SAPIEN Press will soon be releasing the second edition of Windows PowerShell: TFM. This new edition is vastly expanded: It’s more than one-third larger, contains more than 60% revised content, and covers seriously advanced topics not touched anywhere, such as building GUI utilities with PowerShell. We can confidently say that no other single PowerShell book on the market offers this much coverage! New users benefit from a new “Seven-Step Speed Start” chapter, as well as reorganized “fundamentals” materials. Examples have been expanded and revised… in short, it’s almost an all-new book.
A December 1st release date is planned. The book will be available from major booksellers in print format, and from ScriptingOutpost.com in both print and electronic formats.
This book is unique for us in that it’s the first time we’ve subjected a manuscript to SIGNIFICANT peer review: More than a dozen reviewers from the community read each and every chapter, and contributed significant feedback which helped improve the content quite a lot. We’re very grateful to them for their help; you’ll find their names in the Acknowledgments section of the book.
The second edition is almost the same page length as the first. However, it’s a 7×10 format, rather than the 6×9 we used the first time around. Also, we removed the cmdlet directory – feedback on the first edition suggested people didn’t find it valuable – so that’s close to 150 pages that have been replaced by pure technical content. Check out the table of contents – you’ll like what you see.
In anticipation of those who ask, we can’t provide an “upgrade” to those who purchased the first edition. It simply isn’t feasible. Mark Minasi has an excellent summary of why this is true; he accurately cites production costs as one major factor. In addition, with the number of channels that print books are sold through, it’s practically impossible to obtain “proof of purchase;” we’d almost have to require everyone to ship in their 1st edition as proof – which would be silly – and we’d still be charging almost full price, simply due to the production costs. Wouldn’t work, and ultimately wouldn’t make anyone happy. That said, the first edition – if you have it – is still an excellent book; the 2nd edition does add a lot of new material, and that’s what you’d essentially be paying for if you decided to acquire it.
All that said, we may offer a very limited-time introductory offer once the book is launched – stay tuned to this blog, which will likely be the only place we announce such an offer (see, you knew you were being smart when you subscribed to the blog!).
We’ve worked VERY hard to make this new edition the best PowerShell book available. Our authors put hundreds of hours into writing and revising, and ensuring that EVERY possible topic they could think of was covered. You’ll even find a brief introduction to cmdlet development! We can’t find any other book on the market with this much coverage targeted specifically at administrators, and we truly hope you’ll enjoy it.
