I disagree with other reviewers. I bought this book knowing C/C++ and Unix very well - and expecting to pick up Win32. I was very disappointed. The writing is not clear, it is not well ordered or well presented, it is huge and expensive but somehow doesn't cover many important topics (Personally I think the author bulked it up by putting every single line of code he can in there, even if that line has been repeated in 3 earlier programs). You would be far better off getting Win32 Programming by Rector/Newcomer - I did and have never looked back and now I know Win32 very well. Not only does that book teach Win32, it shows how to do it and keep your code clean. Stay away from Petzold's book.