Goodbye Cortana
Use Microsoft's AI-powered Bing Chat and Windows Copilot instead
Not with a bang, but a whimper. Microsoft has ended support for its unloved, and mostly forgotten Cortana virtual assistant app on Windows. Cortana in Teams will also be going away later this year. It has been coming — Microsoft killed the iOS and Android versions of the app in 2021. However, the virtual assistant will still exist in Outlook Mobile.
I will not miss the annoying Cortana voice-over that accompanied every initial setup of Windows 10. Cortana was supposed to be Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and the Google Assistant. But while its rivals found homes in smartphones, and other smart home devices, Cortana always seemed out of place on a desktop operating system or the Xbox game console. The failure of Windows Phone didn’t help. Microsoft even pivoted to working with competitors like Amazon to make Cortana compatible with Alexa when it became clear that Cortana was falling behind.
If you’re on Windows 11, Microsoft is replacing Cortana with Windows Copilot, an AI-powered personal assistant that can help you with everything from Windows settings to drafting an email. It will be available later this year. For everyone else, there’s Bing Chat in Microsoft’s Edge browser, a similar AI-powered helper. And these generative AI tools, are but stepping stones to a truly personal AI butler, according to Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Our latest reviews include a ultraportable MSI notebook, the Xiaomi/Leica camera phone, and Samsung’s flagship foldable phone.
The MSI Prestige 13Evo ticks all the boxes you’d want in an ultraportable laptop. It’s slim and lightweight, with good battery life. Its infrared webcam doesn’t just work for biometric security, it can also be used for presence detection, thanks to the preinstalled Tobii Aware security and privacy software suite.
The Ultra version of the Xiaomi 13 Series has similar specs as the Pro model, except for its Leica cameras. It has a standout camera housing, the better to highlight the true star — its 50MP main camera with a 1-inch sensor. Photos turn out great, with really good-looking portraits and fast autofocus. There’s even a Photography Kit with a grip to make your phone work and look even more like a camera.
Samsung has further refined its flagship foldable phone this year. The Z Fold 5 gets an improved hinge that makes for a thinner device, and of course, the latest flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon chip for the best multitasking performance. There are some new software tricks, but overall, the Fold is unlikely to convince long-time skeptics of its usefulness.