Microsoft is getting serious about bringing Clippy back from the Windows graveyard. But don’t worry—its resurrection won’t bring back its intrusive messages. It’ll instead take the shape of a Microsoft 365 emoji.
Clippy May Make a Return as an Emoji
In a Tweet, Microsoft promised to bring Clippy back as a paperclip emoji on one condition: the Tweet has got to reach 20,000 likes.
If this gets 20k likes, we’ll replace the paperclip emoji in Microsoft 365 with Clippy. pic.twitter.com/6T8ziboguC
— Microsoft (@Microsoft) July 14, 2021
Users must have a love-hate relationship with the infamous Microsoft Office helper because the like count quickly soared past Microsoft’s goal. However, that number remains rising, so Microsoft better stays faithful to its promise.
If the image Microsoft included alongside its Tweet represents what Clippy would appear as if as an emoji, you might’ve noticed some distinct changes in appearance. Clippy assumes a thicker frame, has more welcoming eyes, and sports a pair of short and thick brows. After all, it only fits that Clippy features a makeover before he graces our desktops once more.
Having Clippy as a static paperclip emoji may be a far cry from its overbearing presence in Microsoft Office. The anthropomorphic paperclip was frequently found dancing around the corner of your screen, interrupting your workflow, and offering unwanted advice.
Clippy became available in Microsoft Office starting in 1997 but was officially killed off in 2007. Its decade-long run made an enormous impact on users—the majority of which grew to despise the googly-eyed creature.
If Clippy does make a return as an emoji, a minimum of you will be ready to choose whether or not to invoke it. Plus, being an emoji, the paperclip’s tips will (hopefully) remain zipped.
Will Microsoft Bring Back Clippy?
Microsoft still hasn’t confirmed whether or not it’ll bring back Clippy as an emoji. Its Tweet did reach an overflow of 20,000 likes, so theoretically, it should get it back. However, this might all be an enormous joke by Microsoft, which might be a disappointment to diehard Clippy fans.
It wouldn’t come to the maximum amount of a surprise if Microsoft does add a Clippy emoji, though. the corporate released a series of nostalgic Microsoft Teams backgrounds, one among which incorporates an image of Clippy in what seems to be an office.
But within the blog post that accompanied the new backgrounds, Microsoft’s comment contradicted its recent Tweet. Instead, Microsoft implied that Clippy wouldn’t be making a return anytime soon. “No, Clippy isn’t a neighborhood of Microsoft 365,” Microsoft wrote.
Does this mean that Clippy won’t even make a return within the sort of an emoji, and Microsoft’s Tweet is simply an empty promise? Unfortunately, during this case, it’s hard to inform.
