Last weekend I spend some time to read a book: Microsoft Application Virtualization Advanced Guide written by Augusto Alvares. With most IT books I read the first two chapters, get bored and read the highlights of the rest 
But not with this one…
The first chapter is called Taking a Deep Dive into App-V. When reading this, the first thought that went through my mind was: ”Yeah right… and what is your idea of a deep dive?”. Even only after a few pages I recognized that the author had the same idea about a deep dive as I have; deep technical yet explained in a structured manner.
Starting with some basics (the components) to deployment options and ending with a part about understanding the App-V client publishing interaction.
I see a lot of authors either using way too much graphical stuff in their books, or a buck load of text but no pictures to clarify what they have written. This author however clearly found a way to complement his text with pictures, not the other way around… and found an elegant balance between text and graphical support.
Since the author got me interested I went on to chapter two: Sequencing in Complex Environments. Seriously? Only chapter four and already going into complex environments? Would love to see how this wouldn’t get way to complicated… and so I did see.
Walking you through the possibilities of sequencing, what too watch out for and most of all… real-life examples from problems with an appropriate solution too show you howto solve them 
I will not get info the rest of the book, but I think it’s safe too write that I simply loved it. Although App-V isn’t my main focus area I loved it, the book was structured and easy to read… and it took me only two days, sitting in the sun with sunglasses on and a beer next to me. When you love deep technical books such as I do, you will not be disappointed with this one…trust me!
Practical information such as dissecting an OSD file for sequencers and high-level information for architects to create a design for the environment and even covering 3th party tools for App-V… it’s all in there, and way…way more So truly a deep technical book about App-V, for administrators, sequencers / packagers, consultants and even architects… a deep dive technical book for the whole IT family
And just to let you know what to expect, here’s a list of the chapters (click on “Table of Contents””) 