Microsoft removes Cortana from Windows 11, end of an era

Now yes, Cortana is dead forever. Microsoft has finally removed its old voice assistant from one of the last places it still works: Windows 11 apps. The good news is that they are already making new bets. This system, similar to Apple Siri, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, debuted in 2014 on the now discontinued Windows Phone. It then made its way into the most popular mobile operating systems such as iOS and Android without much success. Three years ago they decided to stop using it under these conditions.

The Redmond-based company is releasing a new update that simply disables the digital assistant in the latest version of the main PC operating system. When trying to run Cortana on Windows 11, users get a message that app is out of date. In addition, they are redirected to a support article that explains the details of this solution.

What will be the future of assistive software? In the third quarter of 2024, Microsoft will also remove Cortana from Teams Mobile, Teams Display, and Teams Room. Essentially, this will stop support for those services. It will only work in the mobile version of Outlook.

Microsoft removes Cortana from Windows 11: the story of a predicted death

Cortana was born nearly a decade ago when Microsoft first showcased it at Build 2014, a developer event. At the time, the American firm had ambitious plans for mobile platforms. voice assistant debuted on Windows Phoneoffer those from Redmond to compete with iOS and Android.

After the first step on mobile devices Cortana has been added to Windows 10 in 2015 when it featured prominently on the taskbar. Across platforms, the offer was in line with that of other personal assistants. Among other features, it recognizes voice commands, opens apps, and helps users with reminders.

The advent of Windows 11 in 2021 was the “digging of the grave” of the wizard. Microsoft has removed Cortana from the taskbar in their new operating system. Also, it is not pre-installed in this environment. Thus, the application was supported independently. In other words, those who are interested in using it can download it from the official app store.

In 2019, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, acknowledged that Cortana moved to competitors. Otherwise, the system was associated with the failure of Windows Phone, which failed to position itself as an alternative in the mobile device market.

Windows Copilot is Microsoft’s new support plan

Microsoft is ditching Cortana, though it’s not sitting idly by in the area of ​​personal assistance. The American technology plan has its own name: Second pilot. This is a new tool that adds the benefits of Bing Chat, the result of a collaboration between Microsoft and OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT.

The novelty, which was introduced in May, will introduce new benefits of artificial intelligence through a virtual assistant. Detail to keep in mind: you have to pay $30 per month to use Copilotwhich does not include fees for accessing Microsoft 365.

Microsoft’s new assistant is based on GPT-4, the foundation upon which ChatGPT runs. The idea is to empower the firm’s various services. For example, in Word, you can write drafts, summarize texts, or add content to existing documents. For its part, in Excel, this will simplify the use of formulas: the user can specify them in natural language so that the program performs the most complex mathematical work. In all cases it is proposed as chat bot which appears in the sidebar, similar to Bing in Edge.

So Microsoft is removing Cortana from Windows 11 and is paving the way for new era of digital assistancecrossed by new artificial intelligence systems. How do we think in hypertext, Second pilot it will also be available in the operating system to provide suggestions and support to users in their daily tasks.

Windows Copilot is expected to be available worldwide next year. There is no official launch date yet, although it is known that this will happen in the third quarter of 2024.