# Microsoft Comic Chat released as open source

Microsoft has open-sourced Comic Chat, a 1990s chat client that displayed conversations using comic-style avatars and panels. The move allows developers and historians to study, preserve, and potentially modernize this early experiment in graphical chat. While niche, it offers insight into Microsoft’s legacy software and internet culture.

**Importance:** 3/5

## Sources

### Technology
- [Hacker News](https://opensource.microsoft.com/blog/2026/07/16/microsoft-comic-chat-is-now-open-source/) — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:06:27 +0000
- [Hacker News](https://stateofopensource.ai/) — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:31:10 +0000