the advantages to using Window Blinds. In fact, many of the fixes involved in the book end up sending you to shareware solutions - it would have been simple to have all of these in one place; either on a CD sold with the book or (as with other O'Reilly products) available for download in a central location. But at least Karp tells us about what's available, and shows us where to get the solutions.

The most valuable part of the book for me was the information on Windows Explorer. I am pretty comfortable using DOS commands (yes, I know, I'm old), but I don't mess with Explorer much for whatever reason. Karp's instructions make it really easy to make Explorer do what you want it to do. I found out that, with a little work, Explorer is a lot more versatile than I'd given it credit for. There are also a lot of valuable tips for improving your multimedia experience in XP - including getting an alternative to Real Player (which I was thrilled to find). And, don't tell Microsoft this, but Karp even tells you how to turn off Internet Explorer!

Whether you simply want XP to look the way you want it to look, or are having problems getting that "simple plug-n-play" device to install, Fixing Windows XP Annoyances is the book you need. It's easy to read, simple to understand, and is laid out so that you can find the solution to your own particular annoyance very quickly.