BillG

BillG

Name	BillG
Initial release	1998-99
Description	Bill Gates-Free Version Copyright 1998-99, Animatronix http://www.animatronics.com
Animations	35
TTS voice	Adult Male #2, American English (TruVoice)
Download	https://tmafe.com/classic-ms-agents/BillG.acs

Bill Gates (also known as BillG) is a Microsoft Agent character released by Animatronix. His appearance is identical to former Microsoft CEO and co-founder Bill Gates.

Controversy

In 2000, Animatronix received a cease and desist letter from Microsoft Corporation. Many Microsoft Agent character developers were upset with this, and continued to be upset years after the situation. Eventually, a Microsoft employee left the following comment about the situation in 2002:

"...it is possible someone may have suggested that the use of Mr. Gates image without permission may be inadvisable. Such a suggestion would have been communicated with the intent of your best interests.

Many (especially well known) individuals do protect the use of their image. So I don't think Mr. Gates would be unique if he were to protect the use of his image. Determining where a use constitutes legal or free use may be best done by consulting with a good attorney who specialize in this area."

Following this, Gordon Bell removed BillG from the MASH and Microsoft Agent Ring character galleries to avoid any potential legal issues. Additionally, the creator of the Roving Cowboy character tried to use the agent on his website previously, but had also received a cease and desist.

As of 2024, with the discontinuation of Microsoft Agent in 2009, using the BillG agent is relatively risk-free as the ponx.org character directory has kept the BillG character in their directory without issues since 2004.

Character data

Character data for Bill
File name:	BillG.acs
Description:	Bill Gates-Free Version Copyright 1998-99, Animatronix http://www.animatronics.com
Extra data:	N/A
File size:	1.930 KB
Animations:	35
TTS voice:	Adult Male #2, American English (TruVoice)
GUID:	{AE69C243-B50B-11D2-99C9-00608CC9A71F}
TTSMode ID:	{8AA08CA1-A1AE-11D3-9BC5-00A0C967A2D1}
TTS speed:	150
TTS pitch:	50
Width:	168px
Length:	168px

Gallery

• 
  The default animation frame of Bill.
• 
  System tray icon of Bill.
• 
  Color table of Bill.
• 
  Original website where the Bill character would be available for download.

Trivia

• Bill was created sometime in 1998 or 1999, with a page on the site implying that the character was being developed by October 10th, 1998.
• As with most classical Microsoft Agents, he has his own color table to utilize multiple unique colors to make the character seem higher quality.
• The company that developed this character also developed Al and a character called "Slick Willie", a character based off of then U.S. president Bill Clinton.
• The paid version of this character is also likely lost, as the one available from TMAFE and formerly ponx.org was the free variant.
• The BillG character was designed by Hou Soon Ming.