I'll try a quiz here. Maybe it becomes a chain if the person who finds the answer, starts a new question.

It has a dog and a desk and a chimney. All on the computer.
What is it?

Would this be a certain Robert from Redmond?

If so, then what 'useful' Office feature originated with that?

Aw man, this was too easy! Yes it's Microsoft Bob. And its new feature which were later used in other products were the animated Assistants (which nearly everybody hates).

It looks like you're trying to create a quiz. Would you like help with that?

Personally, tho, I liked the cat.

OK, it's officially your turn now:
Give us a quiz!

Way to put me on the spot. Erm... here goes:

They called me a PC, but I was never in one. Also, they don't call me a PC anymore, but the new name is unlikely to catch on. What am I?

The program counter?

No. I guess I was too ambiguous. I'm looking for a proper noun.

The TurboGrafx 16 game console (AKA PC Engine)?

Good guess, but not that obscure. What tip could I give? Oh yeah, the wanted thing was invented by a partnership of three really big names in computing. And I was publicly mistaken about this before, in this very forum.

Then, a few years later, one of those three names invented a large version of the thing and pushed the small version off to someone else, who then pushed it off to someone else, who then... isn't doing much with it ATM. But the large version of the thing was then renamed, and absolutely no-one outside the big name company is using that new name if they can possibly help it.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you the category or most people would know the answer right away. Does that count as a tip?

OK, my new guess is the PowerPC architecture (and offshoot of IBM's POWER architecture which was co-developed by IBM, Apple, and Motorola).

Too easy, if I understand your principles, techniques and tools.