CHM Reader vs Microsoft HTML Help

Struggling to choose between CHM Reader and Microsoft HTML Help? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

CHM Reader is a Education & Reference solution with tags like chm, help-files, documentation, ebook, reader.

It boasts features such as View CHM files, Navigate table of contents, Search contents, Copy text, Print pages, View in fullscreen, Customizable interface and pros including Free and open source, Simple and easy to use, Good CHM support, Lightweight, Customizable.

On the other hand, Microsoft HTML Help is a Office & Productivity product tagged with help, documentation, authoring, html.

Its standout features include Authoring tool to create HTML Help files, Supports HTML, images, multimedia, Context-sensitive help through special HTML tags, Full text search, Table of contents, Index, Hyperlinks, Integration with Visual Studio and Microsoft products, and it shines with pros like Easy to create help content with HTML, Good integration with Microsoft ecosystem, Full text search allows quick access to content, Navigation features like TOC and index, Multimedia support allows images, audio, video etc, Wide adoption in Microsoft products.

Feature	CHM Reader	Microsoft HTML Help
Overall Score	N/A	N/A
Primary Category	Education & Reference	Office & Productivity

Product Overview

CHM Reader

Description: CHM Reader is a free, open source program for viewing CHM files on Windows. It provides a simple interface for browsing .chm documents and their contents. Useful for accessing old help files and documentation.

Microsoft HTML Help

Description: Microsoft HTML Help is a Microsoft proprietary format for writing help content. It allows creating help files with HTML, providing features like full text search, index, table of contents. It integrates with Visual Studio and other Microsoft products.

Key Features Comparison

CHM Reader Features

• View CHM files
• Navigate table of contents
• Search contents
• Copy text
• Print pages
• View in fullscreen
• Customizable interface

Microsoft HTML Help Features

• Authoring tool to create HTML Help files
• Supports HTML, images, multimedia
• Context-sensitive help through special HTML tags
• Full text search
• Table of contents
• Index
• Hyperlinks
• Integration with Visual Studio and Microsoft products

Pros & Cons Analysis

CHM Reader

Pros

• Free and open source
• Simple and easy to use
• Good CHM support
• Lightweight
• Customizable

Cons

• Windows only
• Limited features compared to paid alternatives
• Development seems inactive
• Some stability issues

Microsoft HTML Help

Pros

• Easy to create help content with HTML
• Good integration with Microsoft ecosystem
• Full text search allows quick access to content
• Navigation features like TOC and index
• Multimedia support allows images, audio, video etc
• Wide adoption in Microsoft products

Cons

• Proprietary format limited to Microsoft platform
• Limited styling capabilities compared to HTML/CSS
• Not responsive for mobile devices
• Lacks features of newer help formats like responsive UI, embedded videos etc
• Authoring requires Microsoft HTML Help Workshop
• Not actively developed anymore

Pricing Comparison

CHM Reader

• Free
• Open Source

Microsoft HTML Help

• Free
• One-time Purchase