Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistant was first introduced to our computers with the launch of Windows 10, back in 2015. While the idea was to eventually catch up to competitors such as the Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri, it lagged behind despite having the massive advantage of shipping with Microsoft’s operating system. Now, the standalone Cortana app is disappearing on Windows 11.
Now, if you try to open the Cortana app on Windows 11, you’ll be met with a notice saying that Cortana has been discontinued, as well as a link to a support page further confirming it. Support for the assistant will also be removed from Microsoft Teams in the fall of 2023. Cortana will remain to be available in Outlook mobile, according to Microsoft, but despite this, the one that was still used the most by users — as small as that group of users might be — was the service in Windows and the mobile apps. Microsoft already shuttered the Cortana apps for iPhone and Android, and now it has been removed from Windows 11.
The move came without much fanfare, other than a vague “starting in late 2023” timeline for its final removal — which quite frankly speaks volumes about how many people have actually been using this thing at all. There’s no “proper” replacement for Cortana on Windows 11, but Microsoft points at other alternatives such as Windows Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Bing’s new AI chat feature, and Windows 11’s standard voice controls if you’re part of the crowd that will really miss Cortana. While one of the main motivators behind this might be Microsoft’s new push towards AI and different AI features, the reality is that Cortana has been on borrowed time for a while now, and its less-accessible version on Windows 11 back when it launched in 2021 made that all the more clear.
It won’t be much longer until Cortana finishes disappearing on all platforms it’s still available on. If you want to say your final goodbyes, go find a Windows 10 PC and talk to Cortana from the taskbar.
Source: The Verge
![Suspicion is the word of the week on Foundation [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★☆](https://www.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Foundation_Photo_020508.jpeg "Suspicion is the word of the week on Foundation [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★☆")
