Microsoft Begins Moving Away from Cortana – Chat GPT & AI to be Integrated
Microsoft has officially started moving away from Cortana, Microsoft’s personal productivity assistant, and towards AI powered solutions like Chat GPT integration.
In June Microsoft announced that Cortana would reach end of support in August 2023, which would be replaced by new AI features in Microsoft Edge and Windows 11.
“Starting in August 2023, we will no longer support Cortana in Windows as a standalone app, however, you can still access powerful productivity features in Windows and Edge, which have increased AI capabilities. This means you can still get help with your tasks, calendar, and email, but in new and exciting ways.” – Microsoft Support Bulletin June 2023
Windows 11 Canary preview builds have already seen the beginning of the end for Cortana. The Canary. The update is offered via the Microsoft store and, once it has been installed, will disable Cortana in Windows 11 and display the message: “Cortana in Windows as a standalone app is deprecated.”
The message includes a “Learn More” button which will direct users to the June Microsoft Support bulletin mentioned above.
Microsoft has already started previewing the AI-powered Windows Copilot in Windows 11 preview Builds – Windows Copilot allows users to access Bing Chat directly from their desktop. Currently the Copilot features requires Microsoft Edge, but we should at some point, see a fully-integrated and full-features Windows Copilot or digital assistant.
While Windows Copilot is still limited in what it can do, Microsoft plans to make this a fully-featured personal assistant. This will allow users to launch applications, search for information, schedule events and manage their daily lives more effectively.
While this an exciting prospect, it’s likely that we will only see some of these features when it’s released with the Windows 11 23H2 updates coming in September 2023.