RE: I'm sticking with WinHelp (was Re: WinHelp on Vista - a usefullink)

["Mike Hamilton" <mhamilton -at- madcapsoftware -dot- com>]

*** Post by a Tool Vendor ***
 
The following was posted earlier:

>>> IIRC, even now, many Microsoft products still embed
>>> WinHelp calls because HTML Help doesn't do all of the things they need it
>>> to
>>> do. So what are they going to do for those applications post-Vista??
>>
>> They'll use Vista Help. ;-)
>
>Well, I'm certainly not going to embrace this mythical format until I've had
>a chance to actually see it.

Just a point of order here, WinHelp on Vista is the mythical format as nobody has seen the new WinHelp engine that is supposed to be coming for this new OS. At the same time, demos of Vista Help have been up and running for the world to see for well over a year (and longer for those under NDA with Microsoft).
 
The other problem that I see is that the WinHelp format, with its unrestricted macro support is a HUGE security risk and with Microsoft's focus on security for the Vista OS I wouldn't expect the new WinHelp engine to support everything that the older ones have. This is purely my speculation, but it may be severly crippled in capabilities to plug some security holes.
 
 I am not the only one to see the problems with security in WinHelp, here is a post made by one of the Microsoft Help MVPs on one of the Microsoft blogs on the subject:
"As has been pointed out, WinHelp does pose a substantial security risk. Virtually anything can be run using its extensive macro capabilities." 
And at the Writer's UA show this year there was a presentation that focused exclusivey on security issues as they apply to online help and the presentation was not kind to WinHelp.
 
So, in my mind there are multiple reasons to at least research alternative formats:
1. Nobody has seen the new viewer yet
2. When/if we see the new viewer how will its capabilities stack up against the old viewer
3. What capabilities will be disabled/removed for improved security
4. Microsoft has told the world to switch, so at any time they could remove the capability from Vista
5. What would the legal exposure be if your application auto-downloaded the WinHelp engine on to a customer machine, opening up a huge security hole, that was then exploited by a virus? Would your company be liable?
 
Now, for full disclosure I am in the business of selling help authoring tools so take my words with a grain of salt. Having read my points above you may still have a valid reasoning/case for using WinHelp with your environment and customers, however I would highly recomend having a strong back up plan just in case. My crystal ball isn't always perfect but I can see the day that the first virus is found that impacts the Vista OS through a security loophole caused by the WinHelp viewer and the very next day there could be a Windows Update that removes it from everyone's OS once and for all. 
 
Mike Hamilton
V.P. Product Management 
MadCap Software
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