Microsoft Open Sources Comic Chat: Preserving Early Internet History

Microsoft released the source code for Comic Chat on July 16, 2024, making the early internet experiment available on GitHub. Developed in 1996 by Microsoft employee David Kurlander and comic artist Jim Woodring, Comic Chat automatically converted Internet Relay Chat (IRC) conversations into comic strips using the now-iconic Comic Sans font.

The application emerged during a text-heavy era of the internet, aiming to introduce more visual communication. Microsoft views the release as a way to preserve internet history and highlight the importance of experimentation in innovation.

Comic Chat was translated into 24 languages and distributed to 98 million users with Windows 98. Microsoft hopes the open-source release will allow the community to explore, learn from, and build upon this piece of software history, potentially reviving the application in new forms.