Cortana is #5 in Top 10 AI Assistants

Cortana
Cortana is your personal assistant on your Windows computer. She's there to help make things easier for you and keep you up to date on the things that matter to you. Whether it’s to keep you looped in with your world or help you manage your everyday life, Cortana is there for you.

Positions in ratings


#5 in Top 10 AI Assistants

Alternatives


The best alternatives to Cortana are: Amazon Alexa, Siri, ChatGPT, Bixby, Microsoft Copilot, Jasper.ai



Latest news about Cortana


2023. Microsoft replaces Cortana with Copilot in Windows



Microsoft is discontinuing its digital assistant Cortana in Windows, considering it as a stepping stone towards the future of AI. Instead of relying on Cortana, users will now turn to a smarter chatbot powered by GPT-4, thanks to Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI. In May, the company also announced integrating this new ChatGPT-based Bing experience directly into Windows 11. During this transitional period, Cortana will still exist in some capacity, but the standalone Windows app will no longer be supported. Nonetheless, users can access Cortana in Outlook mobile, Teams mobile, Microsoft Teams display, and Microsoft Teams rooms. To fill the void left by Cortana, Microsoft suggests exploring alternatives like Windows 11 voice access for controlling the PC through voice commands, the new AI-powered Bing, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Windows Copilot, which provide centralized AI assistance for Windows users.




2020. Microsoft launches new Cortana features for business users



Cortana might have faced failure as a virtual assistant targeted at consumers, but Microsoft is maintaining its confidence in the platform for business purposes, now rebranded as a "personal productivity assistant" within Microsoft 365. Today, Microsoft unveiled several new Cortana services designed specifically for business users. Among these offerings is the widespread availability of Cortana for the new Microsoft Teams displays, which the company is launching in collaboration with various hardware vendors. These displays can be thought of as dedicated smart screens for Teams, similar to Google Assistant-enabled smart displays, but with a primary focus on meetings. In today's world, it is challenging to introduce a device like this without incorporating a voice assistant, and that's where Cortana comes into play.


2020. Microsoft to sunset Cortana on iOS and Android in pivot to productivity-focused assistant



Microsoft has announced the discontinuation of Cortana on iOS, Android, and Surface Headphones, as the company shifts its focus towards business and enterprise technology rather than consumer offerings. Instead of competing with established leaders in the virtual assistant market, such as Apple, Google, and Amazon, Microsoft will concentrate on integrating Cortana's features into its suite of productivity products, Microsoft 365. This strategic decision reflects Microsoft's commitment to strengthening its presence in the enterprise technology sector, where it has experienced significant growth, while Cortana has faced challenges in keeping up with its competitors.


2020. Microsoft’s Cortana drops consumer skills as it refocuses on business users



With the upcoming release of the next version of Windows 10 in the spring, Microsoft's Cortana digital assistant will undergo significant changes, particularly in terms of its consumer-focused capabilities related to music, connected homes, and third-party skills. As Microsoft stated last year, Cortana is now primarily positioned as a service for business users. The revamped Cortana will prioritize productivity and offer seamless integration with Microsoft's suite of Office tools. Consequently, consumer-oriented services are considered distractions, and Microsoft is ceding that market to competitors like Amazon and Google. Initially, these changes will only affect English-speaking users in the United States, while the rollout of most productivity features for users outside the U.S. will occur in the future.


2017. Cortana arrived in Skype



Finally making its debut in Skype, Microsoft's virtual assistant Cortana now provides users with in-context assistance during their conversations. Moreover, users can directly message Cortana to ask questions or seek help with various tasks. This move by Microsoft aligns with the trend of integrating AI-based helpers into mobile messaging platforms, as seen with Google Assistant in Google's Allo app and Facebook Messenger's own assistant, "M." Cortana brings a wide range of capabilities to the table, such as suggesting restaurant options, providing movie reviews, suggesting meeting spots, offering factual information, and more. Additionally, Cortana can assist with event scheduling and setting reminders, which seamlessly sync with other Cortana-enabled devices, including Windows 10 PCs. With Cortana's integration, Skype users now have a versatile AI-powered assistant to enhance their messaging experience.


2016. Microsoft redesigned Cortana for iPhone and Android


The virtual assistant Cortana hasn't gained significant popularity on iOS and Android platforms. Consequently, Microsoft has undertaken a redesign to enhance its appeal. In the revamped version of Cortana, commonly used "quick actions" have been given greater prominence. While these actions are still accessible with a tap from the main screen, tasks such as viewing your day, setting or viewing reminders, checking meetings, and reading news now occupy a more prominent position within the user experience. The previous black-and-white theme has been replaced with an aesthetically pleasing shade of purple. Under the hood, Microsoft has also implemented speed improvements to make the app feel faster than its previous iteration.


2015. Microsoft integrates Cortana into Power BI service



Microsoft has made an announcement stating that the Cortana personal assistant will be integrated into Power BI, its business intelligence tool. It's important to note that Power BI already possessed some natural language query capabilities. With this integration, Cortana will be able to respond to written and spoken queries using data sets from Power BI. For instance, users can ask questions like "What was the revenue for the last quarter?" or request a chart showing the "number of opportunities by team." To utilize this new feature, users must grant Cortana access to their Power BI data sets. It's worth mentioning that Microsoft also offers Cortana Analytics, which caters to enterprises and focuses more on the machine learning and automation services that drive Cortana, rather than the Cortana client itself.


2015. Microsoft released Cortana for Android



Microsoft has launched the beta version of Cortana on Google Play, extending the functionality of its assistant to Android devices. Cortana on Android offers many of the same features found in its Windows counterpart. Users can set reminders, conduct web searches, and add events to their calendars using the app. Additionally, the Android version includes the "notebook" feature, allowing users to customize Cortana's recommendations for nearby restaurants, news alerts, weather updates, sports scores, and other categories based on their individual preferences and past activities. However, the Android app has certain limitations. It does not support adjusting phone settings, launching other applications, or utilizing the "Hey Cortana" voice command to initiate queries. Nevertheless, users can integrate Cortana more seamlessly into their Android experience by replacing the Google Now shortcut with Cortana via a long press on the home key.


2015. Parallels Desktop 11 brings Cortana to Mac



The latest version of Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac introduces the integration of Cortana, Microsoft's digital assistant, into the OS X desktop environment. With Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac, you can run a virtualized version of Windows 10 and have Cortana seamlessly interact with your Mac. By simply saying "Hey, Cortana," the assistant can appear from the OS X dock. Cortana can be used just as you would on a Windows device, providing access to news, weather updates, web search, and the ability to launch Mac applications. Additionally, Parallels Desktop 11 brings the Windows Notification center to the Mac desktop, appearing from the side of the screen similar to its functionality on Windows 10. Furthermore, the update also incorporates Mac features into the virtualized Windows system, including Quick Look, which can be accessed by pressing the space bar. Moreover, if you have a MacBook equipped with a Force Touch-enabled touchpad, you can utilize it to quickly access word definitions in Microsoft Word for Windows.


2015. Microsoft announced voice-enabled Big Data platform Cortana Analytics Suite


Microsoft has unveiled the Cortana Analytics Suite, a comprehensive offering comprising various components. This suite encompasses Azure ML, Microsoft's cloud-based machine learning product, PowerBI, a data visualization tool, and Azure Data Catalog, a service specifically designed for sharing and surfacing data repositories within an organization. By leveraging its analytics technology developed for Power BI, the suite enables on-demand data association from multiple sources, making it accessible through touch and voice-based queries. Although Cortana, the voice-driven personal assistant tool in Windows 10, plays a relatively minor role in the solution, Microsoft chose to name the suite after it to symbolize the contextualized intelligence that the company aims to deliver across the entire suite.


2015. Microsoft will bring Cortana to Android and iOS


Microsoft has announced that Android and iOS devices will soon have access to a companion app that allows users to access content from their Windows 10 PC on the device of their choice. Additionally, Cortana will be integrated into this experience. Cortana is already available on Windows 10 desktop, and once the companion app is launched, users will be able to configure it to work with both Android and iOS devices. For Android, Cortana will be a separate dedicated app, while iOS support is mentioned as 'coming soon' and may potentially reside within the Windows 10 companion app rather than as a standalone destination. During the demonstration, Microsoft showcased how Cortana on Android can provide weather forecasts, set reminders, and deliver follow-up alerts for those reminders at a later time.