Improving the documentation

 If you haven’t heard, Microsoft is now updating the WDK documentation monthly and is now providing a way to download these updated docs to your computer.  This update, just for documentation, can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/DevTools/WDK/WDKdocs.mspx   Microsoft should be congratulated for this effort to improve the documentation in a timely manner.

 

Currently there are some flaws to be aware of.  First the install process does not take into account that many of us would just like to update the documentation we got with the WDK with the new docs.  In fact, the installer does not even know about the WDK installation, and provides no way to update the documentation.  I find that the installation of the WDK’s and its documentation are the least friendly parts of the product.  After several attempts to install the updates, I finally pulled the doc files out of the underlying CAB file and put them in the help directory of the WDK where they belong.

 

The second problem is that the documentation does not have a feedback link so you can send in bug reports.  This will be corrected in the next version, but for now the feedback alias is ddksurv1@microsoft.com.   Having a well documented feedback alias is significant.  Those who have been in the industry awhile may remember that when OSR hosted the documentation bug finding contest, the quality of the documentation went up significantly.

 

With all the new material in the documentation, there are errors.  Now that there is a mechanism for providing feedback, and with frequent updates, we have a chance to fix these problems.  Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to it.  I am going to cut this entry short so I can send some mail about the technical mistakes I know of in the doc set. 

 

Posted: Aug 28 2007, 01:32 PM by DonBurn | with 1 comment(s)
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Comments

Jennifer Stepler said:

Just a note that the WDK docs are also available on the MSDN website.  Each page of the MSDN docs allow the reader to rate it, post comments, or post additional information via a "Wiki".  The documenation team is very proactive about using the ratings, comments and Wiki entries to improve the docs.

# July 25, 2008 11:17 AM
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