I bought this software for my husband who has had some basic guitar lessons in the past from a tutor. He decided he wanted to get a guitar and learn again so that was his gift this Christmas.
He says that the program is very easy to learn from. He stated that even if he didn't know anything about guitar he would have been able to learn from this software. As it is, he is fairly flying through the lessons and picking up a lot of new chords and frets that he didn't know before. He likes that you can see the fret or chord finger placement and you can also hear what it is supposed to sound like so you can compare how you're strumming is compared to the real thing.
The songs that it has are actually links to the internet that connect you to an individuals recording that will instruct you to play the song and give you verbal instructions as to what cords to play, etc. My husband says this works well. He's been forcing himself to do this in the early lessons for practice of the cords even though he is learning simple songs like jingle bells, etc. He says the practice is getting his fingers used to playing the cords again and it is helping.
All in all, my husband says this is a very good program for beginners and he will very likely get the more advanced programs as he progresses.
For us this was an excellent alternative as we are retired and have a beautiful lake home so the drive to town, especially in winter, to take lessons would probably become tedious and he would quit. For people who have very busy lifestyles and can't take time to take private lessons this is a major plus also. Besides, my husband says this is like having the tutor in the house with you all the time and you don't have to try to remember what he said about this cord or that. None of that practicing all week and then finding out you've been doing it wrong all week. My husband likes it better than the once a week instructions you get from a private lesson and much cheaper too.