Considering that the Windows 2000 Server Exam Cram is supposed to be a last-minute refresher course before the main exam, it seems slightly out of place to wish that it were a bigger book. After all, Exam Crams aren't supposed to be your primary reference--and this book does have enough content to get you past the exam. But Windows 2000 Server is such a large, all-encompassing topic that 300 pages barely covers it--and with so much at stake, you'll want every potentially testable detail you can grab for. As with the rest of the books in this fine series, you'd have a hard time finding fault with the presentation. Written for the professional who's already got a background in Windows 2000 features, the Exam Cram goes over each of the exam-critical topics with an eye toward clarification, memorization, and test-taking pitfalls. The writing is terse and packed with information, getting the point across in as few sentences as possible. Don't expect tons of screen shots or extensive walk-throughs, but it's a darn sight better than highlighting three or four 700-page preparation books to flesh out the most important facts. And the sample questions, seven or eight at the end of each chapter plus a 50-question exam at the end, are as good as they get, providing fairly complex scenarios with trick questions and similar answers.
But there are certain confusing areas that don't necessarily get the in-depth treatment that other Exam Cram books give. RIS and troubleshooting, a fairly complex topic, is covered in a slim page and a half. MMC snap-in delegations are covered, incompletely at that, in a few scant bullets. The section on DNS skims it at a very high level, giving all of two sentences to zone transfers and not even mentioning topics that might arise in a larger network environment--like zone delegation and areas of authority, which are situations that are certain to come up in an Active Directory forest. And even when many pages are given to certain complex topics, like OUs and group memberships, it all feels slightly compressed. It might have been a bit clearer if it weren't crammed (so to speak) into so few pages--50 or 60 extra pages and a few more charts might have clarified it more.
Now don't get us wrong--it's still got enough to pass, and, for a mere $30, this is still one of the most economical computer books you can purchase. In fact, this book is superior in content and presentation to many Windows 2000 preparation guides that retail for twice the price. But because this is a small book, cuts had to be made, some of which may starve the reader of background details needed to understand more complex topics.
But still, when the worst thing you can say about a book is that it isn't quite as good as the other books in the series, you know it's worth your purchase. Just do what the publishers themselves recommend--using it as a supplement, not a primary source--and don't make this your only purchase. --William Steinmetz
