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| Microsoft Chat 2.0
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This document provides information to supplement the Microsoft Chat Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/ie/comichat/.
Microsoft Chat is a new kind of chat program combining conventional text based chat with unconventional graphical features. In recent years, a number of chat programs have appeared for online services and the Internet. Microsoft Chat takes a different approach to other chat programs by allowing you to choose between using conventional text or a visual representation of conversations based on comic strip conventions. If you choose the comic strip view, your conversation unfolds in a comic strip, the various participants look like comics characters, and their utterances appear inside of word balloons. Inside of each Microsoft Chat client is a small, fast expert system for comics generation. On the fly, each Microsoft Chat client automatically determines a number of aspects related to comics generation. These include:
To contact the Microsoft Chat team with your suggestions, bug reports, or comments please email us at: comichat@microsoft.com. 2. Supported configurations/platforms Microsoft Chat requires the following configuration:
Q: How do I run Microsoft Chat? A: You can launch Microsoft Comic Chat by clicking on a chat room link in your web browser. Alternatively you can run the program by going to the Start Button, and then choosing Programs, and then selecting Microsoft Chat. This will bring up a window that will allow you to connect to a default room or get a list of all the rooms on the chat server. Q: How long will it take me to download Microsoft Chat? A: Here are some sample speeds with approximate times: 14.4K baud - 13 minutes 19.2K baud - 10 minutes 28.8K baud - 8 minutes Q: How big is Microsoft Chat to download? A: Microsoft Chat 2.0 is 1.1 MB compressed and will take up 4 MB total once installed on your hard drive. Q: How much space does Microsoft Chat take up? A: The Microsoft Chat program with its existing artwork is currently 4 MB. Subsequent artwork and character updates will increase the size of the program. Q: Can I uninstall Microsoft Chat? A: Yes. To uninstall Microsoft Chat, open Control Panel, and then double-click Add/Remove Programs. Select Microsoft Chat from the list.
Q: Will you be updating Microsoft Chat?
A: This is the 2.0 Release of Microsoft Chat, we anticipate making further releases. We will be updating our Web site when new information becomes available so you should check it periodically to find out when new updates are available. Q: What Chat Servers are currently available for the Windows platform? A: Most IRC servers are designed to run on the various flavors of UNIX, we are currently only aware of 2 chat servers for the Windows NT platform. The Microsoft Internet Chat (MIC) server is a high-performance, scalable chat server that can be deployed stand-alone or in a chat server network. The Microsoft Internet Chat server supports standard IRC clients as well as its own family of Microsoft Internet Chat clients. MIC features user authentication, channel search capabilities, whispers, private chats, chat auditoriums, binary objects (for gaming use) and Unicode support. There is also a third party IRC server product called ConferenceRoom™ which has recently been released by Webmaster, Inc.
Q: Why can't I get access to any Microsoft Chat or IRC chat rooms?
A: If you are accessing the Internet from your corporate network, you will be able to download the Microsoft Chat program; however, most corporate proxy servers limit access to chat rooms. If you have any questions, please contact your system administrator or use a dial-up analog or ISDN line to access the Internet. Q: Why do I get an "HTTP 1.0 / 404 Object Not Found" error from the chatroom web page? A: The name of the room files and the names of the rooms on the server were changed. Your browser or your internet service provider may be caching the web pages and you are seeing the old page which links to files which no longer exist. To get around this you can try to refresh the web page and/or clear the local cache if your browser supports caching files. Q: How can I tell what version of Microsoft Chat I am running? A: If you are running Microsoft Chat outside of Internet Explorer, click the Help menu, and then click About Microsoft Chat. The version number will be listed at the top of the dialog box. From within Internet Explorer you can chose Microsoft Chat Help from the Help menu, and then select About Microsoft Chat. Q: Can I create my own comic characters? A: At this time, you can use only the characters provided with Microsoft Chat and the Additional Comic Characters Pack available from http://www.microsoft.com/ie/download/. Q: Can I create my own backgrounds? A: At this time, you can only use the backgrounds provided with Microsoft Chat. Q: Does Microsoft Chat run under Windows NT 4.0? A: Windows NT 4.0 is supported. Q: How can I tell characters apart when there are duplicate characters? A: Move your mouse pointer over the character and then pause; a tooltip appears that displays that person's nickname. Q: Why does it say my nickname is in use when I go to another chat room? A: Nicknames (IDs) must be unique. Your connection will be refused if:
To connect, you can either choose a new nickname or make sure that all Microsoft Chat clients have been closed and then wait a minute and reopen Microsoft Chat. Q: What is the difference between Microsoft Chat and IRC chat? A: Microsoft Chat also contains graphical chat client functionality that can be used like any text chat client on the IRC channel. Not everyone inside the chat room needs to be using Microsoft Chat for this to work. Text chat users will automatically be assigned a character, so that the entire chat will be graphically represented to the Microsoft Chat client user(s). |