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>other than "Apple has Siri". And google has Google Now. Amazon has Alexa. I think if you want to be competitive in the OS world, you'll probably need somethin

>other than "Apple has Siri". And google has Google Now. Amazon has Alexa. I think if you want to be competitive in the OS world, you'll probably need something like this. The real problem is how heavy handed MS is with pushing its features. >but do you really need to talk to your computer? On mobile, yes, considering Win10 is also a mobileOS. In desktop mode you would just type in the cortana box if you prefer. I also imagine there's a larger vision for Cortana. The product is pretty half-assed right now but I could see it being used for a lot of admin functions we're used to via control panel or hotkeys. It would be nice to say, "Cortana switch the display to the wireless projector" or "Cortana, update the nvidia driver." Remember that scene when Scotty scoffs at the 20th century computer you couldn't talk to in The Voyage Home? Of course we want to talk to our computers. I want to order it around, not hunt and peck through menus and control panels or try to find something with endless swipes. People like to talk and give orders. As technology becomes more featureful, we'll be using a voice a lot more. I know I do already with Google Now on my watch and Alexa at home.

Nullabillity 10y ago
> On mobile, yes, considering Win10 is also a mobileOS. On mobile, still no, because none of them actually work properly. And didn't the mobile division recently shut down? > I also imagine there's a larger vision for Cortana. The product is pretty half-assed right now but I could see it being used for a lot of admin functions we're used to via control panel or hotkeys. It would be nice to say, "Cortana switch the display to the wireless projector" In exchange for losing the discoverability that projectors are indeed supported. It'll also be wonderful to have to Google for exactly how to word it so that Cortana will actually parse it correctly. > or "Cortana, update the nvidia driver." At this point I wouldn't be surprised if the next update completely removes the ability to do this...
cptskippy 10y ago
> The real problem is how heavy handed MS is with pushing its features. Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri are all on by default.
- tdkl 10y ago
  Google Now and Siri are opt-in. Google Now is part of Google App apk which can be disabled. Cortana can be disabled with renaming an .exe in AppData folder.
  - cptskippy 10y ago
    Cortana is opt-in as well. When you first setup/install/boot Windows 10 there's a screen titled "Meet Cortana" where you can choose "Not now". When you first setup an iOS device it walks you through first setup and there's a very similar screen titled "Set up Siri". Android doesn't have such a screen. The difference between them is that Microsoft uses an Dark-Pattern to obscure the "Not now" option by placing it off to the left in normal font styling where as the "Next" button is a proper button.
- drzaiusapelord 10y ago
  Agreed, I guess I'm refering more to the 'dark pattern' used in the Windows 10 upgrade prompt and the occasional nagging to activate Cortana if you've disabled it. I believe the large "feature" updates like anniversary, 1511, etc reset a lot of settings, including Cortana's nag screen. I'm not sure if Google and Amazon are this bad. MS really is buying deep into dark pattern warfare against its users. I think its valid to complain about it.
  - cptskippy 10y ago
    There's definitely a dark-pattern there, in fact Microsoft uses them quite a bit in Windows 10 to get you to enable a new feature that you wouldn't otherwise. It's not new though, so I'm probably just conditioned to expect it. The setups for all their OSes have had a screen or two like this but it's generally for more mundane things like enterprise features or something. I have not experienced any nagging to activate Cortana on any of the 7 devices I have it installed on. I disabled Cortana during the setup screen on each and that was the end of it. Now a recent update added the Search button back on tablets that you can't get rid of, which is annoying, but Cortana still isn't enabled. If you click on the button it's just the bog standard Windows Search. Someone mentioned this was part of the Anniversary update but neither of my tablets have enough drive space to perform the Anniversay update but I still have the search button in the task bar. Either way it's lame.
aruggirello 10y ago
> I think if you want to be competitive in the OS world, you'll probably need something like this. This. We still don't have a half decent, open source desktop AI assistant - The only kind that I would trust to access my personal data - GNU/Linux (Ubuntu?) has to catch up a little bit here.

Nullabillity 10y ago

> On mobile, yes, considering Win10 is also a mobileOS. On mobile, still no, because none of them actually work properly. And didn't the mobile division recently shut down? > I also imagine there's a larger vision for Cortana. The product is pretty half-assed right now but I could see it being used for a lot of admin functions we're used to via control panel or hotkeys. It would be nice to say, "Cortana switch the display to the wireless projector" In exchange for losing the discoverability that projectors are indeed supported. It'll also be wonderful to have to Google for exactly how to word it so that Cortana will actually parse it correctly. > or "Cortana, update the nvidia driver." At this point I wouldn't be surprised if the next update completely removes the ability to do this...

cptskippy 10y ago

> The real problem is how heavy handed MS is with pushing its features. Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri are all on by default.

tdkl 10y ago
Google Now and Siri are opt-in. Google Now is part of Google App apk which can be disabled. Cortana can be disabled with renaming an .exe in AppData folder.
- cptskippy 10y ago
  Cortana is opt-in as well. When you first setup/install/boot Windows 10 there's a screen titled "Meet Cortana" where you can choose "Not now". When you first setup an iOS device it walks you through first setup and there's a very similar screen titled "Set up Siri". Android doesn't have such a screen. The difference between them is that Microsoft uses an Dark-Pattern to obscure the "Not now" option by placing it off to the left in normal font styling where as the "Next" button is a proper button.
drzaiusapelord 10y ago
Agreed, I guess I'm refering more to the 'dark pattern' used in the Windows 10 upgrade prompt and the occasional nagging to activate Cortana if you've disabled it. I believe the large "feature" updates like anniversary, 1511, etc reset a lot of settings, including Cortana's nag screen. I'm not sure if Google and Amazon are this bad. MS really is buying deep into dark pattern warfare against its users. I think its valid to complain about it.
- cptskippy 10y ago
  There's definitely a dark-pattern there, in fact Microsoft uses them quite a bit in Windows 10 to get you to enable a new feature that you wouldn't otherwise. It's not new though, so I'm probably just conditioned to expect it. The setups for all their OSes have had a screen or two like this but it's generally for more mundane things like enterprise features or something. I have not experienced any nagging to activate Cortana on any of the 7 devices I have it installed on. I disabled Cortana during the setup screen on each and that was the end of it. Now a recent update added the Search button back on tablets that you can't get rid of, which is annoying, but Cortana still isn't enabled. If you click on the button it's just the bog standard Windows Search. Someone mentioned this was part of the Anniversary update but neither of my tablets have enough drive space to perform the Anniversay update but I still have the search button in the task bar. Either way it's lame.

aruggirello 10y ago

> I think if you want to be competitive in the OS world, you'll probably need something like this. This. We still don't have a half decent, open source desktop AI assistant - The only kind that I would trust to access my personal data - GNU/Linux (Ubuntu?) has to catch up a little bit here.