This book should really be called "Automating Windows Media Applications using Visual Basic", because this topic forms the majority of the content. Unfortunately, automation isn't really what most serious Windows Media developers, myself included, are interested in or need information on.The core technology behind all Windows Media programming is called the Windows Media Format SDK: it is this library that powers all encoding applications including the Windows Media Encoder, Windows Media Services, Windows Media Player, parts of DirectShow, and manipulation of Windows media files themselves. Getting to grips with this vast library and its complexities is the real task facing professional developers on this platform. Unfortunately this doesn't get much more than cursory mention in the first chapter.
The bulk of the book concentrates primarily on automating Windows Media Encoder (using the Encoder SDK), a small, higher-level subset of Windows Media functionality. I can't honestly see why you'd want to write a Visual Basic application that uses the Encoder SDK as the Windows Media Encoder application itself is already up to the job. There is also a section on Windows Media Player, but again this focusses on higher-level automation and "skinning" of the player rather than looking at how you might receive Windows Media streams directly into your own application.
In addtion to all this, the author's decision to concentrate solely on Visual Basic, even though most "automation" developers have switched to .NET by now, and more serious Windows Media developers are confined to C++, diminishes the usefulness of this book even further. The book feels more like an extended magazine article rather than a serious reference book, and I could only really recommend it to Visual Basic hobbyists who are fiddling with Windows Media technology for fun.
Receiving this was such a shame, especially as the publication that accompainied it in my order was the excellent "Windows Media Resource Kit", which is an essential for any Windows Media professional, developer and administrator alike.
