Microsoft has finally closed Clip Art in favor of Bing images.
Microsoft has announced shutting down its Clip Art library long associated with its Office suite of software. Users who want to "insert online pictures" in Microsoft Office desktop apps from now on will be shown images with Creative Commons licenses from its Bing images.
Microsoft's Clip Art library had only 82 illustrations in Word 6.0 in 1996, but eventually the collection grew to more than 100,000 static and moving images. The company says in a blog post that people are no longer using Clip Art as more and more users are turning to search engines to insert images in Documents. By adding Bing images users will be able to access higher quality pictures that are more up-to-date and part of the Creative Commons licensing system.
To inert images in Word, Outlook or Powerpoint 2013 uses will now see an option for Insert>Online Pictures which will take them to Bing Images Search.
Microsoft stated in a blog post, "Usage of Office's image library has been declining year-to-year as customers rely more on search engines."
"Bing Image Search has higher quality images that are more up-to-date. For example, searching for "cellphone" gives more variety and modern looking phones instead of the old-school bricks from Clip Art."
Microsoft has been trying to promote its Bing search engine for users. According to recent reports the company has been trying to woo Apple to replace Google with Bing as its default search engine. Apple already uses Bing as a search provider for Siri and OS X Yosemite as well as its Spotlight search on desktop. Read: Microsoft now second most valuable company in the world after Apple
Source: Office Blog
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Silky Malhotra
Silky Malhotra loves learning about new technology, gadgets, and more. When she isn’t writing, she is usually found reading, watching Netflix, gardening, travelling, or trying out new cuisines. View Full Profile
