TechNote 10011: WinHelp is dead!

With the release of Windows Vista, the much loved WinHelp is being deprecated.  In other words, it is being killed.  WinHelp is Dead!

Olson Software has been developing software for creating windows help files for nearly 15 years, so its a sad day to see the old warhorse go.  Microsoft's argument is that it doesn't meet their new security standards, so its simpler to remove it than to upgrade it.  HyperText Studio can import your existing WinHelp content and output it to HTML Help, the current help standard.

If you absolutely have to ship a WinHelp file, your customers can download the help engine from Microsoft.  However, it appears they are going to make this such a pain, it is hardly worth it.  So the best bet is to upgrade to HyperText Studio and produce a new Help file.  Any software accessing this Help file will also have to be changed to use the HTML Help API.  Please contact us if you need assistance with this.

For more information, please see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/917607.