Farewell: Microsoft announces the end of Cortana on Windows
Microsoft has recently announced the end of Cortana on Windows, marking the departure of its virtual assistant from the operating system.
In a recent development, Microsoft has officially announced the discontinuation of its virtual assistant, Cortana, on Windows. The company revealed in a support document that the standalone Cortana app, which often goes unnoticed by many users, will no longer receive support starting later this year. This decision marks a significant shift in Microsoft's approach to virtual assistance and highlights a strategic redirection towards other areas of focus within the Windows ecosystem.
Farewell: Microsoft announces the end of Cortana on Windows
Following the recent introduction of Windows Copilot at Microsoft's Build 2023 conference, there has been speculation about its potential role in replacing Cortana. However, Microsoft's Aaron Woodman has clarified that the two services serve different purposes and are not interchangeable. This clarification comes as Microsoft announces the discontinuation of Cortana on Windows 10 and Windows 11, indicating a strategic shift within the company's virtual assistance offerings.
With the discontinuation of Cortana on Windows, Microsoft assures users that AI experiences will still be accessible on Windows 11 through alternatives such as Windows Copilot, the new Bing, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and voice access. Cortana's fate had been anticipated for some time, as Microsoft gradually scaled back its efforts due to limited potential for competition with Amazon's Alexa. The virtual assistant was separated from Windows and remained as a standalone app on Windows 11 with minimal updates or new features.
Microsoft's focus is now on Bing Chat and Copilot, with plans to move forward with a more advanced voice assistant, GPT-4. While Cortana will still be available in select applications such as Outlook mobile and Teams, building workflows around the virtual assistant may not be ideal given its discontinuation and lack of recent updates.
This transition coincides with the approaching end of the Windows 10 era, as the upcoming 22H2 version is confirmed to be the final feature update for the widely used operating system.
