Microsoft Agent facts for kids
Microsoft Agent was a special technology made by Microsoft. It used animated characters, like little cartoon helpers, to make computers easier and more fun to use. These characters could talk to you using "text-to-speech" (turning written words into spoken ones). They could also understand what you said using "speech recognition." Microsoft Agent came built into Windows computers from Windows 2000 up to Windows Vista. However, it was not included in Windows 7 or newer versions.
How Microsoft Agent Worked
Microsoft Agent characters were stored in special files. These files had names ending in `.ACS`. Sometimes, they were stored in smaller, compressed files ending in `.ACF`. This made them easier to share online. Older characters from programs like Microsoft Office 97 used files ending in `.ACT`.
Talking and Listening
The characters could talk because of a special program called the Microsoft Speech API, or SAPI. This program helped computers turn text into speech and understand spoken words. SAPI also had a control panel. This allowed people to easily switch between different voices or speech programs. It even helped train the computer to understand your voice better.
Agent Characters You Might Know
Microsoft offered four main Agent characters for free. You could download them from their website. Their names were Peedy, Merlin, Genie, and Robby. You might also remember similar characters called Office Assistants. These were part of Microsoft Office programs until 2003. Windows XP also had them as search helpers.
People could even create their own new Agent characters. Microsoft provided special tools for this, like the Agent Character Editor. It was possible to add these characters to other computer programs or even to web pages. However, Agent characters on web pages only worked with Internet Explorer. Other web browsers, like Opera or Firefox, did not support them.
Also, only computers with Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP, or newer versions had Agent already installed. If you had an older computer, you had to download and install the Agent software yourself.
See also
In Spanish: Microsoft Agent para niños
