Out of any OS I've ever used, from DOS 3.3 to Windows XP to Linux to Mac OS X, one thing I confess I have never picked up is a manual. Datasheets, for sure, online FAQs and manpages, but I never imagined myself picking up a book dedicated to teaching you about an OS. Many do, however, and apparently a particularly quality one for Vista has been released. Five years in the making and dubbed "Windows Vista: The Missing Manual", the book. is designed to teach from the ground up the purpose of Vista and what sets it apart from Microsoft OS'es of the past.
It seems the primary intention of the author was to fill in all the holes left by various scattered guides and walkthroughs that you can often find for Windows, putting them all into one place. If you're a seasoned Windows expert, odds are a book of this nature doesn't interest you - but the majority of users are office or home users, who often could benefit from reading a bit before calling IT.