Windows 10: After Windows 11, Cortana now stops working on Windows 10

Microsoft has just dropped a new update in the Release Preview Channel that turns off Cortana on Windows 10. As we first spotted, this move comes after the software maker killed off the digital assistant on Windows 11 as it bets big on Windows Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Bing Chat, and more.

When Microsoft discontinued Windows 10 Mobile, many assumed the company would instantly kill Cortana. Instead, Microsoft announced it’s opening access to Cortana to third-party hardware, and Windows 10 will compete with Amazon Alexa. Later, Microsoft announced a conversational AI update for Cortana, which was seen as a significant boost to its assistant.

After months of major company-wide restructuring, Cortana finally stopped getting features on Windows 10. Cortana received its last update on Windows in 2020, and the Windows Phone-era digital assistant has become redundant in Windows at this point, particularly with Windows 11’s release.

Microsoft once championed Cortana as an ‘intelligent agent’ designed to manage work and personal tasks. But as Microsoft pivoted towards AI and acknowledged the challenges of competing with Amazon Alexa and Siri in intelligent home capabilities, the company no longer sees a future in Cortana.


Cortana no longer works on Windows 10 | Image Courtesy: WindowsLatest.com

Windows 11’s latest update killed the Cortana app, and the new Windows 10 update also turned off the digital assistant.

As first spotted by Windows Latest, Cortana version 4.2308.1005.0 ends support for the app on Windows 10.

When you open the app, you will notice a new message that says Cortana has been depreciated. Microsoft says you can close the app or click the ‘Learn more’ button to understand the transition to Windows Copilot and AI.

The Learn More button points to a document titled “End of support for Cortana in Windows” on Microsoft.com

On Windows 11, you won’t need Cortana anymore as Microsoft has brought AI to desktops, Microsoft 365, Edge, and search engine. However, Microsoft doesn’t offer a direct alternative to Cortana on Windows 10. That’s because the company has stopped developing new features for Windows 10

In the support document, Microsoft reminds us that the operating system, including Windows 10, already has features to replace the digital assistant.

I don’t know how many used Cortana’s innovative skills, like setting up reminders, alarms, and creating notes. However, other features, like opening a webpage, are still possible via Bing Copilot in Microsoft Edge. To write an email, you can use Outlook’s AI integration powered by Microsoft 365 Copilot to achieve the task.

If you like Cortana or miss her, remember that the retired assistant will remain in other Microsoft services. You can use her in Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Outlook, and related mobile apps.

The post After Windows 11, Cortana now stops working on Windows 10 appeared first on Windows Latest

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Windows 10 Tweaks

As you may already know, Windows 10 (as well as Windows 8) allow you to log in with a valid Microsoft account, instead of creating a local account that only works on your machine. However, you may prefer to keep a local account for privacy reasons. If you do, though, some Windows 10 features—like Cortana—may not work. Despite the default behavior, the Windows 10 Store is not one of them. You can still log in to your Microsoft account for just the Store without switching to a full Microsoft account. The process, however, is not terribly obvious. To do so, follow these steps:

• Launch the Store from your Start menu.
• Click the user icon next to the search box.
• Click “Sign-in” from the menu that appears.
• Choose “Microsoft account” and log in like normal.
• When the “Make it yours” box appears do not enter your password. Instead, click “Sign in to just this app instead.”

from Lifehacker

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Privacy tweaks...

• Turn Cortana Off. Bring up the Start menu and start typing. Click on the notebook icon in the left sidebar and choose Settings. From there, you can turn off Cortana.
• Search online and include web results. When you turn off Cortana, you’ll see this option appear. You can turn it off if you’d rather not get web search suggestions from the Start menu, which log your typing and send it back to Microsoft so you can get live-updating predictions, just like you do on Google.com or in Chrome and Firefox.
• Getting to Know You. In Settings > Privacy > Speech, Inking, & Typing, you’ll find a feature called “Getting to Know You”. This is probably the most sweeping privacy setting on the system, and even after turning off Cortana, you’ll have to disable this setting. Just click the “Stop Getting to Know Me” button to turn it off.
• Cloud Info. Turning off Getting to Know You removes info from your device, but you’ll have to remove it from the cloud separately. In that same window, click “Go to Bing and manage personal info for all your devices” to clear the Getting to Know You Data from your Microsoft account.

• If you head to Settings > Privacy > Feedback & Diagnostics, you’ll see two settings:

• Feedback frequency: Windows will occasionally ask you for feedback so you can send Microsoft your thoughts on Windows 10. If you’d rather it not bug you with such things, you can change it to Never.
• Diagnostic and usage data: This feature can send a lot of data back to Microsoft, including how often you use certain apps, which apps you use most often, and memory snapshots (which can inadvertently include parts of a document you’re working on if something crashes). You can change this to Full, Enhanced, or Basic. You can read more about what each of these to here.

Microsoft doesn’t let you turn off diagnostics completely, except on Enterprise versions of Windows. The Basic setting, they say, is data that is “vital to the operation of Windows”, including Windows Update and malicious software protection.


some may be duplicated. I found this info on Lifehacker, if anyone wants the full article.

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.