<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Comic	I-Application
Chat	I-Application
(	O
later	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
)	O
is	O
a	O
graphical	B-Application
IRC	B-Protocol
client	O
created	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
first	O
released	O
with	O
Internet	B-Protocol
Explorer	I-Protocol
3.0	I-Protocol
in	O
1996	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Comic	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
Researcher	O
David	O
Kurlander	O
,	O
with	O
Microsoft	O
Research	O
's	O
Virtual	O
Worlds	O
Group	O
and	O
later	O
a	O
group	O
he	O
managed	O
in	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
Internet	O
Division	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Comic	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
's	O
main	O
feature	O
,	O
which	O
set	O
it	O
apart	O
from	O
other	O
IRC	B-Protocol
clients	O
,	O
is	O
that	O
it	O
enabled	O
comic	O
avatars	B-Application
to	O
represent	O
a	O
user	O
;	O
this	O
character	O
could	O
express	O
a	O
specified	O
emotion	O
,	O
possibly	O
making	O
IRC	B-Protocol
chatting	O
a	O
more	O
emotive	O
and	O
expressive	O
experience	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Comic	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
started	O
out	O
as	O
a	O
research	O
project	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
paper	O
describing	O
the	O
technology	O
was	O
published	O
at	O
SIGGRAPH	O
'	O
96	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
algorithms	O
used	O
in	O
Comic	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
attempted	O
to	O
mimic	O
some	O
basic	O
illustration	O
techniques	O
of	O
comic	O
artists	O
(	O
particularly	O
Jim	O
Woodring	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
Comic	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
could	O
be	O
used	O
in	O
text-based	O
chat	O
rooms	O
as	O
well	O
,	O
it	O
added	O
a	O
code	O
at	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
every	O
message	O
to	O
communicate	O
the	O
character	O
's	O
expression	O
to	O
other	O
chat	O
clients	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Comic	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
was	O
released	O
with	O
the	O
full	O
downloads	O
of	O
Internet	B-Protocol
Explorer	I-Protocol
3	I-Protocol
,	O
4	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
5	B-Protocol
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
in	O
the	O
Windows	B-Device
98	I-Device
and	O
Windows	B-Application
2000	I-Application
distributions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
became	O
the	O
official	O
chat	O
client	O
of	O
MSN	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
program	O
can	O
still	O
be	O
downloaded	O
and	O
still	O
works	O
with	O
most	O
IRC	B-Protocol
servers	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
infrequently	O
used	O
today	O
because	O
MSN	B-Protocol
decided	O
to	O
get	O
out	O
of	O
the	O
chat	O
business	O
,	O
and	O
turned	O
off	O
its	O
servers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSN	B-Protocol
's	O
MotorWeb	O
was	O
built	O
around	O
an	O
automobile	O
theme	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSN	B-Protocol
entered	O
into	O
a	O
partnership	O
with	O
NPR	O
’s	O
CarTalk	O
,	O
and	O
each	O
day	O
featured	O
a	O
new	O
online	O
Car	O
Talk	O
caller	O
from	O
the	O
popular	O
NPR	O
radio	O
duo	O
of	O
"	O
Click	O
and	O
Clack	O
"	O
(	O
Tom	O
and	O
Ray	O
Magliozzi	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Created	O
and	O
produced	O
at	O
MSN	B-Protocol
by	O
Mike	O
Klozar	O
,	O
the	O
"	O
Chat	O
Show	O
,	O
"	O
as	O
it	O
was	O
called	O
,	O
was	O
an	O
innovative	O
combination	O
of	O
on-demand	O
streaming	O
audio	O
,	O
text	O
(	O
as	O
cartoon	O
bubbles	O
)	O
and	O
comic	O
strip	O
characters	O
all	O
synchronized	O
to	O
display	O
an	O
animated	O
cartoon	O
comic	O
strip	O
created	O
dynamically	O
from	O
the	O
text	O
input	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
example	O
of	O
the	O
show	O
can	O
be	O
found	O
at	O
David	O
Kurlander	O
's	O
project	O
site	O
,	O
under	O
[	O
MSN	B-Protocol
CarTalk	O
Comic	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
Show ]	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
visuals	O
were	O
generated	O
dynamically	O
by	O
the	O
Comic	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
client	O
(	O
already	O
residing	O
on	O
the	O
PC	O
)	O
,	O
given	O
a	O
timed	O
,	O
textual	O
transcript	O
of	O
the	O
show	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allowed	O
an	O
online	O
comic	O
strip	O
to	O
draw	O
in	O
exact	O
timing	O
with	O
the	O
audio/dialogue	O
that	O
was	O
streamed	O
via	O
Real	O
Audio	O
(	O
14.4	O
modems	O
were	O
the	O
norm	O
at	O
this	O
time	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSN	B-Protocol
moved	O
away	O
from	O
the	O
"	O
show	O
"	O
format	O
the	O
following	O
year	O
,	O
and	O
CarTalk	O
signed	O
a	O
contract	O
with	O
Cars.com	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Comic	I-Application
Chat	I-Application
installed	O
a	O
custom	O
font	O
,	O
Comic	O
Sans	O
MS	O
,	O
that	O
users	O
could	O
use	O
in	O
other	O
applications	O
and	O
documents	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1996	O
it	O
was	O
bundled	O
with	O
several	O
other	O
fonts	O
in	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
Core	O
Fonts	O
for	O
the	O
Web	O
project	O
and	O
subsequent	O
versions	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
leading	O
to	O
its	O
notoriety	O
among	O
the	O
digerati	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
renamed	O
as	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Chat	I-Application
2.0	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
bundled	O
with	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
along	O
with	O
the	O
then	O
new	O
Outlook	B-Application
Express	I-Application
,	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
2.5	O
bundled	O
with	O
Internet	B-Protocol
Explorer	I-Protocol
5	I-Protocol
was	O
the	O
last	O
update	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Comic	I-Application
Chat	I-Application
has	O
been	O
removed	O
with	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
6	O
.	O
</s>
