Thanks for reminding us that help files are getting better. Hopefully, we'll see the day when software is so user friendly and error free that we'll see help files getting smaller, seldom referenced, and extinct. Unfortunately, just the reverse is true because more new features are added with each new release and so we have become lifetime Beta testers.

Help files have to be written with the assumption that neophytes are using the software. As we go through the learning curve of each new release, our dependence on help files decreases. Complex software also keeps IT help desk people gainfully employed because some users will never venture into the uncharted waters of help files unless they experience the rich and robust writings firsthand.

Although this article is about OS help files, I want to make a comment about Microsoft Word help files. Over the years, I?ve noticed one particular help file in Microsoft Word (my pet peeve) that seemed antiquated then and now. It is called ?Allow fast saves? and is described below. I think it is a throwback to the late 1980s and the DOS world.

?Allow fast saves Speeds up saving by recording only the changes in a document. When you finish working on a document, clear this option and save the complete file with a full save. A full save may decrease the file size of your document.?

I don?t know if anyone would ever remember to toggle this option and with the speed of hard drives, I don?t see why it is even listed as a feature. I think it is long past time to get rid of this option. Furthermore, look at the feature called Allow background saves. It ?Saves documents in the background while you work. A pulsing disk icon appears in the status bar when Word performs a background save.? This default feature further eliminates the need for ?Allow fast saves.?

TYPO in the first paragraph?
Change "Vista that came of a single DVD" to "Vista that came on a single DVD."