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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 -dot- com - Web: http://www.writestarr.com
----- Original Message -----
Message: 46
Date: Fri, 26 May 2006 08:15:36 +1000
From: Frank <frank -at- research -dot- canon -dot- com -dot- au>
Subject: Re: ANN: Microsoft update (WinHelp)
To: 'TECHWR-L' <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- 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.
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