Introduction

Microsoft 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.

• Developers can still use the following resources for previous versions of Windows:
• Microsoft Agent Core Components
• Merlin Character File
• Peedy Character File
• Genie Character File
• Robby Character File
• Microsoft will not offer new licenses or renewals
• Microsoft will not update the Microsoft Agent components, including:
• The “msagent.exe” runtime and libraries
• The characters Merlin, Genie, Peedy, and Robbo
• The Agent Character Editor
• All related Microsoft Agent software, tools, and documentation
• Windows 7 and later versions will not support development of Microsoft Agent applications or characters
• Microsoft resources will not be available to assist customers in the investigation or resolution of issues for new or existing deployments.
• Comments about Microsoft Agent and related technologies can be posted on the public newsgroup microsoft.public.msagent.

Agent 2.0 Setup

MASH - 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

• Windows® XP/2000/NT4/Me/9x or later
• Internet Explorer version 4.0 or later
• A Pentium 100-MHz PC (or faster)
• At least 16 MB of RAM
• At least 1 MB free disk space for the core components
• An additional 2-4 MB for each character you install.
• An additional 32K for each language component (dll).

Recommended

• An additional 1.6 MB free disk space if you plan to use the Lernout & Hauspie® TruVoice Text-To-Speech Engine for speech output
• An additional 22 MB free disk space if you plan to use the Microsoft Speech Recognition Engine for speech input
• A Windows-compatible sound card
• A compatible set of speakers and microphone

STEP 1

Install Microsoft Agent Core Components version 2.0 (395K)

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.

STEP 2

Install the Lernout & Hauspie TruVoice, Text-to-Speech Engine (English version)  (1MB).

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
Lernout & Hauspie TruVoice American English TTS Engine
in the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs list.

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

Language	TTS Engine (2-3 MB)	Language Add-On (128 KB)
American English	tv_enua.exe	already installed
British English	lhttseng.exe	already installed
Dutch	lhttsdun.exe	agtx0413.exe
French	lhttsfrf.exe	agtx040C.exe
German	lhttsged.exe	agtx0407.exe
Italian	lhttsiti.exe	agtx0410.exe
Japanese	lhttsjpj.exe	agtx0411.exe
Korean	lhttskok.exe	agtx0412.exe
Portuguese (Brazilian)	lhttsptb.exe	agtx0416.exe
Russian	lhttsrur.exe	agtx0419.exe
Spanish	lhttsspe.exe	agtx0C0A.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.

STEP 3 (OPTIONAL)

Install the Microsoft Speech Recognition Engine, version 4.0 (6MB)

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
Microsoft Agent Speech Recognition Engine 4.0 (English)
in the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs list.

STEP 4

Install the Microsoft Speech Control Panel (840K)

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.

STEP 5

Download some Microsoft Agent Characters

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
C:\WINDOWS\MSAGENT\CHARS or C:\WINNT\MSAGENT\CHARS folder, depending on your operating system.

Have Fun!!!