The Guided Help feature as seen in a pre-release build of Windows Vista.
Guided Help (codenamed Active Content Wizard) is a feature available in pre-release builds of the Microsoft Windows "Longhorn" and Windows Vista operating systems. Guided Help was designed to assist an inexperienced user during a new task through a series of progressive steps, or perform the task for the user while requiring little or no user interaction.[1][2]
History[]
Active Content Wizard[]
The Active Content Wizard in Windows "Longhorn."
In pre-reset builds of Windows "Longhorn" a new feature called the Active Content Wizard was designed to assist users during a task by displaying a series of progressive steps for the user to follow, or by performing the task for the user while requiring little or no interaction.
Details[]
Guided Help could be accessed in certain articles within the Help & Support feature in Windows Vista, where it presented a total of two options to assist the user in performing the tasks that were described therein.[1][2] The first option titled "do it automatically" automated most of a task for a user, whereas a second option titled "show me step-by-step" would present a series of steps for the user to perform in order to complete a task. Once a user had initiated a Guided Help session, everything on a user's desktop, excluding the Guided Help window and current task area, would be dimmed to help increase discoverability, while a green cursor would navigate to the task area to draw attention to a certain item on a screen.[3] Guided Help was characterized by a compass with an animated arrow that would change its direction based on where the next step of the task was to be performed. For example, if a window on the left side of a user's screen included an option that was part of an ongoing task, the arrow would point toward the location of the option in that window. Additionally, if a user decided to perform a task through a series of progressive steps, the Guided Help window would automatically reposition itself toward the area where the next step was located.[2]
Availability[]
The Guided Help error as seen in Windows Vista RTM.
Guided Help is available in pre-release builds of Windows Vista, with the first known build being Windows Vista Build 5112. Prior to the operating system's release to manufacturing, Microsoft announced that it would not ship the complete feature within the operating system, but would instead incorporate some of its functionality through the Online Help option as part of the Help & Support feature.[4] Guided Help would later appear in the Microsoft Office Search Commands product add-in created by Microsoft Office Labs.[5]
The executable for Guided Help (ACW.exe) is notably available in the RTM release of Windows Vista, but it yields an error when a user attempts to start the feature.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 McGlinchey, Andrew. (September 24, 2006). "Designing Guided Help"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Zheng, Long. (June 13, 2006). "Windows Vista screencasts"
- ↑ Vamosi, Robert. (June 12, 2006). "CNET's quick guide illustrating five things about Windows Vista you'll love and five you'll hate"
- ↑ Microsoft Active Content Wizard Team. (November 2, 2006). "Where's Guided Help on RTM?"
- ↑ Zheng, Long. (April 28, 2008). "Search Commands now available from Office Labs"