My employer primarily uses Adobe products for product documentation. However, when we began looking for a out-of-the-box solution to produce a dynamic help system in a new product, we had the opportunity to evaluate some new tools. After looking at a few alternatives, we discovered MadCap's products.

Their DotNet help system - while not perfect (customization is limited) - was a great solution for us. Further, Flare works actually plays quite nicely with Adobe tool content (my only wish was that it could read .PDFs) and Word. This has allowed me to use it in concert with team members who use other tools.

Lastly, for what this is worth, a number of my fellow writers here have also narrowed down to Flare as a preferred tools. Whether they are driving the field themselves or just have their ears that close to the ground, MadCap really appears to be headed in the right direction. They also seem much more responsive to feature requests & produce regular updates.

Agreed. Although we're taking a "Lo-Fi" approach as of now, the interaction between software and "Help" will increase. I prefer Flare and think I'll push that direction. However, I know it's going to be a fight against "upgrade" cost.