This weekend I installed Windows 7 (brilliant!) and there I found this genious tool called Problem Steps Recorder. Apparently a tool that came with the beta bug reporting tool thingy.
I am currently trying to document some application usages for other developers. (In this exact case, how to get Showplan XML Statistics in SQL Profiler and some basic usage of Database Engine Tuning Advisor). And I was thinking that a tool like that Problem Steps Recorder with be perfect for this! Only problem is that it is only in windows 7 (?) and the output is an mht file which also contains some general bug issue text etc...
Anyways, does anyone know if this tool is available in a more general version? Or if there are some free and smooth alternatives which does kind of the same thing for Vista (and other windows versions if possible)?
Maybe Wink is your answer.
I'm looking for a better capture tool for both user documentation and reporting bugs. The best "steps recorder" that I've seen is bundled with Testuff. Their Test Runner app lets you select a region to record (video). It captures every mouse click and logs every key press along side the video playback. Of course, it's designed only for reporting bugs to a development team.
I'm still using SnagIt (cheap, not free) for capturing screens and adding annotations. I also have Camtasia, but that's definitely not "free" as you requested :)
I just stumbled upon 'Imago recorder', available via various software / download sites. It's not pretty but it does the trick and it's free.
It's currentyl available here
Additional option you should definitely pay attention to is StepsToReproduce. There are several options for recording (screen/window/region) and nice powerful annotation tools. And it's also free!