IntroductionMicrosoft has decided to discontinue development of Microsoft Agent technologies. Beginning with Windows® 7, Microsoft Agent will not be included or supported in future versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system. We encourage Microsoft Agent application developers and redistributors to evaluate their activities in light of this decision.
Agent 2.0 SetupMASH - Microsoft Agent Scripting Helper Microsoft Agent is a free desktop/web technology for Microsoft Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista featuring animated characters that support text-to-speech (TTS) in 11 different languages. Microsoft Agent is not an application that you can just run (like Word or Excel) and expect to have characters automatically do things for you. Applications and Websites must be specifically programmed to utilize Microsoft Agent and provide these capabilities for you. Many of these can be found around our ring. Additional information and documentation can be found on the Microsoft Agent Home Page. System requirements
Recommended
WINDOWS XP/2000/Me Users may skip this step. The Microsoft Agent Core Components are already installed on Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Me. Download the above MSAgent.exe setup program and run it to install the core components. You may then delete the setup program.
The Lernout & Hauspie TruVoice Text-to-Speech (TTS) Engine provides speech output capabilities for Microsoft Agent so you can hear what the characters are saying through your sound speakers. Download the above tv_enua.exe setup program and run it to install the TTS Engine. You may then delete the setup program. If you've already installed this,
you should see Additional Lernout & Hauspie TTS3000 Engines may be downloaded from the table below. You need to download and install both the TTS Engine and the Language Add-On for the desired Language. For example, to install French Text-to-Speech, download and install both lhttsfrf.exe and agtx040C.exe
Microsoft TTS Engines Mary - Female Voice (English) 2.3MB Mike - Male Voice (English) 2.4MB Sam - Male Voice (English) 2.1MB Microsoft Agent can utilize TTS Engines from many other speech vendors, including versions of ATT Natural Voices, Digalo, Elan Speech, IBM ViaVoice, and more. The only requirement is that the TTS Engine is SAPI 4.0 compatible. SAPI 5.0 is not currently supported.
This step is optional. You can download this later. The Microsoft Speech Recognition Engine provides speech input capabilities for Microsoft Agent. This allows you to speak to characters through a microphone. However, Microsoft Agent must be specifically programmed to understand and interact with what you are saying. Microsoft Agent does not support dictation. Download the above actcnc.exe setup program and run it to install the TTS Engine. You may then delete the setup program. If you've already installed this,
you will see
This step is optional. You can download this later. The Speech Control Panel will add an icon to your Control Panel to enable you to list the compatible speech recognition and text-to-speech engines installed on your system and customize their settings for your use.
There are many Agent characters
available and many more are being created. Now that you have Microsoft Agent
installed on your computer, you only have to download additional Characters (files with
.ACS extensions) as they become available and save them to your Have Fun!!! |