Free ebooks available from Microsoft

Everybody loves a great bargain. and you cannot get a much better bargain than Microsoft offering free technical ebooks via Microsoft Virtual Academy. Take advantage of this offer especially if you are interested in a career in computers.

As you might have guessed with these ebooks coming from Microsoft, they are not novels. Microsoft's ebooks are primarily guides to their software and operating systems, as well as some other tech topics like programming apps.

These technical guides are incredibly thorough and detailed, some giving you great intro material to some Windows features and programs, and others giving you more information on programs you might already be familiar with.

They will be great additions to your ebook library, so check out the Microsoft Virtual Academy website, and start downloading at absolutely no cost to you. To learn more about how easy these ebooks are to get, how to read them, and which ones to download first as your starter collection.

How to get the ebooks

To download the free ebooks, you will need a Microsoft account. If you already have one, great; you are one step closer to getting your free ebooks. If not, that is fine, the account is free and easy to get.

When you go to the Microsoft Virtual Academy free ebook library, if you have a Microsoft account, click the "Sign in" link at the top of the page, sign in and you will be able to download ebooks in no time. If you do not have an account, click "Sign in" and then next to the "No account?" question below, click "Create one!"

Note: If you try to download a book before you've made a Microsoft account, you'll be prompted to sign in or create an account anyway. So, you might as well get this step done first!

Once you are logged in and back at the free ebook library (mva.microsoft.com), scroll through the selections and see which book you want. Once you have found one you like, click the "Download" button to the right of it, and select your preferred format from the menu that appears. With your format selected, click "Download" again, and the ebook will download to whatever device you are using to look at the library.

Ebook format options

Microsoft was aware that people read ebooks in different formats and from different devices. Therefore, their ebooks come in a variety of file formats to accommodate as many people as possible.

Most of the free ebooks are available as PDFs. This is a great format, as almost any electronic device can read this format.

If you like to read on your phone, many of the free ebooks from Microsoft Press can also be specifically downloaded in a PDF for mobile form. The PDF for mobile format is a slightly smaller file, and can be read with more ease on a smartphone than a regular PDF.

EPUB format starts to bring eReaders into the mix. Your computer, tablet and smartphone can all still read EPUB files, but it takes particular computer programs for it. 
Smartphones and tablets often have apps that can read EPUBs since most of those operating systems have stores where you can buy ebooks, so the EPUB file should work with that.

If you really love your Kindle eReader, Microsoft Press and MVA have you covered. Quite a few of the free ebooks, especially the longer ones, come in Mobi for Kindle formats. Mobi is a file format that works only with Kindle devices. Just download the Mobi file to your computer, and transfer it to your Kindle.

Which ebooks should you get first?

There are quite a few ebook options on Microsoft Virtual Academy. With so many free ones, it can be hard to decide which ones might be worth your time, if you are not looking to understand a particular program or tech concept.

Here are some of the more popular ebooks available, which you can get right now for free to start you off:

• Microsoft Azure Essentials: Fundamentals of Azure — Teaches you about Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing service from Microsoft for building, managing, and testing apps. At 246 pages, the ebook does not go into every single feature of the program, but it does give a thorough look at all of the functions you need to know to use Azure.
• Data Science with Microsoft SQL Server 2016 — Delves into one of the hottest topics in tech and business right now: data science, aka analyzing data via scientific methods, processes, algorithms, and systems to get more knowledge and insight from it. 
• Deploying Windows 10 — Designed to help the IT departments of companies and businesses upgrade computers to Windows 10 with little hassle. Though this ebook is designed for converting a lot of computers at once, this ebook could still be useful if you are updating to Windows 10 yourself, and do not want too much to change on your own personal computer.

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George Cox is the owner of Computer Diagnostics and Repair. He can be reached at 702-346-4217.