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It recently took me 2.5 days to install DevStudio w/all extensions for
WM dev't....it was a freaking nightmare.<br>
<br>
They may have had easy installs and good docs in the past...but not so
much anymore.<br>
<br>
I have like 20 bookmarks for WM apis....nothing is in a single spot.
Plus...like 20% of msoft links on their site for dev't are dead....404
always.<br>
<br>
I remember attending a MS-Dev Conf like 15 years ago where they stated
their "move" away from printed docs...but don't worry...everything you
need will be in online help. Well as many of you already know...when
you hit F1....you 99% of time don't get actual help but "placeholder
text".<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
mike<br>
<br>
David Hazel wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:001c01c7ffc1$267548a0$647ba8c0@delboy" type="cite">
<pre wrap="">In the context of this thread, I would like to highlight one point of
Thomas' in particular:
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">One thing Microsoft excels at is in documentation, example
code and support (you get what you are paying for ;-)
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
I guess the reaction of some people to that will be "Oh, well, Microsoft
have cash coming out their ears", so let me add this:
Apple's documentation and development tools on Mac OS X leave Microsoft and
everyone else in the shade. Not only is the documentation very extensive,
complete, well-cross-referenced and online, it is FREE!!! On top of this,
their development tools are also free and every bit as good as anything that
Micro$oft produces. They have obviously realised that there's a commercial
advantage to ensuring their platform is well-supported by software
developers and have made it as easy as they can for that to happen. I spent
6 months last year developing on Mac OS X (never having used it before), and
it was an absolute joy to work with something so well-engineered. It was
like being back in the VMS world, but with better development tools (and I
guess only another VMS programmer would know what a compliment that is).
Why is this relevant here? Well, if Apple can do it, so can others. I'm not
asking for development tools other than the ones already available; just for
good documentation that doesn't assume everyone who reads it already knows
where to find the bits that the author has skipped over. A bare minimum
would be a web page that lists links to existing documentation in some kind
of logical order (e.g. where you get to read the pre-requisite information
before you're halfway through a complicated example which assumes you
already know it).
David Hazel
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</pre>
</blockquote>
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