Editing Microsoft Agent (section)

==Version history==
Interactive character technology was first introduced in [[Microsoft Bob]], which used an early version of Microsoft Agent technology internally referred to as "Microsoft Actor". It was the code used in the initial version of the [[Office Assistant]] in [[Microsoft Office 97]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Feldman |first=Brian |date=2016-10-31 |title=Clippy Didn't Just Annoy You — He Changed the World |url=https://nymag.com/vindicated/2016/10/clippy-didnt-just-annoy-you-he-changed-the-world.html |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |language=en}}</ref> Microsoft Agent was subsequently created by [[Tandy Trower]] in an attempt to offer technology that was more flexible and available to third-party developers to include in their applications and web pages.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1998-10-12 |title=Microsoft Agent 2.0 Adds a More Human Touch to Computing |url=https://news.microsoft.com/1998/10/12/microsoft-agent-2-0-adds-a-more-human-touch-to-computing/ |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=Stories |language=en-US}}</ref> The software release also included four interactive characters as well as a utility that enables developers to assemble their own characters and interactions.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=QuinnRadich |date=2019-08-23 |title=Animation Lists for the Characters Available from Microsoft - Win32 apps |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/lwef/animation-lists-for-the-characters-available-from-microsoft |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=learn.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=QuinnRadich |date=2019-08-23 |title=Creating Characters for Microsoft Agent - Win32 apps |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/lwef/creating-characters-for-microsoft-agent |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=learn.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref> 

Microsoft Agent replaced the original Microsoft Actor code in [[Office 2000]], although this use did not include Agent's much-touted [[speech synthesis]] or [[speech recognition|recognition]] capabilities or any of the four Microsoft Agent sample characters. Instead, the Office team created their own characters, including one named "Clippit" (commonly dubbed "Clippy"). However, Microsoft Bob Actors and Office 97 assistants are incompatible with Office 2000 and later versions, and vice versa.

The initial version of Microsoft Agent was quietly released on [[MSDN]] in 1997.<ref name="msagent-1997"/>