ANN: Microsoft update (WinHelp)

[Mike Starr]

I've never been sold on HTML Help for that very reason. I've always felt 
that WinHelp served the user far better than HTML Help.

I've also always felt that the main reason Microsoft switched over to HTML 
Help was as a validation of their push to conquer the browser marketplace. 
If folks needed to use HTML for help, Microsoft could justify embedding 
Internet Explorer more deeply into the operating system.

Now, they're reaping the "rewards" of that bad decision... HTML Help remains 
a kluge that never brought any advance to the concept of online help. The 
lack of non-scrolling regions and the kluges required to get formatted 
popups have led me to advocate WinHelp to my clients whenever there's an 
option. I've even advocated down-converting from HTML Help to WinHelp.

I recall being terribly aggravated when Microsoft "upgraded" WinHelp and 
incorporated the separate contents file (*.cnt) because it only displayed 
the contents pane and not the help pane. I always felt that when a user 
pressed F1 to launch the help system, the help system should display a help 
window that showed the company's logo. When the HAT vendors came up with the 
tri-pane view, that resolved that deficiency, I was completely happy with 
WinHelp. RoboHelp's WinHelp 2000 is just fine with me.

My prediction... Microsoft will cave in and ship the WinHelp engine with 
Vista, either with the initial release or shortly thereafter when the 
outrage hits because all sorts of legacy software is suddenly no longer able 
to display user help.

Mike
--
Mike Starr                            WriteStarr Information Services
Technical Writer   -   Online Help Developer   -    Website developer
Graphic Designer    -    Desktop Publisher   -       MS Office Expert
Phone: (262) 694-1028 - Tollfree: (877) 892-1028 - Fax:(262) 697-6334
Email: mike at writestarr.com      -      Web: http://www.writestarr.com
----- Original Message ----- 
Message: 46
Date: Fri, 26 May 2006 08:15:36 +1000
From: Frank <frank at research.canon.com.au>
Subject: Re: ANN: Microsoft update (WinHelp)
To: 'TECHWR-L' <techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com>

Paul Neshamkin wrote:
> IMHO, HTML Help never was finished, and has been degraded in its
> functionality since the initial release.
>
I agree. From a user's perspective, HTML Help is a step backward from
WinHelp. HTML Help is /not/ user-friendly when compared with WinHelp.