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Program notes: History/futures of Windows Help

Posted February 6th, 2007 by Mary Connor
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The STC Austin program on February 1, 2007 hosted Dan Beall, the Product Manager for Doc-To-Help at ComponentOne (a visual tools producer with close ties to Microsoft). Although his talk focused on the new release of D2H and its facility for importing RoboHelp projects, his coverage of the history of Windows Help and the authoring issues surrounding it was compelling. That the era of Windows Help domination was ending was an inescapeable conclusion...

Timeline of Windows Help

(For a larger view of all online help history, see this article.) In 1988, Microsoft sparks the HAT Industry and dictates its direction:

1988: QuickHelp (DOS)

Help for MS-DOS
HELPMAKE.EXE
No third-party tools

1990: WinHelp

Written with .RTF files and Microsoft's Help Compiler
Single-sourcing is born: Doc-To-Help released in 1991
RoboHelp follows

1997: HTML Help

Compiled with Microsoft's HTML Help Workshop
HATs follow suit and HTML Help is the new standard
HATs also introduce browser-based Help

2001: HTML Help 2.0

Only for integration with Visual Studio, planned for general release later
Authors use VSHIK to produce it
HATs begin to support it

2003: HTML Help 2.0

MS announces that Help 2.0 will not be released as a general platform
Developing a new format codenamed "Longhorn"
Web-based Help and HTML Help are still standard

2005+: AP Help

MS announces its plans for Vista (Longhorn) Help
No initial public release
WinHelp will die!

Fate of WinHelp

  • WinHelp: Difficult to use with Windows Vista
  • 16-Bit WinHelp (very old) is supported
  • 32-Bit WinHelp is not supported out of the box
  • Microsoft will provide WinHlp32.exe, but it is not redistributable
  • WinHelp won't be able to run over a network
  • Advice: migrate to HTML Help or web-based Help

Fate of HTML Help

  • HTMLHelp: Still the standard, but 10 years old
  • Web-based Help is quickly replacing it
  • Help 2.0: Still only for integration in Visual Studio
  • AP Help: Future is quite uncertain

Trend: Windows Help replaced by Web

HTML Help is still the Microsoft standard, but browser-based help is increasing in popularity, according to the 2005 WritersUA Skills and Technologies Survey:

  • 75%: browser-based help
  • 55%: HTML Help
  • 15%: WinHelp

Assistance Platform (AP Help)

  • Client/Server Architecture
  • Central Help Pane
  • Task-Based Organization
  • Microsoft Assistance Markup Language (MAML)

AP Help Basic Release Schedule

  • AP Help 1.0: Released with Window Vista later this year
  • AP Help 2.0: Not sure what Microsoft will do - may only productize for OEM use
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