This should be regarded as a single-purpose-book; make you a certified solaris admin. It’s not a good reference-book, not a book ‘great for beginners, usefull for guru’s alike’ nor a ‘explains all theorie, but has great practical value’ and other contradiction idea’s. No, it’s a certification book, training you to do the exam. I like the cd-rom very much, many questions (some are wrong answered ,though) and nice ‘flashcard questions’. Can one certify by reading a book alone? No, with this subject some experience is vital – but even a x86 with a free solaris 7 will do the job. This book will show you the way, but you have to work though the matter yourself, behind the keyboard. If that would not be the case, then the certification wouldn’t be valuable. This book is a good help, although we can’t compare many books on this subject, can we?