Windows 9 Might Have Cortana Built Right In

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

Last week a particular patent submitted by Apple outlined its plan to bring the mobile virtual assistant Siri to the desktop. It looks like Microsoft might be planning the same thing by brining the Windows 8.1 voice assistant Cortana into Windows 9 proper.

Cortana has actually been running within Threshold—Microsoft's codenamed OS build widely belived to be Windows 9—for some time, according to Neowin, but now the integration looks like it's moving forward. Neowin describes Cortana's "graduation" from a testing stage to a "let us push this forward and see if we can ship it" stage.

It seems that Cortana would run as a separate but built-in app, and instead of taking up your whole screen like in Windows Phone (which on desktop would be unforgivably annoying) Cortana will pop up in a screen about one-fourth the size of your display. It'll also be displayed directly in the center, somewhat like Apple's improved Spotlight function in Yosemite.

Of course lots can change between now and Threshold/Windows 9's eventual release. Microsoft could decide to drop Cortana from Windows 9, at least at first, or reversely more updates to the virtual assistant could allow for even deeper integration into the OS. Mary Jo Foley with ZDNet notes how Cortana integration in Windows (and eventually Xbox) would be in step with the company's new "One Windows" strategy, which includes plans for "universal" apps.

It would also be a nice new addition to Windows whereas most leaks and rumors have just been about scaling back from Windows 8, including the return of the Start menu and the removal of the charm bar entirely.

Windows 9 looks to be reorienting itself to a more recognizable desktop experience rather than being concerned with creating a mobile-friendly interface, and if Microsoft can pull in one of its best Windows Phone features with Cortana, Windows 9 could be the fresh new face we're waiting for. [Neowin via ZDNet]

 

[Rich-M]

Interesting, I have always thought speech activation software is the future of computing and one day will change how we do everything.

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

Do you use Siri on your iPhone, Rich?

 

[Rich-M]

Not as much as when I first got it but I do.

 

[AWS]

When Windows 7 was in beta one of the things they asked us to test extensively were the voice controls. I did use it a lot during testing. It was supposed to learn the more you used it. In my experience it didn't and in some respects the more I used it the worse it got. Once Windows 7 was released I put away the headset except for when using Skype.

When I got my first iPhone i was leery of Siri because of my time using the voice recognition in Windows 7. Now I wish my computers had Siri or something as good. I use it for everything. I dictate text messages and emails instead or typing, make all kinds of voice memos instead of writing notes and any other number of things. Interestingly enough the more I used it the better it got. Now it even will pick up and correct mispronounced words.

 

[Rich-M]

Did you use it as it was or make a voice track Bob. I never used it in 7 but I believe Vista had the same voice activation software and I was majorly impressed with it so much so I stopped running Dragon for my 3 paraplegic clients who ran Windows XP that way.

 

[AWS]

I used at as it was. I never tried it on Vista. I do know Microsoft made it a priority during the Windows 7 beta.

 

[Rich-M]

I think you would have had a much better experience if you had set a voice track...I did in Vista I thought it was amazing software better than Dragon or the IBM software Via Voice. I had 3 paraplegic clients at the time who ran their machines on Dragon and Via Voice.