>So when someone (err, like me) writes a really good help system, odds are that many people will never even see it, because they've been burned so often in the past.

Uh-oh, I think this thread has morphed :) Anyway, I think there are two situations here:

1) Apps not needing help - Many business-type apps should be designed so intuitively that a help system is really almost redundant, in which case just installing a help system to make the app appear "standard" is mostly a waste of time for developers and users alike. I use several of these apps at home, and all could live without any help...sorry, Mark :)

2) Apps that *really* need help systems - all developer tools, e.g., as well as office products (thought I rarely use the help in MS Word, it comes in might handy every now and then)...basically any complex app with a large glossary of functional terms that cannot be GUIed into the interface, that require lookups...