Do not use this book to prepare for the Microsoft exams, it’s not detailed enough. The Microsoft Press book is better, but still not ideal.

It gives you a great overview of SOME of the new features but it isn’t quite thorough as I have discovered a lot of features not even touched in the book. One example is that there is an entire chapter devoted to Active Directory but that chapter only covers the Domain Services role leaving you in the dark about the other Active Directory roles that you can pick from:

Active Directory Certificate Services
Active Directory Federation Services
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
Active Directory Rights Management Services

Here are some other roles that the book does not cover at all or barely mentions:

UDDI Services
Streaming Media Services
Print Services
Fax Server

Another thing to note about this book is that it is not a how to book. It does provide some instructions and examples but no where near enough to where you can use this book to start deploying Windows 2008 servers.

I would buy this book strictly if you don’t know about the new features of Window Server 2008. It gives you a great overview of many of the features. If your looking for a how to or reference book, stay clear of this title to avoid disappointment

For a first edition I was hard pressed to find many obvious mistakes. They did their due diligence.

This book is written for the IT PRO, not someone looking to learn Active Directory or other services in Windows Server 2008 hoping to pass a paper cert test. It’s assumed you have a broad understanding of Microsoft’s culture and product lines and are looking for a practical review of technologies in 2008.

You don’t have to be a AD guru to get a lot out of this book either. I would actually recommend it above Microsoft Press books, because instead of trying to indoctrinate you on a set of “standards” Hassell simply gives you a working set of parts under the hood. He doesn’t get caught up on the politics or test taking.

I do not recommend this book as a project management guide to upgrading from 2003 to 2008. This isn’t one of “those” books. Instead, it’s a good book for someone exploring the idea and reasons for upgrading, by being exposed to what is inside 2008 Server first.

As with almost any O’Reilly book, I think this is a definite buy for your IT library. It’s well priced too.