>>THIS INFO IS FOR SPEAKING CLOCK DELUXE ONLY, WHICH IS NO LONGER DEVELOPED<<

For more detailed info on how to install these components, see the "installing agents support"
and "installing speech support" pages:

MS Agent core files and characters
Please visit Microsoft's page for agent support, and follow the instructions below to see which files you need to download.

• Microsoft Agent Downloads

Firstly, you need to download the Microsoft Agent core components file. Note! You do not need this file if you have Windows ME, 2000 or XP.

Secondly, you need one or more Agent character files, Microsoft offers four different ones (Merlin, Genie, Robby and Peedy). Please note that Merlin is already available in Windows ME, 2000 and XP.

Thirdly, you need a speech engine. The default engine for Agents is the TruVoice American English engine, and we recommend that you download and install it. See the right column for more info on speech engines.

You may also want to download localized language components, if you do not run an English version of Windows.

Additional agent characters
There are plenty of websites with more information on MS Agents and different characters to download. Here is a good starting point:

• http://www.msagentring.org/chars

Speech files

SAPI binaries
This component is neccessary to use speech synthesis with the clock. Note! You do not need this file if you have Windows ME or 2000, but you will need it if you have Windows XP.

• Download SAPI 4.0a binaries

Speech engines
You will also need one or more speech engines. There are many languages available, both freeware and commercial.

One good range of engines are the L&H TTS3000 series, offered on Microsoft's agent download page. These engines are available in many different languages.