Microsoft HTML Help vs CHM Reader

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

Microsoft HTML Help is a Office & Productivity solution with tags like help, documentation, authoring, html.

It boasts features such as 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 pros including 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.

On the other hand, CHM Reader is a Education & Reference product tagged with chm, help-files, documentation, ebook, reader.

Its standout features include View CHM files, Navigate table of contents, Search contents, Copy text, Print pages, View in fullscreen, Customizable interface, and it shines with pros like Free and open source, Simple and easy to use, Good CHM support, Lightweight, Customizable.

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

Product Overview

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.

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.

Key Features Comparison

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

CHM Reader Features

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

Pros & Cons Analysis

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

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

Pricing Comparison

Microsoft HTML Help

• Free
• One-time Purchase

CHM Reader

• Free
• Open Source