<s>
Microsoft	B-Protocol
Assistance	I-Protocol
Markup	I-Protocol
Language	I-Protocol
(	O
Microsoft	O
AML	O
,	O
generally	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
MAML	B-Protocol
)	O
is	O
an	O
XML-based	O
markup	O
language	O
developed	O
by	O
the	O
Microsoft	O
User	O
Assistance	O
Platform	O
team	O
to	O
provide	O
user	O
assistance	O
(	O
"	O
online	B-Protocol
help	I-Protocol
"	O
)	O
for	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
Vista	I-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
makes	O
up	O
the	O
Assistance	O
Platform	O
on	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
MAML	B-Protocol
is	O
also	O
used	O
to	O
provide	O
help	O
information	O
for	O
PowerShell	B-Application
V2	O
Cmdlets	O
,	O
modules	O
and	O
advanced	O
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MAML	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
departure	O
from	O
all	O
previous	O
types	O
of	O
user	O
assistance	O
for	O
Windows	O
operating	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Previously	O
,	O
user	O
assistance	O
for	O
Windows	O
operating	O
systems	O
used	O
Microsoft	B-Protocol
Compiled	I-Protocol
HTML	I-Protocol
Help	I-Protocol
files	O
,	O
which	O
contains	O
little	O
machine-readable	O
semantic	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
significant	O
aspect	O
of	O
MAML	B-Protocol
is	O
that	O
it	O
shifts	O
the	O
production	O
of	O
user	O
assistance	O
to	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
structured	O
authoring	O
(	O
somewhat	O
similar	O
to	O
DITA	B-Language
or	O
DocBook	B-Protocol
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
MAML	B-Protocol
,	O
the	O
emphasis	O
is	O
on	O
content	O
and	O
the	O
tasks	O
a	O
user	O
performs	O
with	O
a	O
computer	O
,	O
not	O
the	O
features	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
structured	O
feature	O
of	O
MAML	B-Protocol
means	O
that	O
it	O
can	O
express	O
a	O
wide	O
range	O
of	O
active	O
concepts	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
notable	O
feature	O
is	O
guided	O
help	O
(	O
active	O
content	O
wizard	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
allows	O
the	O
help	B-Protocol
file	I-Protocol
to	O
either	O
run	O
a	O
task	O
automatically	O
or	O
highlight	O
the	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
screen	O
a	O
user	O
should	O
interact	O
with	O
step-by-step	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
feature	O
was	O
considered	O
a	O
highlight	O
of	O
Project	O
Longhorn	O
,	O
but	O
Microsoft	O
decided	O
against	O
including	O
it	O
in	O
the	O
final	O
Vista	B-Application
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MAML	B-Protocol
authoring	O
structure	O
is	O
divided	O
into	O
segments	O
related	O
to	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
content	O
:	O
conceptual	O
,	O
FAQ	O
,	O
glossary	O
,	O
procedure	O
,	O
reference	O
,	O
reusable	O
content	O
,	O
task	O
,	O
troubleshooting	O
,	O
and	O
tutorial	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
presentation	O
transformation	O
enables	O
content	O
authored	O
in	O
MAML	B-Protocol
to	O
use	O
many	O
different	O
formats	O
,	O
including	O
DHTML	B-General_Concept
,	O
XAML	B-Device
,	O
RTF	O
,	O
and	O
printed	O
material	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
present	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
no	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
automated	O
tools	O
to	O
assist	O
in	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
MAML	B-Protocol
-	O
you	O
need	O
to	O
create	O
the	O
XML	B-Protocol
files	O
by	O
hand	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unfortunately	O
,	O
there	O
is	O
no	O
decent	O
tool	O
available	O
for	O
IT	O
Pros	O
to	O
author	O
MAML	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
h1s	O
help	B-Protocol
file	I-Protocol
format	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
the	O
HelpPane	O
viewer	O
,	O
is	O
found	O
in	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
and	O
Windows	O
7	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
format	O
is	O
similar	O
to	O
Microsoft	B-Protocol
Help	I-Protocol
2	I-Protocol
hxs	O
.	O
</s>
