Comments about Microsoft Press Windows® Phone 7 Plain & Simple:

The book is written in a plain and simple, fun to read manner.The content is really simple tutorials, and as simple as learning how to use the phone via a tap, press and hold, flick and swipe, pinch and spread and how not to use a stylus.The content are colourful too, just like how you can have 10 different accent colours as the phone's theme. There are some features that you will learn to appreciate though, like recovering your lost Windows Phone 7 from [@]

Comments about Microsoft Press Windows® Phone 7 Plain & Simple:

This book is a great introduction to the WP7 platform. It's geared towards people new to smartphones or WP7. If you don't know much about WP7, this is a great introduction. Michael's writing is clear, to the point, and encourages people to play around. You'll learn quite a bit about how to start using your phone.

If you've followed the platform for a while, you won't learn too much that's new. It's a good basic reminder and you could use it with your friends and family, but you won't reach for this as a reference.

The positives:
* The information is very well presented, easy to follow, and broken out into logical sections.
* Michael's casual writing is well-suited for this book.
* Readers will not feel intimidated by their new phone and are encouraged to try things out.
* Michael presents some information that you may not easily find by reading articles online.

The negatives:
* I don't see this as a book that will be a long-lasting reference book. Once the reader has used the phone for a month or so, the lessons from this book should be second-nature.
* WP7 already has two planned updates at the time of this review. A minor update in January 2011 that will reportedly enable Copy/Paste functionality and a larger one in February 2011. The errata for this book will need to be updated to take these changes into account as some information may be outdated.

Conclusion:
If you can find Windows Phone 7 Plain & Simple for a reasonable price and are new to the platform, pick it up. It's a short, but informative, read. If you've followed WP7 for a while, this is not likely the book for you as you'll know most of the information here already. You may still want to pick up a copy to share with family or friends who are new to the phone. It could save you "support" calls.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in electronic format in return for providing an honest review. I was not compensated in any other way.

Comments about Microsoft Press Windows® Phone 7 Plain & Simple:

This book is a great present for someone who is planning on purchasing a WindowsPhone soon or has just recently purchased one and looking to get their head around all the features quickly.