Paging through a new Internet guide called "Online! The Book" tells us much about how computing has changed. There was a time when a general-interest book about the Internet wouldn't have included things like a breakdown of computer memory, from SRAM (static RAM) to EDO RAM (extended data output RAM), or an explanation of hard-disk spin rates and seek times.

But John Dvorak, Chris Pirillo and Wendy Taylor realized when they put this volume together that even the novice computer buyer buys on the basis of Net capabilities. From sending mail to buying antiques, it's an Internet world, and your PC had better be able to handle it. "Online! The Book" (Prentice Hall PTR, $29.99) helps newcomers make sense of these issues.

Dvorak is one of the most recognizable figures in computer journalism, the author or editor of many books, and a longtime critic of anything that wasn't what it purported to be. Old hands will remember Dvorak commentaries in which he skewered major software houses without mercy, demanding better performance and fewer bugs.

Pirillo is the creator of the online Lockergnome newsletters, which provide an outstanding way to keep up with the latest, whether you're a devotee of Mac, Windows or Linux (www.lockergnome.com). If Dvorak is the big-picture guy, Pirillo is the geek, able to explain the highest of technology in terms a layman can handle.

It's easy to recommend this fat volume as an encyclopedic reference that cuts straight to the chase on every topic it covers. That range comes at the expense of depth, but that is what encyclopedias do, and the world has room for more of them. I keep this book around to refresh my memory on acronyms, to remind me of good Web sites, and to gain an overview on broad issues like Net security.

But you can see the Achilles' heel of such books: Their references go out of date, though the Dvorak team will supplement its work at www.onlinethebook.com, a site that includes downloads and revised links. I also miss the Dvorak personality; the book reads like it was written by a committee. But the tips are valuable -- enough so that anyone without a one-volume reference source for beginners should put "Online! The Book" at the top of the buying list.

Some of us like lean, stripped-down interfaces on our PCs. But for many folks, there's something irresistible in doctoring how their system looks. Stardock's Object Desktop should catch their eye.

This is the company whose WindowBlinds product made it possible to tweak almost every visual aspect of Windows. WindowBlinds 4 extended the favor to include Windows XP, and is now included as part of the larger Object Desktop package. If XP's included themes aren't enough, you'll find many ways to change colors and screen styles.

WindowBlinds lets you play with such things as the title bar, push buttons and window frames. The Object Desktop package is an "interface suite," with tools like ObjectBar, that lets you set up customized bars and popup menus, and SkinStudio, a program that lets you create your own visual themes ("skins").

I've heard that some users have had problems uninstalling WindowBlinds (I didn't), so XP users may want to make a new "restore" point before loading it -- that way changes can be undone. Screenshots are available at the Stardock site (www.stardock.com), which can help you decide whether it or the larger suite ($49.95) tempts you. On its own, WindowBlinds runs $19.95 and seems the best customization option for Windows around.