Microsoft Is Reviving Clippy For An Ugly Christmas Sweater

Remember Clippy? It was the animated paperclip that "helpfully" assisted Microsoft Office users if they were typing up a Word document, making a PowerPoint, or working on an Excel Spreadsheet. According to The Verge, Clippy first popped into a Word document in 1997 and offered its assistance until 2001. Those were the Windows XP days over 20 years ago. To most people, Clippy was incredibly annoying as it would appear in a word document seemingly at random and offer suggestions that were only slightly useful. 

But as with a lot of outdated technology from the 1990s and early 2000s, people have become nostalgic for the once-irritating virtual assistant. Clippy has even shown up in Microsoft Teams occasionally. Microsoft itself has taken notice of the internet's latent fondness for Clippy and has brought it back to life, just in time for the holidays. The company's gear site has been updated to feature a Clippy mascot. 

If you've ever wanted to remember Clippy in a seasonably appropriate way, Microsoft has you covered as this year's iteration of the Windows ugly sweater features the assistant himself. The sweater even depicts the annoying dialog boxes that would interrupt your work seemingly the exact second you were working on something important. Microsoft also offers Clippy-centric decoration tips and even a cookie recipe.

In addition to the former Windows assistant-themed gift, Microsoft has also put out an Xbox gift guide if you want your holidays to feature more Master Chief than Clippy. While it's doubtful Clippy will hang around much after the holidays, it looks like Microsoft pulled out all the stops in making sure Clippy fans have the best holiday season (as long as they don't have to type up a Word document). Sweaters start at $74.99 and proceeds will help support the College Success Foundation, which is a charity that helps students afford college.