An updated version of a classic bestseller includes 4.3 BSD (Berkeley Standard Distribution), the predominant version of UNIX in colleges and universities. Other significant changes include updated discussions of the vi and ex editors, coverage of the C shell, file management commands, and a discussion of X Windows, a graphical interface for UNIX.

UNIX Primer Plus begins by placing Unix in a technical and historical context. The book then quickly walks you through the basics of the Unix operating system: logging in, passwords, and initial prompts. After the basics, you are taught about various Unix Editors, files and directories, and Mail. Panel drawings throughout the book help you understand concepts better, and exercises at the end of each chapter reinforce what you have learned in the chapter. Topics include email, files and directories, the vi. screen editor, the ex line editor, the emacs editor, information processing, and advanced editing techniques.