Editing Microsoft Agent (section)

==Technology==
Microsoft Agent characters are stored in files of the .ACS extension or in a single .ACF file for character definitions, and multiple .ACA files (one per animation) for better [[World Wide Web]] distribution.<ref>{{Cite web |last=QuinnRadich |date=2020-08-19 |title=Load Method - Win32 apps |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/lwef/load-method#remarks |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=learn.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref> Microsoft Office 97 and Microsoft Bob Actor characters are stored in files of the .ACT extension. Microsoft Agent character definition files are stored in files of the .ACD file extension, and are generated by the Microsoft Agent Character Editor.

The speech engine itself is driven by the Microsoft [[Microsoft Speech API|Speech API (SAPI)]], version 4 and above. Microsoft SAPI provides a control panel for easily installing and switching between various available Text to Speech and Speech to Text engines, as well as voice training and scoring systems to improve the quality and accuracy of both engines.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=QuinnRadich |date=2020-08-19 |title=Speech Input Support - Win32 apps |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/lwef/speech-input-support |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=learn.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

Microsoft provided four agent characters for free, downloaded from the Microsoft Agent website. These were called Peedy, Merlin, Genie, and Robby.<ref name=":0" /> Some characters also shipped with Microsoft Office up to version 2003 as the [[Office Assistant]]s and with [[Windows XP]] as search assistants. New Microsoft Agent characters could also be created using Microsoft's development tools, including the Agent Character Editor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=QuinnRadich |date=2024-03-25 |title=Using the Microsoft Agent Character Editor - Win32 apps |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/lwef/using-the-microsoft-agent-character-editor |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=learn.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref> Agents can be embedded in software with [[Visual Basic for Applications]] and in web pages with [[VBScript]], and automated tools for the purpose of simplifying this exist.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MASH - Microsoft Agent Scripting Helper |url=https://bellcraft.com/mash/ |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=bellcraft.com}}</ref> However, web page agents were only compatible with [[Internet Explorer]], since alternative browsers like [[Opera (web browser)|Opera]] or [[Mozilla Firefox]] do not support [[ActiveX]].