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Akram,
I suggest dividing the work into two docs, or
into two mains sections of a single doc.
In the first doc/section, have a separate chapter
for installation/setup on each operating system.
Keep them as similar as possible, but keep them
separate, so that a person preparing to install
your product needs to read only the chapter that
applies to her/his operating system.
In the other doc/section, the user guide, just
document the product. If there are options or
quirks that are OS-specific, cover them as they
arise, in notes and side-bars, but keep the main
flow centered on the common aspects.
Of course, if the interface is GUI for Windoze
and Mac, but console-only for Linux/Unix, then you
might want to split it up. The one gang does not
want to wade through all the description that's
applicable to the other gang. They'd each think
they were being overtaken by "the dark side".
Dear List Members,
I am writing for a application which will run on four platforms: Red Hat
Linux, Windows 95/98/2000/NT, Mac OS, and Mac OS X. Operations would have my
head if we decided to have a separate book for each platform. Therefore we
have decided to go with a hybrid manual which will include the four
platforms.
Does anyone have any experience documenting multiple platforms?
[snip]
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