4 ms·

Without exaggerating much, I don't know a single person, technical or not, who ever read a single help file for any Windows software. There's even less sense in

by eps 7y ago

Without exaggerating much, I don't know a single person, technical or not, who ever read a single help file for any Windows software. There's even less sense in these files now as opposed to keeping all documentation online. So I have to say I don't see a point in this product... though I suspect there is actually a market for it.

zeta0134 7y ago
Perhaps I'm simply too old, but my first decade of computing was spent using software installed from CD-ROM drives, which you would typically purchase in a brick and mortar store, drive to your house, and install once. We had dial-up at the time, but it was painfully slow and as a kid I wasn't allowed to use it all that often. HTML help files were the only way I had to really discover the hidden features in any of the software I had. I dove deep into those manuals and read every section, sometimes more than once, just to familiarize myself with what was possible. If I couldn't figure something out, the option to "just Google it" wasn't on the table; the help feature built into the program was the best shot at finding the solution. It was also relatively standard: just about every bit of software, even lots of games, used the same format and had the same basic UI to navigate and search the text. Maybe times are different now, and internet-based help really is the way to go, but for a long while they were the next best thing to a paper manual: easy to ignore, but incredibly handy when required.
- eps 7y ago
  For what it's worth, I grew up on MS-DOS, so I am of comparable age if not older than you. I still stand by my observation - very few people read help _files_. Printed manuals - yes, those were read and they were undoubtedly useful, but not the electronic versions. They are usually bloated with so much filler and so cumbersome to use that people just don't bother.
  - sgc 7y ago
    I have definitely spent plenty of time reading help files as well. Some are very useful, and I would say they are often more useful than a man page just due to the more verbose format.
travisporter 7y ago
I used to use them (usually to no avail) for the office products a couple decades ago. I try to use F1 now occasionally but even for excel it’s faster to just do a web search.
- p_l 7y ago
  I've sadly noticed that for last few (since 2007?) versions F1 leads you to a web page that usually is quite useless. Back on Office 2003 and earlier, I could blitz through anything low to medium complexity in Office by hitting F1 :-(
opless 7y ago
A lot of early "e-books" were distributed as .chm You know, back when there were modems, and before the Eternal September spread to the rest of the world (1993 ... 2000)
- copperx 7y ago
  I find chm readers much more friendly for reading books on the desktop than proper ePub readers. It is nice to have a nicely laid out table of contents right next to the text. In addition, chm readers are also much faster than ePub ones.
- NeedMoreTea 7y ago
  Those pirate CHMs of books were usually surprisingly well indexed, with proper table of contents. When I was contracting I'd carry a disc or two of CHMs - basically the bookshelf back home, to avoid carting actual books.
speps 7y ago
Xbox One SDK and DirectX documentation is still distributed in CHM form and it's very useful still to have one file to refer people to and that you don't need to be online for.
rkagerer 7y ago
I disagree, as well. CHM files were great - they were local, so you could find help even when you didn't have an internet connection. I found them quicker to pull up than a web page, and they didn't have the ads, laggy front-end frameworks or telemetry. They tended to force vendors to be more thoughtful with their documentation than the link-to-a-blog-site that often passes for "technical documentation" today. Not saying they're perfect or solve everything, but I'm thankful to the author for making this tool.
dgellow 7y ago
I recently read all the help files for Keyboard Layout Creator from Microsoft. The tool is a bit old now (no update since 2007), the help pages have some interesting information difficult to find online.
pnako 7y ago
Its such a superior model. Im angry that it disappeared. I was shocked to see that Microsoft got away with replacing actual help files with links that open a search query in Bing (completely abused by SEO and spammers). This is such a regression. Generally the developer doc was much better when we got MSDN on a CDROM as opposed to todays crap where links eventually become 404 because the MS web team decided to shuffle things around.
thrower123 7y ago
It used to be fantastic when you could click on the help button on a form or hit the F1 key, and a local help file would come right up. This capability used to be very emphasized in the Microsoft documentation - a million years ago, before 2000. Sadly, it's all gotten lost in the shuffle over time, and 1.) Nobody writes comprehensive documentation anymore and 2.) Nobody knows the capabilities that are built in for desktop software to take advantage of.
bbernoulli 7y ago
One that sticks in my mind was the help file for mIRC, as a kid trying to script my irc client, it was pretty damn useful. (Of course moved on to ircii, bitchx, etc.)
GoblinSlayer 7y ago
>keeping all documentation online And destroy it with outsourced writers. MSDN 2001 is the last piece of readable documentation about windows that is still available in some form.
dmitripopov 7y ago
I know at least a dozen :) Just kidding. I know a lot more. Enterprise systems tend to have so complicated business processes that a detailed help file is a must.

by eps 7y ago

zeta0134 7y ago

Perhaps I'm simply too old, but my first decade of computing was spent using software installed from CD-ROM drives, which you would typically purchase in a brick and mortar store, drive to your house, and install once. We had dial-up at the time, but it was painfully slow and as a kid I wasn't allowed to use it all that often. HTML help files were the only way I had to really discover the hidden features in any of the software I had. I dove deep into those manuals and read every section, sometimes more than once, just to familiarize myself with what was possible. If I couldn't figure something out, the option to "just Google it" wasn't on the table; the help feature built into the program was the best shot at finding the solution. It was also relatively standard: just about every bit of software, even lots of games, used the same format and had the same basic UI to navigate and search the text. Maybe times are different now, and internet-based help really is the way to go, but for a long while they were the next best thing to a paper manual: easy to ignore, but incredibly handy when required.

eps 7y ago
For what it's worth, I grew up on MS-DOS, so I am of comparable age if not older than you. I still stand by my observation - very few people read help _files_. Printed manuals - yes, those were read and they were undoubtedly useful, but not the electronic versions. They are usually bloated with so much filler and so cumbersome to use that people just don't bother.
- sgc 7y ago
  I have definitely spent plenty of time reading help files as well. Some are very useful, and I would say they are often more useful than a man page just due to the more verbose format.

travisporter 7y ago

I used to use them (usually to no avail) for the office products a couple decades ago. I try to use F1 now occasionally but even for excel it’s faster to just do a web search.

p_l 7y ago
I've sadly noticed that for last few (since 2007?) versions F1 leads you to a web page that usually is quite useless. Back on Office 2003 and earlier, I could blitz through anything low to medium complexity in Office by hitting F1 :-(

opless 7y ago

A lot of early "e-books" were distributed as .chm You know, back when there were modems, and before the Eternal September spread to the rest of the world (1993 ... 2000)

copperx 7y ago
I find chm readers much more friendly for reading books on the desktop than proper ePub readers. It is nice to have a nicely laid out table of contents right next to the text. In addition, chm readers are also much faster than ePub ones.
NeedMoreTea 7y ago
Those pirate CHMs of books were usually surprisingly well indexed, with proper table of contents. When I was contracting I'd carry a disc or two of CHMs - basically the bookshelf back home, to avoid carting actual books.

speps 7y ago

Xbox One SDK and DirectX documentation is still distributed in CHM form and it's very useful still to have one file to refer people to and that you don't need to be online for.

rkagerer 7y ago

I disagree, as well. CHM files were great - they were local, so you could find help even when you didn't have an internet connection. I found them quicker to pull up than a web page, and they didn't have the ads, laggy front-end frameworks or telemetry. They tended to force vendors to be more thoughtful with their documentation than the link-to-a-blog-site that often passes for "technical documentation" today. Not saying they're perfect or solve everything, but I'm thankful to the author for making this tool.

dgellow 7y ago

I recently read all the help files for Keyboard Layout Creator from Microsoft. The tool is a bit old now (no update since 2007), the help pages have some interesting information difficult to find online.

pnako 7y ago

Its such a superior model. Im angry that it disappeared. I was shocked to see that Microsoft got away with replacing actual help files with links that open a search query in Bing (completely abused by SEO and spammers). This is such a regression. Generally the developer doc was much better when we got MSDN on a CDROM as opposed to todays crap where links eventually become 404 because the MS web team decided to shuffle things around.

thrower123 7y ago

It used to be fantastic when you could click on the help button on a form or hit the F1 key, and a local help file would come right up. This capability used to be very emphasized in the Microsoft documentation - a million years ago, before 2000. Sadly, it's all gotten lost in the shuffle over time, and 1.) Nobody writes comprehensive documentation anymore and 2.) Nobody knows the capabilities that are built in for desktop software to take advantage of.

bbernoulli 7y ago

One that sticks in my mind was the help file for mIRC, as a kid trying to script my irc client, it was pretty damn useful. (Of course moved on to ircii, bitchx, etc.)

GoblinSlayer 7y ago

>keeping all documentation online And destroy it with outsourced writers. MSDN 2001 is the last piece of readable documentation about windows that is still available in some form.

dmitripopov 7y ago

I know at least a dozen :) Just kidding. I know a lot more. Enterprise systems tend to have so complicated business processes that a detailed help file is a must.