This document is designed to be the starting point for XMM users in the search for information on the satellite. Users working with a printed (postscript or PDF) version of this document, please note that the online XMM Users' Handbook (UHB) is full of links to other components of our web-based information system (and other, external servers). Also, most of the figures are colour based and some do not reproduce well in black and white. Various appendices also provide introductions and links to other online services of the XMM Science Operations Centre (SOC) and the Survey Science Centre (SSC).
The XMM UHB is primarily intended to serve as a proposal preparation document, based on which potential XMM users will be able to assess the technical feasibility of their planned observations and the expected data quality. Details on how to fill out the proposal submission forms of the XMM Remote Proposal Submission (XRPS) software will be described in a separate document, the XRPS Users' Manual, which will become available at the time of the software release.
In addition, this document provides an overview of all aspects of XMM data calibration and analysis.