Online help is topic-oriented, procedural or reference information delivered through computer software. It is a form of user assistance. The purpose of most online help is to assist in using a software application, web application or operating system. However, it can also present information on a broad range of subjects. Online help linked to the application's state (what the user is doing) is called Context-sensitive help.
Benefits
Online help has largely replaced live customer support. Before its availability, support could only be given through printed documentation, postal mail, telephone, or in person
Online help is also provided via live chat systems, one step removed from telephone calls. This allows the support person to conduct several support sessions simultaneously, thus reducing costs. The transcript is immediately available and can be sent to the customer after the session ends.
Ralph Walden joined Microsoft in 1987 and wrote an online help system for MS-DOS and OS/2 called QuickHelp. Ralph was also primarily responsible for it.
Based on the Rich Text Format, this was the industry standard for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95/NT. The popular Windows Help program (WinHlp32.exe) was included with all Windows operating systems from Windows 3.0 until the Windows XP operating system. However, the help engine is not included with Windows Vista and is only available as a download.[1]
Also known as Microsoft Compiled HTML Help (the name of its file format), it based on HTML and other data such as images and JavaScript. HTML Help 1.0 was released in 1997. In 2006, it was available from Microsoft as HTML Help 1.4.
In 2001, Microsoft announced plans for a wide release of HTML Help 2.0, which came to be called Microsoft Help 2. This platform was developed by Microsoft and shipped in 2002 as the help format for Visual Studio .NET, MSDN Library and TechNet products, but Microsoft announced it had cancelled plans to make the format publicly available. Microsoft Help 2 was also used as the help format in Office 2007.
Assistance Platform Help is based on Microsoft Assistance Markup Language. It is the format developed for and shipped with Windows Vista. It will not be made publicly available as an authoring platform for other software vendors, but will be used by Microsoft, OEMs, and certain corporate users. Version 2.0 of the Assistance Platform Help engine is currently on hold.
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Other platforms
Platform name
Description
HelpConsole (local HTML files or web-based)
IIS based system, with a standard navigation tree and content area, viewable with a web browser, supports JS, Flash (now deprecated), HTML5, Embedded presentations etc., Since it is web-based, it works on Windows, Linux, and virtually all other Operating Systems.
