This time only short review. All has already been written. The book is suitable not only for exam but also for beginners. It is thoroughful guide how to develop windows based applications. As usually working examples on concluded CD makes this book two times valuable. After reading and playing with samples you will certainly know all the important aspects of development.

I always use the MS Self-Paced kits for my certification exams. So far I have passed the exams. This particular book was annoying in that there were quite a few editing mistakes and the errata website only had information for the first half of the book. As usual, the index and glossary were useless for me in most cases. Nevertheless, the mixture of facts with practical exercises made it possible to absorb the material with a minimum of pain.

This book at the core is filled with good information. However it is filled with a rather ridiculous amount of typos and minor errors.

After reading this book and passing 70-526 exam, I found the book has 3 problems at least.

1. The book might cover all topics against the exam but doesn't include all necessary information for you to pass it. For example, a question in my real exam asked a question about Thread Monitor. However, the book doesn't mention anything about Monitor.
2. The book has at least 2 different writing styles.
3. The book can't include enough pictures to illustrate what controls it is talking about, how controls are related to one another or how they interact. This leads that sometimes I lost what the book tried to tell me.

It is impossible for you to pass the exam with a high score only by this book.
You might pass the exam with fears by the book.

The purpose of the book is to prepare you for the certification exam. For me it didn't meet that requirement.

The book does have a section for each of the objectives Microsoft has defined for the exam. But is FULL of errors (typos and concepts too!!), lacking good examples, concepts are defined vaguely and there is A LOT left out.

I took the exam and passed but I don't feel it was because of the book. I had to do additional research on each topic because the book wasn't enough. And in the exam there is definitely much more than the book covers.

The 2 stars are because:

1. The CD that comes with the book. The practice tests are very helpful to prepare for the exam, not only because they are exam-like questions but because you see some topics that weren't even mentioned on the book.
2. Considering is the only preparation guide for this exam, it at least guides you very briefly on the topics of the exam.

I'm puzzled why this book has a 4.5 star rating and the 70-536 book has only three stars. The biggest criticism of the 70-536 was the amount of errors, however this 70-526 book also has many errors, including many that are not on the errata sheet.

Anyway, this book will get you pointed in the right direction. If you are a C# developer, you will may notice the sample C# code has some interesting characters - this is because they have intermingled VB.NET syntax in the C# code. Not a big deal to me, but some people may find this distracting.

You may want to be aware that another book exists that provides comprehensive coverage and is a better read, although there are no labs or sample questions:

Windows Forms 2.0 Programming, by Chris Sells and Michael Weinhardt
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Forms-Programming-Microsoft-Development/dp/0321267966

This book is an easy read, but I found 3 errors in the first 50 pages :(.
Not very good in my opinion

Excellent tool for your exam 70-526 but in the real world you will need more.

This book was very thorough which is what I expected for a certification book. However, I also found it very easy to understand with nice easy to follow labs.

This book was very thorough which is what I expected for a certification book. However, I also found it very easy to understand with nice easy to follow labs.

I purchased this kit (book and sample tests) primarily as a study guide to prepare for the 70-526 exam. After studying the book and taking numerous practice tests, I was able to pass the exam on my first attempt, with room to spare. I recommend this product to anyone preparing for the 70-526 exam.

This is an excellent study guide for the 70-526 exam; between the discussion in the text and the hands-on labs, you will definitely be prepared for the test. Highly recommended!

LO use para preparar mi examen de certificación 70-553. Muy útil para pasar el examen.

LO use para preparar mi examen de certificación 70-553. Muy útil para pasar el examen.

MS Press books are the only ones that are available in the market right now (12/06) to prepare for MCTS 70-526 exam apart from Measureup, Transcender Practice exam and online material. For that the authors have done a great job. This book not only helps in preparing for the exam but also can be used to get some hands on experience. It has couple of omissions (Ex., missing a file or so in one or two labs in data access). But, I think by now that should also be available in their support website. This book comes with 300 practice test questions. After having gone through other pratcice exam material, I think this fares much better (only a couple of repetitions or errors). MCTS exam covers various areas and is a test of nerves. If we put our mind to it we can do it. I used this book, and Measureup practice test and passed the exam in my first attempt.

MS Press books are the only ones that are available in the market right now (12/06) to prepare for MCTS 70-526 exam apart from Measureup, Transcender Practice exam and online material. For that the authors have done a great job. This book not only helps in preparing for the exam but also can be used to get some hands on experience. It has couple of omissions (Ex., missing a file or so in one or two labs in data access). But, I think by now that should also be available in their support website. This book comes with 300 practice test questions. After having gone through other pratcice exam material, I think this fares much better (only a couple of repetitions or errors). MCTS exam covers various areas and is a test of nerves. If we put our mind to it we can do it. I used this book, and Measureup practice test and passed the exam in my first attempt.

This book covers *everything* - really detailed and thorough, best book I've been able to find that offers really comprehensive exam prep. The case studies and troubleshooting scenarios are outstanding.

The 70-526 Training Kit is now available, but there are still reviews on this site for another book (the 70-536 Training Kit). Please be aware that this is a new title and has not yet been reviewed.

This book is the training kit for the 70-526 exam. All of the reviews below are for the training kit for the 70-536 book.