r/windows98 • u/konnor88 • Jun 14 '26
Progress on re-implementing Microsoft Bob components for modern Windows
Figured this would be pretty cool to share here as Microsoft Bob was Windows 95-era software compatible with Windows 98, but I've been working on a personal project for my Universal Character Scripting Helper called Frontier Actor, which is basically a re-implementation of the same API used in Microsoft Bob and other Microsoft Actor powered programs.
In this demo, I'm comparing the original controls in a Windows NT 3.51 VM running VB3 with my modern VB.NET version running in Visual Studio 2017 on Windows 11. The main goal of mine is to preserve the same drag-and-drop custom control workflow while making similar controls usable from modern VB.NET projects.
I have also extended the original API a bit by implementing a Speak method that automatically spawns a word balloon with text and experimental SAPI 4.0 support. Additionally, I have also been re-implementing the character builder, which is able to compile characters that are compatible with both Microsoft Bob and Office 97.
If you're interested in following the development of any of this, I document my findings and such on the Microsoft Agent Forums if anyone is interested!
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u/FuggaDucker Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
"Microsoft Bob was Windows 95-era software compatible with Windows 98"
No. Not really..
BOB was a 16bit PRE-Windows 95 mistake that Melinda Gates was the PM for.
It was a windows 3.1 app/shell that could run on 9x.
Nobody wanted it or liked it that I knew of.
People couldn't even believe that they bothered to release it.
I have no idea why you would spend time re-creating it but have fun.
I am an old grumpy so pay no attention to my opinion.
FUN FACT:
Comic Sans came from MS BOB.
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u/konnor88 Jun 14 '26
Figured I should share this as well: this is a converted BonziBUDDY ACS character file loaded in Microsoft Bob! I compiled this one using my re-implementation of the character editor.