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Cortana running on an outdated copy of Windows 10
On this day 10 years ago, Cortana landed on Windows Phone as a digital assistant

Sadly, Cortana gathered a lot of flak following its release on Windows 10. In the end, Microsoft pulled the plug on the virtual assistant in 2023

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From the creepy-looking Clippy to the adorable little Rover, Microsoft has incorporated virtual assistants in its apps for decades. However, it wasn’t until the release of Cortana that Microsoft went above and beyond to make digital assistants mainstream. Sadly, the result was a complete trainwreck that made the Xbox Kinect look like a successful device.

Cortana
Microsoft begins killing off Cortana in Windows 11

Keeping its word, Microsoft has finally started to pull the plug on Cortana in Windows 11.

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If there was a list of stock apps users rarely used in Windows 11, the Cortana app would have easily been near the top spot. Thankfully, Microsoft is addressing that by killing off the standalone Cortana app in Windows 11.

Cortana
RIP: Microsoft is finally killing Cortana on Windows

Microsoft confirmed it's killing Cortana, despite recent denial

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Microsoft is finally killing off its Cortana virtual assistant, at least on Windows, the company wrote today in a support document. The standalone Cortana app that you probably don't even realize is installed on your PC won't be supported beginning later on this year.

Microsoft logo red background
Hacker group Lapsus$ leaks 37GB of Microsoft source code for Bing and Cortana

Microsoft has apparently been the target of an attack by hacker group Lapsus$, resulting in a leak of 37GB of source code for Bing and more.

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Microsoft has been the target of an attack by hacker group Lapsus$, with 37GB worth of internal files now showing up online. According to the hackers, the leak originates from an Azure DevOps server that the hackers managed to find their way into, and it contains source code for many Microsoft products, including Bing and Cortana.

Cortana
Microsoft's Cortana was originally planned to be called Alyx, then Bingo

In a recent newsletter, a former Microsoft PM talked about the rise and fall of Cortana, including two names that were initially considered.

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It's no secret that Microsoft's digital assistant, Cortana, was a failure in many respects, and quickly faded into obscurity after launch. But the project was once a very ambitious plan, and it seemed like it had all the makings of a great product. In the latest edition of the Big Bets newsletter, Sandeep Paruchuri, a former product manager at Microsoft, talked about the beginnings and the demise of Cortana, revealing a few interesting details about the development of the personal digital assistant.

Using the Scheduler service and Cortana to help schedule a meeting
Microsoft has a new meeting scheduler service to save you time

Microsoft has launched a meeting Scheduler service for Microsoft 365 customers. It works with Cortana to make it easier to set up meetings.

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Today, Microsoft is launching a meeting scheduler service for Microsoft 365 customers. The Scheduler service works with Cortana, Microsoft's digital assistant, to recognize natural language requests and act on them. Users can ask Cortana for help setting up a meeting by simply including her in an email. You can even ask for a specific amount of time, a specific range of dates, and even ask to make it a Teams meeting.

Cortana
Microsoft is shutting down the Cortana app on Android and iOS

Microsoft has officially confirmed that the Cortana app will no longer function on both Android and iOS platforms. Read on to know more!

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The Cortana mobile app for Android and iOS is officially being axed by Microsoft today, March 31, 2021. Originally launched in November 2018, the voice assistant app was removed from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store in January last year. While it was still functional, starting today, Microsoft has confirmed that it will no longer offer support for the app.

Cortana
Cortana can now find and open files on the latest Windows 10 Insider Build

Microsoft has released a new Windows 10 Insider Preview build that allows users to instruct Cortana to find and open files on their PC.

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Microsoft has released a new Windows 10 Insider Preview build for those in the Dev Channel. While there’s a shortlist of bug fixes and also some known issues, the highlight of this release is a new Cortana skill.

Cortana
[Update: Full Removal in 2021] Microsoft is killing its dedicated Cortana voice assistant app for Android and iOS

Cortana, Microsoft's own voice assistant, has been supported on Android and iOS for a while, but come January, support for both platforms will be pulled.

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Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa are by far the two biggest voice assistant platforms, but there are plenty of other options out there, including Apple's Siri, Samsung's Bixby, and Microsoft's Cortana. Cortana used to be limited to Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system and Microsoft's ecosystem in general, but back in late 2015, the company released apps on iOS and Android to try to catch up with the big two. It looks like Microsoft has decided there's no longer any point in offering a dedicated Cortana mobile app, however, as they've decided to discontinue the app in most markets early next year.

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[Update 2: Re-Rolling Out] Windows 10 May 2020 update brings WSL 2, revamped Cortana assistant, and "Your Phone" calls to ARM devices

Microsoft is rolling out the Windows 10 May 2020 update, with a full Linux kernel under WSL 2, chat-based UI for Cortana, and more! Read on to know more!

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As per StatCounter, Windows commands a market share of 76.5%, meaning that every three out of four computers in the world run on Windows. While Windows did admittedly lose its dominant status as the OS across platforms to Android, it still presented itself as the go-to desktop option for many, many users. The latest version of Windows, Windows 10, is now receiving the May 2020 stable update, which brings several key features such as Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) 2, a revamped Cortana experience, Your Phone feature for Windows on ARM, and more.