Microsoft announces that Cortana has reached the end of the road
American tech giant Microsoft has announced that Cortana, its voice assistant once attached with high hopes, has now reached the end of its journey.
Microsoft announces that Cortana has reached the end of the road. In a recent declaration, Microsoft officially acknowledged the termination of Cortana, its virtual assistant, on the Windows operating system. The announcement, made through a support document, confirmed the discontinuation of support for the standalone Cortana application, often overlooked by users, later this year.
The verdict trails the recent launch of Windows Copilot at Microsoft's Build 2023 conference, stirring speculation of Copilot superseding Cortana. However, Aaron Woodman from Microsoft explained that the two services cater to different functions and cannot be exchanged for one another.
Even though Cortana’s availability will cease, Microsoft affirms that AI experiences will persist in Windows 11. The new Bing, Windows Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and voice control feature in Windows were suggested as notable substitutes in the support document.
Cortana's future has been foreseeable for quite a while. Originally introduced in 2014 as a virtual assistant for Windows Phone 8.1, Cortana subsequently migrated to desktops with Windows 10. Microsoft extended its presence by incorporating it into numerous applications, reflecting the present strategy with Copilot. Regrettably, third-party Cortana devices, including the Harman Kardon Invoke smart speaker and the Johnson Controls Glas thermostat, have also been stripped of support.
Microsoft announces that Cortana has reached the end of the road
Aware of Cortana’s limitations to rival Amazon's Alexa, Microsoft progressively reduced its endeavors. Cortana was isolated from Windows and was converted into a standalone application, differing from its original role as a taskbar feature. Over the recent years, Cortana primarily functioned as an application on Windows 11 with no significant updates or novel features.
In the current scenario, Microsoft is highlighting Bing Chat and Copilot, and it is apparent that AI is in the spotlight. Microsoft is keen to advance with GPT-4, a more sophisticated voice assistant, rather than depending on the basic functionality of Cortana.
However, Microsoft maintains that Cortana will continue to exist in certain applications, including Outlook mobile, Teams mobile, Teams display, and Teams rooms. Nevertheless, given the discontinuation of Cortana on Windows and a lack of recent updates, it seems an ill-suited period to establish workflows centered around the virtual assistant.
Moreover, the conclusion of Cortana corresponds with the impending termination of the Windows 10 era. Microsoft recently affirmed that the forthcoming 22H2 version will be the ultimate feature update for this widespread operating system. Microsoft announces that Cortana has reached the end of the road.
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