I’ve heard from several people who pre-ordered Windows Vista Inside Out that they’ve received notice from Amazon.com that the book was delayed and might not be available for several weeks. Fortunately, this isn’t true.
As of today, January 27, the “Availability” text on Amazon’s ordering page says:
Note: This item is not immediately available to ship. (Usually ships within 6 to 12 days.)
I checked with my publisher and learned that the books should be in Amazon’s warehouse early next week. They’ll be checked in and shipped out immediately, going first to those who pre-ordered. I’m also told that Amazon has already placed a reorder, because the initial sales were higher than they expected.
It’s frustrating to see other Windows Vista books on Amazon’s virtual shelves already when ours isn’t there yet. Those other authors got there first by delivering their manuscripts before Windows Vista had been finalized. That might be an acceptable strategy for a book aimed at novices, but we know from experience that it’s a recipe for disaster when you’re trying to deliver detailed information for a technically sophisticated audience. Microsoft was making significant changes to Windows Vista even after its so-called final release candidate. Some of those changes were cosmetic (new icons, for instance), but a handful involved changes to the way that important advanced features of Windows Vista works.
We did tons of research on those earlier beta releases, but for many chapters in Windows Vista Inside Out, we didn’t even begin writing until we received the actual RTM code. We spent more than one month after RTM writing new chapters, rewriting earlier ones, snapping new screen shots, and – most importantly – fact-checking. That caused many a sleepless night for us and for the production team at Microsoft Press, but we believe the results will be worth it.
So, if you’re awaiting your copy, it’ll be there soon.
Ed Bott (@ wordpress.com) 
OK, OK, I ordered it. It’s reference material I can’t do without. There will be some little thing that I stumble upon that only this book covers in an accurate and comprehensive way. I just don’t know what it will be yet.
(I received my RTM Vista in the January 2006 MSDN drop, but I haven’t run the update advisor on my Tablet PC yet. Weekend project.)
We’ve been dorking around with Vista for a while. It is fun to use but unfortunately repeatedly crashed us when using Vegas 7.0. Had to use a “previous version of windows”. Anyway, I am going to a lunch and learn on Vista in a couple of weeks and will be posting a podcast on it. Anyone who wants me to send them an email when I have it posted I invite to drop me a comment. http://www.pugettown.com Or you could just subscribe to my RSS feed. 😉
To all of you who are waiting on Amazon.com….
Cancel your orders and re-order the book from Bookpool.com.
Not only is it in stock, but you’ll get it at a better price.
Thanks for the tip on Bookpool, Scott. For those who are curious, you can read the overwhelmingly positive user reviews of the company here.
Disclosure: I make a couple bucks through my affiliate code off Amazon sales, and I think Amazon’s customer support is world class. But I amn perfectly willing to forgo those spiffs if it means you can get your hands on this book sooner and pay $10 less.
I was 99% sure you were an Amazon affiliate which is cool. And in fact I’m a big fan of them (as my profile there will demonstrate).
But I always check the competition and all things being (relatively) equal, I’ll go with Amazon.com. If not, I’ll buy elsewhere.
That being said Amazon had an incredible price on Canon printer recently. Nobody came close.
But I digress….
I buy a lot of tech books from Bookpool and (to a lesser degree) Nerdbooks ,if the price difference is more than a few bucks from what Amazon.com offers.
These sites often have great publisher sales (e.g. all O’Reilly Books, All Microsoft Press books…).
At this writing it’s Microsoft Press, hence my previous comment. 🙂
Where can I get a copy of Ed’s book autographed by Steve Bass?
(Already ordered thru Amazon. Maybe I can have it drop shipped to Steve and than to me.)
😉
Well, it is now early next week. Amazon is still telling me that the book won’t arrive until mid-February. Granted, tomorrow still counts as early next week as well. 🙂
It is STILL early next week, but I just got an e-mail from Amazon saying that the book has indeed shipped. I am SO looking forward to it.
Woohoo!