14 DAY TRIAL // Cortana will almost certainly debut on the desktop with the help of Windows 9, and the existing testing builds of the operating system indeed show that Microsoft is looking to push its personal assistant to the PC in the coming months.
Information that’s surfacing the web these days indicates that Cortana will play multiple roles, including bringing Microsoft’s modern platforms together for a seamless experience in the case of users switching from a PC to a tablet or a smartphone.
First and foremost, Cortana will play on Windows 9 the exact same role as on Windows Phone 8.1 and will allow you to perform tasks with the help of voice commands, just like the smartphone version does.
But as Brad Sams of Neowin writes, Microsoft is looking to make Cortana a bit more personal, which would in the end help Bing increase its market share against Google.
Bing continues to be the core of Cortana
At this point, Cortana uses Bing to provide relevant suggestions to users, but in Windows 9, Microsoft will push its service way beyond the capabilities of the existing smartphone version.
Bing, which has evolved from a search engine to a stand-alone platform, will power Cortana’s new “more personal” features and could help you search for information based on your recent activity on the computer.
For example, Cortana will allow users to search for Excel documents opened recently by simply telling her that you want to open a spreadsheet that you’ve worked on. At the same time, Cortana could also keep an eye on text messages, Skype conversations, emails and everything related to communications and could provide results based on the included data.
One possible scenario is to ask Cortana to provide addresses for a location sent by one of your contacts on Skype or on email.
Cortana will work based on your settings
One of the main worries when hearing about such a deep integration of Cortana is user privacy, but Microsoft will make its virtual assistant so personal only if the consumer himself agrees with it.
The PC version will come with lots of options and configuration settings, so in case you do not agree to let Cortana keep an eye on your conversations, that’s not going to happen.
You decide which features must be turned on and which not. Cortana will look exactly the same as on Windows Phone 8.1 and will remain always on, just in case you need her when working on your computer.
The PC version of Cortana is very unlikely to be part of the preview build of Windows 9 due early next month, but it should be shipped to users through an update by April 2015.