CHM frmat is still supported and distributed through Windows XP and Vista platform (although HLP extension format has been dropped in Vista). CHM packages and archives all HTML files into one single file, including the associated images and other media.Īlthough been replaced with new generation of Windows Help called Microsoft Assistance Markup Language since Windows Vista. CHM format, is a proprietary format for online help files by Microsoft which was first released in 1997 in Windows 98 as a successor to the Microsoft WinHelp format. Also, do not forget that Compiled HTML Help Files can contain web pages with malicious code, thus posing a security threat.Microsoft Compiled HTML Help or more commonly known as. That said, I believe that this format, in addition to being proprietary and obsolete (Microsoft itself abandoned its use), can be replaced by other equally valid and functional free alternatives (PDF, DJVU, etc.). chm file consists of an index, a table of contents, and a set of HTML pages hyperlinked to the table, which are compressed to generate the help file. Installation in Ubuntu and derivatives: sudo apt-get install chmsee Final wordsįinally, if you are a true geek, you can unzip the CHM file and navigate the HTML pages manually. Because it uses the Gecko rendering engine (yes, the same one that Firefox uses), ChmSee supports HTML and CSS perfectly. On Ubuntu and derivatives: sudo apt-get install libchm-bin ChmSeeĬhmSee is based on CHMLIB and uses GTK + for its implementation. Okular, the default document viewer in KDE also includes support for CHM files, but this requires installing libchm libraries. Installation in Ubuntu and derivatives: sudo apt-get install kchmviewer Okular It has not received updates for a while but it is fully functional. Kchmviewer is the client to view CHM files that comes by default with KDE.

Compiled html help file