Microsoft Agent

Microsoft Agent is a technology developed by Microsoft to make using a computer easier and more natural for first-time users. Microsoft Agent employs text-to-speech engines and microphones to further this goal.

Microsoft Agent characters, or actors, are stored in files of the .ACS extension. Microsoft Office 97 and Microsoft Bob characters are stored in files of the .ACT extension.

An agent was embedded in Microsoft Office, starting with the 2000 edition of the software, as the Office Assistant, sometimes dubbed "Clippy" or "Clippit". A similar technology, or possibly an earlier version of the same, was used in the 97 version of the software, which is a later version of what was used in Microsoft Bob.

Like its predecessor, the technology was not popular with users.

External links

• Microsoft Agent at Microsoft.com (http://www.microsoft.com/msagent/)
• The Agentry (http://www.agentry.net/)