Sadly, the reference library is much different. I've had great difficulty staying focused enough to read through the component tools guide (volume 3). It's written in a very boring, and not very educational manner. The programmer's guide guides you through new concepts by having you type in examples you can execute. I think this is a good way to become a self taught VB programmer. The component tools guide doesn't work the same way. It gives you the same step by step instructions, but they are incomplete, and cannot work on their own.

Example (p854) : "2. In the Add HTML Template dialog box, select the HTML page you want, then click OK."

The programmers guide would walk you through creation of an HTML page that could become functional after this step. Instead the component tools guide gives you this step without any help on the HTML page that can be functional. Sure, a code example is included on the MSDN CD, but it doesn't have the same learning value if you don't create it yourself. Also, what good is this step 2 when you already have the code sample?

People who have learned from the MS programmers guides will probably understand what I'm saying here. Those who have not are probably lost.