Leading tech company Microsoft, has announced plans to update the Cortana virtual, cross-platform assistant for upcoming iterations of Windows 10. In the next release, a chat focused UI with support for keyboard and voice will arrive, along with features that help customers to keep on top of their schedule, and perform other tasks.
Microsoft has also said that it will remove music, home and third-party app integrations at the same time, creating tighter access for work and school accounts. The Microsoft team is even ending support for Cortana in older Windows versions that have reached their pre-determined end-service dates.
Corporate VP for Cortana, Andrew Shuman, said in a blog post that the team is excited about how these new updates will help users to stay on top of their workflow and accomplish their goals.
What’s Next for Cortana?
Additional updates for Cortana will be announced in the coming months. In the meantime, the upcoming improved Cortana will recognise commands like “Let me know what’s next on my calendar”, and “add status report to my to-do list”. English speakers in the US will also find improved email, people, and file-finding solutions, along with in-person meeting insights. However, international users won’t access the same features.
The soon-to-be available skills for Cortana include:
- Bing answers
- Reminders
- Join my meeting
- Calendar
- Lists
- Assistant conversations
- Timer
- Open settings
- Open apps
- Alarms
- People search
- Media controls (volume)
Microsoft is planning to remove any skills and integrations not mentioned on that list, but it also says it will be adding more functionality to the experience in the future.
Elsewhere, if you want to use Cortana in Microsoft 365, you’ll need to sign into a Microsoft account first. Microsoft says its planning on removing Cortana services in the Microsoft Launcher by the end of this month, April 2020. This is part of a strategy to transform Cortana into a more complete productivity assistant, ideal for commercial customers.
Looking to the Future with Cortana
Microsoft has announced that it’s looking forward to adding extra functionality with Cortana soon based on feedback from customers. These changes will be focused on aligning the Cortana experience for the enterprise environment, particularly Office and Windows customers. The assistant can now read email summaries and send quick responses via Outlook, it can also schedule meetings and provide information on daily tasks.
Email briefings from Cortana in Outlook will also be able to suggest optimal focus times, and Microsoft introduced the Presenter Coach PowerPoint service to get feedback on presentations too.
