FrankPalinkas

Thanks Don!
Your efforts and info will be much appreciated by many of us in the Help authoring community.

frank

Thanks to Mr. Levin and Don Campbell for a great presentation.

Question please?

I'm involved in technical writing and have been active in building and integrating MS1 and MS2Help into the 2002, 2003 and 2005 Visual Studio IDE's. I have heard that we will also be able to build and integrate customized Help (called AP2) in Office 2007, which may follow a similar format to that of MSHelp2.

Listening to Mr. Levin, this would certainly useful to Office users, especially if this customized help could be enabled across the whole Office app spectrum.

Any thoughts or info available on this at this point?

Frank M. Palinkas
MCP, MCT, MCSE, MCDBA, A+
Microsoft Registered Partner
Senior Technical Communicator
Web Standards & Accessibility Designer

Thanks for your comment.

With this new movement forward by Microsoft, there are many misconceptions that have been spontaneously created by ignorance of what they are trying to achieve.

Pringle's message is a prime example of this. However, he is not alone by a long shot. I've faced the same irrational attitude in the company where I currently work.

This "fear factor" is also augmented by Java-based management and developers, ignorant of what is going on in the industry as a whole. By that, I mean that Oracle has also implemented similar programs which will also "affect" Java-centric shops.

I've seen this Java group, within our company, launch a vitriolic cascade against the Windows Workflow Foundation, trying to confirm the fact that any further development of our Windows-based Workflow products (BPM) is doomed by the megalithic hand of Microsoft.

Nothing can be further from the truth.

Although most of this new development by MS is still in either Alpha or Beta stages, I do think that the MS Marketing Team could get out a more definitive message as to how these new tools will benefit the Windows development community, and do away with the ignorance that's creating this fear and uncertainty.

MS Ladies and Gentlemen....I am available.

Frank

From what I can see, one of the most important goals that Microsoft is trying to achieve with this and other (Windows Workflow Foundation, for example) new items is the constuction of platforms/frameworks on which developers can build client specific apps.

These are tools to help you move faster to satisfy a particular client's needs, which in this area are usually unique.

Please take a close look at what they are doing and study all of the facts first before jumping to an emotional conclusion.

Kind regards,
Frank M. Palinkas
MCP, MCT, MCSE, MCDBA, A+
Senior Technical Communicator

Charles,

Outstanding!!

This makes me proud that Mr. Gates & I went to different high schools together.

Frank