This week, I was able to wrap up the initial writing phase for "Windows 8.1 Book." There's still a lot of work to do before we can announce that the 1.0 version of the book is available in first draft form, let alone ready for publication. But the major writing is complete.
In its current state, the book is 565 pages long and encompasses over 100,000 words. There is some front matter to fill out still, and I suspect we'll add bits here and there, so it should get longer over the next week or so.
Remember, we're charging just $2 for the book, and you can contribute in other ways as well. Check out my earlier post Buy Windows 8.1 Book! or the Windows 8.1 Book web site for the details.
This week's updates (with the newest posts at the top) include:
Before You Start 0.2 and Book 0.62
Here is a second pass at the BEFORE YOU START chapter for "Windows 8.1 Book." Nothing major, just a new section about Windows 8.1 vs. Windows RT 8.1.
Overcoming Amazon's 50 MB file transfer limit
I've had a few people email me to tell me that the MOBI version of "Windows 8.1 Book" is bigger than the 50 MB limit that Amazon imposes on its Kindle Personal Documents Service. (It's currently about 75 MB big.) Is there a way around this?
Before You Start 0.1 and Book 0.61
Here is the first peek at the BEFORE YOU START chapter for "Windows 8.1 Book." This was previously called READ THIS FIRST, but since it wasn't the first thing you could read in the book, I decided to change the name. It's got a nice secondary meaning as well.
First draft of the Networking chapter is complete
Here is the first draft of the NETWORKING chapter for "Windows 8.1 Book." As expected, this came together quickly enough, though I was reminded of how poorly Homegroups work in the Modern environment. I'm surprised this is still an issue in Windows 8.1.
Here is the first peek at the NETWORKING chapter for "Windows 8.1 Book." This first pass includes content about wired and Wi-Fi networking, plus some introductory material. Future updates will cover cellular broadband connections and sharing on a home network.
As we get close to the completion of what we think of as "Windows 8.1 Book" 1.0, my mind is inevitably drifting to matters beyond the final short chapters that need to be written, Read This First and Networking. So here's an early peek at a version of the full book document that includes some blocked-in front matter such as the dedication, about this book, introduction and so on. None of it is complete yet, but I wanted to get a feel for how it would fit in.
