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Subject:Re: Comparison of help types? From:lois -at- dowco -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 16 Jan 2001 11:53:07 -0800
Bob Walters <rhw -at- lucent -dot- com> wrote in message
> Have any articles been published comparing HTML-Help (Microsoft), NetHelp
> (Netscape), and JavaHelp (SUN)? Most of the software packages seem to be
> able to generate cross-browser help so maybe it's not a big issue.
When I researched this issue and got info from various sources,
including this list, I found the following:
HTML-Help - Fine if you are only running Windows locally. I suspect, but
don't know, that it might not be ideally suited for a web-based
application running over a WAN.
NetHelp - This help system has been abandoned by Netscape, and any
information you get will be several years old. It is cross-platform.
JavaHelp - The versions I looked at had a clunky interface and were
slow. On the plus side, it's cross-platform compatible. Maybe this has
improved in the past 6-9 months.
OracleHelp - Cross-platform, but I just didn't think it worked all that
well. I last tried it about 3 months ago.
You didn't ask about this, but WebHELP, which is standard HTML combined
with a navigational applet and produced by RoboHELP, has proved to be
very useful for cross-platform web-based applications in my experience.
I've also heard of good results from WebWorks by Quadralay.
Lois Patterson
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