I have no idea what 'another source' is referencing but using the 'Options' tab allows you to control the number of solution steps.  I prefer to use 'a few steps' and only increase the number of solution steps when the additional information is helpful rather than confusing. 

To solve for 's' the square root of 's^2' provides two possible answers and that is what is expected.  Since a single equation contains multiple variables there is no way to reduce the answer to a decimal, otherwise the 'Options' tab could be use to provide a real decimal rather than an integer answer.