Removal of Microsoft Agent
Platform
Clients - Windows 7
Servers - Windows Server 2008 R2
Feature Impact
Severity - Medium
Frequency - Low
Description
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.
Manifestation
- 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
Mitigation
Developers can still use the following resources for previous versions of Windows:
- Microsoft Agent Core Components (for use only on Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0)
- Merlin Character File
- Peedy Character File
- Genie Character File
- Robby Character File
Links to Other Resources