Microsoft has DITCHED a popular feature on Windows 11 – here’s how the change will affect you
- Microsoft has officially ditched its standalone Cortana app for Windows 11
- It comes 9 years after the smart assistant first launched on the Windows Phone
It first launched back in 2014 as a digital assistant on the Windows Phone.
But if you’re a fan of Microsoft’s smart assistant, Cortana, we have some bad news for you.
Microsoft has announced that it has officially ditched its standalone Cortana app for Windows 11.
The tech giant explained the change in a blog post this week, highlighting that it ‘understands this may affect the way you work.’
Here’s what you need to know about the change and what it means for you.
Microsoft has announced that it has officially ditched its standalone Cortana app for Windows 11
READ MORE: Windows 11 is DITCHING an almost 20-year-old feature – and users are NOT happy about it
Print Screen is a button on PC keyboards that takes a screenshot and automatically copies it so users can paste it anywhere
Cortana first launched on the Windows Phone back in 2014, before being added as a smart assistant in Windows 10, one year later.
It was integrated within the Windows 10 toolbar, where users could use the smart assistant to set reminders, open applications and more.
With the launch of Windows 11 two years ago, Microsoft removed Cortana from the taskbar, and instead featured it as a standalone app.
However, the standalone app has now been ditched entirely.
‘We’re making some changes to Windows and Microsoft 365 that will impact Cortana users,’ Microsoft explained.
‘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.’
In its blog post, Microsoft highlighted several other tools that users might find useful amid the removal of Cortana.
This includes Voice access, the new AI-powered Bing, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Windows Copilot.
‘We are excited to keep innovating and using AI to help you work smarter and faster,’ it added.
‘We hope you enjoy the new ways to use AI to save time and focus on what matters most to you.’
Cortana first launched on the Windows Phone back in 2014, before being added as a smart assistant in Windows 10, one year later
Several users have taken to X (formerly Twitter) to discuss the news this week.
‘If they connected her with OpenAI it may actually work but instead they killed another product as usual,’ one user wrote.
‘I can’t believe it. Both people who used it will be devastated,’ another joked.
And one added: ‘Rip she joined clippy and ai tay.’
The news comes shortly after Microsoft ditched a classic feature of PC keyboards that dates back around two decades.
Print Screen is a button on PC keyboards that takes a screenshot and automatically copies it so users can paste it into another application, such as Paint.
Now, an upcoming update for Windows 11, called KB5025310, will change this so the Print Screen button opens up Microsoft’s Snipping Tool instead.
THE TRILLION DOLLAR RISE OF MICROSOFT
April 4, 1975 Microsoft founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen
June 25, 1981 Microsoft incorporates
November, 1983 Microsoft Windows announced
Novenber, 1985 Microsoft Windows version 1.0 released
February 26, 1986 Microsoft moves to corporate campus in Redmond, Washington where it is today
March 13, 1986 Microsoft stock goes public
August 1, 1989 Microsoft introduces earliest version of Office suite of productivity applications
August 24, 1995 Microsoft launches Windows 95
1995 – Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, becomes the richest man in the world aged 39 with a fortune of $12.9 billion at the time
October 25, 2001 Microsoft launches Windows XP
November 15, 2001 Microsoft launches Xbox
October 21, 2003 Microsoft launches Microsoft Office System
November 22, 2005 Microsoft launches Xbox 360
January 30, 2007 Microsoft launches Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office System to consumers worldwide
June 28, 2011 Microsoft launches Office 365
April 24, 2019 Microsoft becomes the third company in the world to peak at more than $1 trillion in market capitalisation value
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