Microsoft blog calls Cortana "The smartest AI in the universe"

[HEXUS]

Discusses how the game character was transformed into a Windows assistant.

Read more.

[pastymuncher]

Couldn't care less how smart it is and it's not something I want in a OS. If it can't be disabled in Windows 10 then I will be looking elsewhere for a OS.

[Wozza63]

Couldn't care less how smart it is and it's not something I want in a OS. If it can't be disabled in Windows 10 then I will be looking elsewhere for a OS.

She is useful, and can do a lot more outside of being a voice assistant automatically.

[mec1234]

What a load of round hairy objects.

[devBunny]

Cortana (who "knows more about the universe than you do" and is "powered by Bing"): Do you mean gooseberries? Tennis balls? Snowballs rolled into a barber's shop? Wooly pom-poms? Hairy balls in algebraic topology?

[RobbieRoy]

I'm more than happy to at least give her a try on my Win 10 rig. I'd be very surprised if you couldn't switch the function off, as you could that damned paper clip!

[DemonHighwayman]

As Rob Roy stated, I too am happy to try out Cortana. I will not buy the new OS just for her though, and I will not be as foolhardy as when windows 8 was released at its special upgrade price (it wasn't even worth £25/£30 whatever it was). So no rushing in for me, I'll wait 6 months and see what sort of feedback people are giving on all aspects of win 10.

[crossy]

I'm more than happy to at least give her a try on my Win 10 rig. I'd be very surprised if you couldn't switch the function off, as you could that damned paper clip!

I must be one of the very few who actually liked Clippy et al - although purely in Office, I can't see a use for those things at the desktop level. The magician or cat were my favourites.

Slightly less happy that Cortana has been made happy-clappy - it would have been nice to have had a "sarky" assistant if you're doing something daft, even as an option. Then again, I don't actually have a webcam nor microphone connected to my Windows PC, so even if I can't switch her off she's not going to do anything for me. Oh, and (Saracen mode on) there's no flipping way that I'm putting on a webcam just for this ... actually I've got no interest in webcams period. Microphone could be okay though, if Cortana is able to do a lot more than just search - I'd like voice command, e.g. "open excel with file 'household expenses'".

[spacein_vader]

I must be one of the very few who actually liked Clippy et al - although purely in Office, I can't see a use for those things at the desktop level. The magician or cat were my favourites.

Slightly less happy that Cortana has been made happy-clappy - it would have been nice to have had a "sarky" assistant if you're doing something daft, even as an option. Then again, I don't actually have a webcam nor microphone connected to my Windows PC, so even if I can't switch her off she's not going to do anything for me. Oh, and (Saracen mode on) there's no flipping way that I'm putting on a webcam just for this ... actually I've got no interest in webcams period. Microphone could be okay though, if Cortana is able to do a lot more than just search - I'd like voice command, e.g. "open excel with file 'household expenses'".

She'll already do that on my Lumia, so fingers crossed for desktop.

[Jowsey]

Oh, and (Saracen mode on) there's no flipping way that I'm putting on a webcam just for this ... actually I've got no interest in webcams period. Microphone could be okay though, if Cortana is able to do a lot more than just search - I'd like voice command, e.g. "open excel with file 'household expenses'".

I chuckled.

I would agree, if I could accomplish a routine task by just saying "Cortana, go to my youtube subscription page and load up steam" and it was quicker than me launching chrome and steam and browsing to my youtube page, that's a good thing right?

I always have my headset plugged into a USB port and just hanging on the side if not in use so hopefully it will pick up clearly from there.

And +1 for a sarky assistant. I read a Fanfic (it's kind of rude to call this a Fanfic anymore, it's over 3 stories and nearly 3 million words now!) and two of my favourite characters are AI systems, one all straight backed and the other super sarcastic. Am I correct in thinking this won't be voiced by the Cortana from the game and will be some random british voice actor?

[spacein_vader]

I chuckled.

I would agree, if I could accomplish a routine task by just saying "Cortana, go to my youtube subscription page and load up steam" and it was quicker than me launching chrome and steam and browsing to my youtube page, that's a good thing right?

I always have my headset plugged into a USB port and just hanging on the side if not in use so hopefully it will pick up clearly from there.

And +1 for a sarky assistant. I read a Fanfic (it's kind of rude to call this a Fanfic anymore, it's over 3 stories and nearly 3 million words now!) and two of my favourite characters are AI systems, one all straight backed and the other super sarcastic. Am I correct in thinking this won't be voiced by the Cortana from the game and will be some random british voice actor?

If it follows the Phone version the voice actress in the US is the Halo Cortana, but the British lady is a different voice. She's still funny in places, but less abrupt than the Halo series.

[DanceswithUnix]

I'd be very surprised if you couldn't switch the function off, as you could that damned paper clip!

I'm sure you could find out how by picking up your phone and saying "OK Google, how do I disable Cortana in Windows"

[Chadders87]

I'm a sucker for resident AI. If I could install a sane HAL9000 I would.

As long as it had in built compatibility with every device and appliance then it's a win... This is just the forebearers of my dream.

[Brian224]

Sometimes I wish Cortana on my Lumia was a bit less literal. The enquiry "What time is it" gets the time in India (Indian Time = IT), and "what is the time" gets a bit philosophical

[crossy]

I would agree, if I could accomplish a routine task by just saying "Cortana, go to my youtube subscription page and load up steam" and it was quicker than me launching chrome and steam and browsing to my youtube page, that's a good thing right?

Not such a big deal at home (because I tend to single task), but at work that feature could be pretty useful. Especially as there, I do have webcam and headset (because we use video/VOIP conferencing a lot).

If it [the Cortana voice] follows the Phone version the voice actress in the US is the Halo Cortana, but the British lady is a different voice. She's still funny in places, but less abrupt than the Halo series.

Cue sad trombones...

I'm a sucker for resident AI. If I could install a sane HAL9000 I would.

If you get your sane HAL9000 then keep the White House and any three letter orgs away from it. Remember that's what caused the original HAL to go googoo. Or, as stated in 2010, "HAL became trapped in what is technically known as a Hofstadter-Möbius loop".

Actually speaking of the H-M loop, if you're a devotee of The Big Bang Theory, here's some twisted logic for you:
1. One of the main characters in that is Leonard Hofstadter;
2. His room-mate (Dr Sheldon Cooper) has expressed a desire to convert himself to having a robot body ... and therefore living for ever.
3. Taking #1 and #2, is it possible that Dr Cooper's beloved "Shelbot" is actually HAL9000, programmed by his roomie Dr Hofstadter? And of course Howard has NASA connections, and Raj is an astrophysicist...

[valhar2000]

I agree with Mec1234, this is just empty verbiage. Seriously, not a single thing has been said about what Cortana is or what it does, which leads me to believe that it does not actually do anything worthwhile. If it did, they would mention that in all these ads.