Goodbye Cortana! Microsoft kills its voice assistant for good

Microsoft has officially discontinued its Cortana app for Windows 11, the latest version of its operating system. The app, which was a digital assistant that could perform tasks like setting reminders, opening applications, and answering questions, is no longer functional on Windows 11 devices. Also Read: Goodbye Windows 10! After 10 Years, Microsoft Officially Ends Free Support: What Can You Do

The company announced the change in a support article, where it also revealed that it will end support for Cortana in some of its other products, such as Teams mobile, Teams Display, and Teams Rooms, by the fall of 2023. However, Cortana will still be available in Outlook mobile, according to Microsoft. Also Read: Don’t Ignore! Upgrade to Windows 11 Before Windows 10 Support Ends Tomorrow, Else..

“We’re making some changes to Windows and Microsoft 365 that will impact Cortana users. Cortana in Windows as a standalone app is deprecated. Support for Cortana in Teams mobile, Microsoft Teams display, and Microsoft Teams Rooms will end in the fall of 2023. Cortana in Outlook mobile will continue to be available,” Microsoft wrote in the support article.  Also Read: Microsoft Ending Windows 10 Support On October 14: Here’s What You Can Do Next

Cortana was first introduced in Windows Phone, Microsoft’s mobile operating system that failed to compete with Android and iOS. The assistant was then integrated into Windows 10 in 2015, where it had a prominent place in the taskbar. However, Microsoft decided to remove Cortana from the Windows 11 taskbar and first boot experience and only kept the standalone app until this week.

The demise of Cortana is not surprising, as the assistant struggled to gain popularity and market share against rivals like Alexa or Google Assistant. Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella admitted in 2019 that Cortana had fallen behind competitors.

Microsoft is not giving up on digital assistants entirely, though. The company is working on a new feature for Windows 11 called Windows Copilot, which is a sidebar that can control Windows settings, answer questions, and more. Windows Copilot is powered by Bing Chat, a conversational AI service that can chat with users about various topics. Windows Copilot is expected to be available this fall as part of a Windows 11 update that will also include native RAR and 7-Zip support.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has announced the rollout of Windows Copilot preview to the beta channel. Interested testers can download the preview that offers an AI-infused sidebar, which was first announced at Build 2023.

“This first preview focuses on our integrated UI experience, with additional functionality coming down the road in future previews”, the company wrote in a blog post.

To try out this preview feature, you need to be in the beta channel and have the following versions or higher of Windows 11 and Microsoft Edge: Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22631.2129 and Microsoft Edge version 115.0.1901.150.