Windows 10’s next major update will let Cortana float around your PC (Oh boy!)

The Verge ^ | Dec 10, 2015 | Tom Warren

[dayglored]

Microsoft just released Cortana for iOS and Android this week, but it's planning much bigger features for its future Windows integration. Cortana first arrived on Windows 10 earlier this year, and now Microsoft is planning and building major updates, codenamed Redstone, to the operating system that will make Cortana a lot more powerful. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans tell The Verge that the company is experimenting with having Cortana float around Windows 10.

This floating mechanism would allow Cortana to appear on top of documents, contextually, and provide information and assistance. We're told it's more of a powerful search tool, than an annoying animated character like Clippy. If Microsoft pushes ahead with its Cortana plans then the digital assistant will be able to control even more Windows features, like the ability to mute all incoming notifications quickly.

Microsoft is also considering further integrating its Office 365 services directly into Cortana so they're available straight within Windows 10. For businesses this could mean Windows 10 can serve as a hub for projects, with the ability for Cortana to understand who's working on a document and surface useful information.

[JimRed]

i'll stick with Six thank you very much...

Seven of Nine for mine, thank you!

[doorgunner69]

And I don’t have Windows 10, nor do I want it.

After following the 10 threads and dealing with the wife's 8 laptop issues, you do not want anything to do with 10. & runs quite well on my desktop with updates turned off. Old laptop does fine on XP for the few times I use it. Slow, but what can you say for such old hardware.

If you you have 7 running smoothly, sit back and use your computer as a tool, not like a fetish like the other team does.

[dayglored]

> Is atta Cortana?

Yep, as of a while back. Though I've heard it rumored that by Halo5 she's aged and flattened...

[nopardons]

I read several different news sites, newspapers, write and get email, and that's about all I use the laptop for. I have Windows 7 and am happy with it.

I'm just worrying about losing my pictures and saved stuff.

[Boogieman]

“We’re told it’s more of a powerful search tool, than an annoying animated character like Clippy.”

Oh sure. Microsoft never thinks their new feature is going to be annoying, but somehow, it always is.

[doorgunner69]

All reviews seem sto say 10 is 8 glossed over with the auxialiry crap that many of us (like me) do not not use being the big deal improvement.

Interface still sucks, 7 was enough of a shock from XP, no more changes MS, fuck off.

[doorgunner69]

sorry about the language, got carried away

[dfwgator]

Good old Clippy,

[nopardons]

Yes, I had XP until about a year ago, when I got this laptop that has 7. I refused to get a new laptop with 8 and now this 10 thing has raised its UGLY head.

I feel the same way you do! All of their "special" bells & whistles are completely useless for me and I don't handle tech changes well at all.

[Scutter]

LOL! Exactly what I was thinking.

[roamer_1]

Never have I once used Cortana.

Me neither... Does anyone use Cortana? Anyone?

[Calpublican]

It might be helpful if vision impaired?

[epluribus_2]

It’s Clippy!

[redfreedom]

Office assistant is very annoying. I suspect Cortana would be the same.

[McGruff]

I ran GWX Control Panel on my Windows 7 machines and haven’t seen a Windows 10 upgrade reminder since.

http://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/

I’d recommend it if you don’t want to upgrade to Windows 10.

[rockrr]

Don’t worry about it - back them up. Storage has never been cheaper! Do a quick assessment of how much “stuff” you have and then buy twice that amount of external hard drive capacity (even thumbdrives and SD drives are available in sizes up to 64 gigabytes).

Then copy (don’t move!) your stuff to that drive. I bought two 3-terabyte external hard drives so that I could keep one copy offsite and one local.

[rockrr]

Does anyone use Cortana? Anyone?

I was jazzed about the idea of voice control and eager to try it. I had a little experience with Dragon speech~to~text and knew that the software "learned" to understand your speech patterns and assumed that MS voice control would be similar.

It is and it isn't. It learns as you continue to use it but it shares everything it discovers about you with "master control". Call it containing my paranoia but I'm not interested in sharing any more with the lefties at MS than I absolutely have to share.

So for now Win-10 only goes on test machines, and only gets used with test accounts. It doesn't get to "see" any of my data and I don't even do any non-business internet browsing on it. And I've turned off every sharing option that I can find.

[nopardons]

Thanks, I have been doing that, anyway, but then got behind.
I guess that I’ll have to start downloading/copying everything again.

[editor-surveyor]

.
I said at the beginning that Windows 10 would be their biggest rape yet, and it sure is shaping up!
.

[editor-surveyor]

.
>> “I guess that I’ll have to start downloading/copying everything again.” <<

.
That has been from the beginning the only real weapon we Have with these people.