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Clippy, the infamous Microsoft Office Assistant paperclip, is set to return.
The animated character was originally included as part of Microsoft Office bundles between 1997 and 2003, and was known (and mocked) for his well-meaning but often intrusive nature, which was largely expressed by the googly-eyed stationary item offering his assistance with tasks such as writing a document.
Now, Clippy is to reappear in a Windows operating system – but has been relegated to a presence on smartphones, rather than full-blown desktop systems.
A post on the WP Central forums highlighted an Easter Egg in Microsoft’s new Cortana voice assistant dedicated to the much-maligned former assistant.
When asked “Do you like Clippy?”, Cortana replies that she is a fan of her predecessor, adding: “He taught me how important it is to listen."
That’s not the end of the reference, either – after being reminded of Clippy, Cortana’s pulsating circle is replaced with a modernised version of the paperclip.
From then on, the trick is just learning how to get rid of him once more…
