Windows Vista AP Help
Last Update: Feb 2007
Assistance Platform help is the help system for Windows Vista. There are
client and server parts to the help for Offline or Online modes. The Online
experience is recommended since you get the very latest version. Microsoft have
no plans at the moment to release a public AP Help SDK. However there is an AP
Help SDK for OEMs which is part of the
Business Desktop Deployment download.
See also
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Milestones
- Jan 2007:
AP Help SDK now available for OEMs via BDD 2007.
- Nov 2007:
AP Help v1.0 released with Windows Vista RTM (from MSDN downloads).
- Oct 10, 2005:
Office 2003 online help now powered by AP.
See
AP Blog.
- Dec 2005: First glimpse of AP Help. Window Vista Build 5270
CTP.
- Mar 2004: MS previews Longhorn Help at WritersUA conference.
Announcements
- 2007-Jan:
"Business Desktop Deployment 2007" released. Within BDD is the AP
Help SDK. This is primarily for integrating MS and OEM help content into
Vista Help. It is not recommended for general use. BDD can be run on Windows
XP but you will need Vista (and possibly Win 2003 SP1 server) to test the
output. See
BDD 2007 Download.
- 2006-Nov:
Windows Vista RTM is out and with it so is AP Help (AKA -
Assistance Platform Help). Vista RTM is available to early adopters via MSDN
downloads. Official launch is Jan 30th 2007.
Microsoft have no immediate plans to release a public SDK (Workshop) or Runtime
install (for XP).
- 2006-May:
MS announce WinHelp for Vista. WinHelp will not ship with
Vista. Instead there will be a special "WinHelp32 download for Vista"
available sometime late February 2007.
For more info see KB917607.
Papers, Articles, Links
June 2004: This Helpware paper looks at what is happening with User Interface
and User Assistance
design while traveling the road to Longhorn (now Windows Vista). Contains
essential information for all designers.
Microsoft.com