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I am a long time programmer, low-level to mid-level stuff. I've word on various things like commercially available software to 5ESS to factory automation software. One thing I have not done over the ages is keep up with what I will call "general computing". I'm familiar with browsers and irc and email and that sort of stuff, but when it gets to seriously using either Office or Open Office--haven't done much of it.

Can someone suggest either a book, or a "free online university course" ( preferably downloadable videos ) that basically teach "an introduction to computers". MIT offerse one course number 6.00 unfortunately that mainly covers programming--stuff I already know. The things I'm looking for are mainly Office suites, the databases inside office suites, spreadsheets, and presentation managers.

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Interesting question. – Sasha Chedygov Aug 28 '10 at 22:54
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@music Interesting question, yet off topic. Questions on Super User are expected to generally relate to computer software or computer hardware in some way, within the scope defined in the faq. Questions about shopping recommendations/books are considered off topic on Super User – BloodPhilia Aug 28 '10 at 23:06
@BloodPhilla I searched and there seem to be a lot of questions about books, lessons etc to learn something related to computer software. So it may be off topic, but a lot of people ask anyway. This question seems to me to be more on topic here then it is on stackoverflow or serverfault. – hardcore.developer Aug 28 '10 at 23:20
@BloodPhilia: I disagree. There are lots of questions on Stack Overflow about programming book recommendations--why should Super User be different? – Sasha Chedygov Aug 29 '10 at 0:04
Still, this is essentially a shopping question. The product here being the university course or the book. – random♦ Aug 29 '10 at 0:51
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closed as off topic by BloodPhilia, random♦ Aug 29 '10 at 0:50

Questions on Super User are expected to generally relate to computer software or computer hardware, within the scope defined in the faq.

2 Answers

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First off, a disclaimer: I've done videos for Lynda.com and I have nothing but high praise for them and their products.

Given that, though, I think what might suit the OP best is iTunes U. There's all kinds of content, and he can pick around and see what works for him. And, well, free.

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Well, this is a very interesting situation. Spending a weekend playing around with the software isn't good enough? Reading the Office 2007 blog, they say that they designed the program to be as intuitive as possible—and I believe them. If you hover over buttons on 2007/2010, you get a pretty detailed description of something. OpenOffice is another matter though :-(.

Lynda is a great resource for this kind of stuff. A lot of corporations have this for their employees. Try asking your boss or HR for an access code.

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Shees. They said that about Office 7 or whatever 20 years ago and yeah you got detailed description then too. But telling you but telling you what each part does, does not tell you what you can do with something or how to do it. – hardcore.developer Aug 29 '10 at 4:19
I guess what works for me may not work for you. – digitxp Aug 29 '10 at 13:32
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