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Microsoft Limits Cortana Search Box In Windows 10 To Bing and Edge Only (venturebeat.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from VentureBeat: Microsoft has announced a big change for how the Cortana search box in Windows 10 will work going forward: all searches will be powered by Bing and all links will open with the Edge browser. This is a server-side change going into effect today. Once it takes effect on your Windows 10 computer, Cortana will no longer be able to serve up results from third-party search providers, like Google or Yahoo, nor take you to a third-party browser, such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Ryan Gavin, Microsoft's general manager of search and Cortana, said in a Windows blog post announcing the change, "Unfortunately, as Windows 10 has grown in adoption and usage, we have seen some software programs circumvent the design of Windows 10 and redirect you to search providers that were not designed to work with Cortana. The result is a compromised experience that is less reliable and predictable. The continuity of these types of task completion scenarios is disrupted if Cortana can't depend on Bing as the search provider and Microsoft Edge as the browser. The only way we can confidently deliver this personalized, end-to-end search experience is through the integration of Cortana, Microsoft Edge and Bing -- all designed to do more for you."
Translation: You belong to us, bitches! Now bend over so we can serve you some search results!
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Looks like I'll be sticking to Windows 7 for longer than I thought.
Seriously, stop trying. Accidentally Binging something is terrible, but even with the results right there in front of me... I still closed it down, went to google and typed the same search over again.
It is no longer uncommon to be uncommon.
Ummm...the aroma of a fresh investigation brewing. Meet the New Microsoft(TM) same as the Old Microsoft(TM)
Defective by design. however i do wonder if a simple user agent switch would work around that.
It sure seems like this is anticompetitive and probably should land Microsoft in some hot water with the DOJ.
I had already disabled everything Cortana related so this doesn't affect me in the least.
Boy, the fucks in Redmond never change their spots do they? So how about it apologists? Can't wait to see how Westlake, DogDude, et al try to serve their masters^H^H^H^H squirm out of this one.
Except that every time Microsoft designs, publishes, and supports a service integration API, third parties misuse and abuse it.
First thing I do when installing windows 10 is to disable cortana, and limit search to the local computer only.
I don't need or want desktop search to go out on the internet; that's what the search in my browser is for.
The is emblematic of the entire issue with cortana on the desktop. There needs to be desktop search. When I want to search my computer for a file that starts with 'kid' i just want results from my computer. I don't care about Nicole Kidman's latest movie, i don't care about 'kid friendly meals'.
I get that microsoft wants to be able to get you to search from the desktop with Cortana... and that's fine I guess for people who want that. But I still need desktop search, and right now, cortana and web results gets in the way of that. If it was a separate UI, I migth leave it on and use.. but its not. So I disable cortana and I disable including web results.
"Unfortunately, as Windows 10 has grown in adoption and usage, we have seen some software programs circumvent the design of Windows 10 and redirect you to search providers that were not designed to work with Cortana. The result is a compromised experience that is less reliable and predictable. The continuity of these types of task completion scenarios is disrupted if Cortana can't depend on Bing as the search provider and Microsoft Edge as the browser. The only way we can confidently deliver this personalized, end-to-end search experience is through the integration of Cortana, Microsoft Edge and Bing -- all designed to do more for you."
Unfortunately, as we have continued to sneak Windows 10 onto unsuspecting users systems, we have seen some software designed to disrupt the malware like experience of Windows 10 and redirect you to search providers that were not designed to collect all of your information and send it to Microsoft. The result is a compromised user database that is not worth as much as an ad platform as we had hoped. The completeness of our database is crucial to us, and is disrupted if CompTelRunner, Cortana, and other subsystems cannot use the MS backend for data collection. The only way we can plan on how to pillage further and make our database more valuable to other entities (NSA) is through the integration of Cortana, Edge, and Bing. -- All designed to capture more for us."
FTFY
Disclosure, sent from a Win 10 box. Hypocritical I know.
Silence is a state of mime.
...open source and Satya Nadella and competition... Yeah, we see how far all of that went. Once evil always evil. I can't wait to see the twaddle about how MS of 2016 isn't the same as the MS of old. Yeah right. Wasn't there an experiment with some monkeys where they swapped them out one at a time to see what would happen? You know the end. Trust MS and get fucked in the ass. What a surprise.
$$$$$$$$$$ money money money
I live in Seattle and when someone tells me they work for MS, I give them the cold shoulder. I'm so over those jerks.
that was always their plan somewhat. if you recall they toyed with free edition where those were the exact restrictions... but home and pro users were still to be able to choose... . anymore i just use cortana to set alarms and nobody else i know will even enable it because it demands location permission.
Come on Steam - the world is relying on you to bring a decent gaming platform to Linux. It is now more important than ever.
Shill alert!
The parent account has been flagged for repeatedly violating Slashdot posting guidelines, specifically, shit-posting pro MS shill reputation management garbage.
In short, GTFO troll!
As a former long time Linux user
Stop right there as I'm pretty sure I've heard that one before. Please say MS isn't still wasting money paying shills to troll Slashdot. In 2016. Please say it isn't so. Wouldn't that money be better spent on a site that still has a userbase?
It would be slightly less annoying.
Listen to this while reading this. It syncs up better than Pink Floyd and Wizard of Oz.
Remember, this is not yet one week since Microsoft & Google announced a "no complaint" to regulators pact:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/16/04/22/1421201/microsoft-google-agree-to-stop-complaining-to-regulators-about-each-other
In classic Microsoft fashion, they forge an agreement with someone and then screw them over in the most mean-spirited, legalistic way possible. Google should have known better on this one.
We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
Did Microsoft so soon forget the IE anti-monopoly lawsuits? This is certain to draw more litigation. Silly earthlings.
This would annoy me if I had any reason to run Windows. Thankfully, that's not the case.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
I had to use Edge at work for a couple of months and it would frequently crash while trying to render Slashdot. Maybe as much as 50% of the time it would freeze or pop up a message saying that "Edge has stopped" and then it would try and restart.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
The first thing I do in windows 10 is hide every visible thing about Cortona I can. I'm sure my co-workers would just love hearing me repeat myself to my computer over and over as it attempts to find anything useful on bing.
"In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, for a safe and secure society,Â..."
Cortana
search box
Bing
Edge
What in heaven's name are all those? I use Windows 10, but have never encountered one of those.
Nadella is reading right out from Bill Gates' play book from the 1990s. The UI is different (and in my opinion, crappier. Windows 3.1 has a more usable UI.) and the PR spins are trying to make it seem like "Microsoft is your friend" rather than a corporate behemoth, but under the hood they are doubling down on the evil shit that got them into trouble with the DOJ in the first place. MS is trying to abuse their market position to push their 3rd. rate search engine, their 3rd. rate Siri clone, and their 3rd. rate crap apps down users' throats. This is the same thing they did with IE, and earlier than that, Office.
Look asshole, we know you're a fucking shill. You can quite with the "I'm a former Linux user". You're a lying astroturfing sack of shit.
And yes, you soulless piece of marketing filth, you are getting paid. Now just fuck off.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Oh Fucking Please.
Why do they even bother to say anything? Their explanation is worse than the reality.
[Citation needed]
I'm a new and somewhat reluctant user of Windows 10. I only use it as a platform to launch certain games, via Steam. All of its other features (other than what it provides as APIs to games) I don't need. I especially don't need any of this Cortana crap, auto-updates, or other typical PC-type features. I have a Mac for all that stuff.
So what I'd like to ask is how do I disable everything I don't need? Can someone point me to a "minimum Windows 10 for dummies" kind of thing? I've been through all the interface that I can see, but I suspect I'm only scratching the Surfaceâ, because it still acts somewhat intrusively, even interrupting a Dirt Rally session mid-stage the other day to tell me it needed to restart to install an update (and DR's design meant the stage was voided). I despise that behaviour - it must be possible to set things up such that I'm in charge of it, and not the other way around? Any tips or help appreciated!
I never thought Microsoft corporation would do this.
Just like I'm positive they will never ever require Intel hardware to force UEFI Secure Boot to qualify for Windows stickers.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
But the judicial system has already anointed Microsoft as a "No Fault" Monopoly.
Ain't capitalism great!
I will delay getting Windows 10 and never use cortana. Microsoft must think cortana is the best thing since sliced bread if they are forcing people into a search provider. Only people to naive to disable it will use it.
I just don't use Cortana ever. And I sure am glad I decided to dual boot my laptop with win10 and Ubuntu instead of just win10.
Could it be that the settlement against Microsoft established in 2002 which, amongst other things, required them to open their browser to competition, was preventing them from eliminating competing search engines? The only reason Microsoft permitted other browsers, and by extension, search engines in the browser, was because of this case. I suspect that they just forgot that they can now be evil again.
We are being stupidified by the bourgeois technocrates! Revolt! The workers must rule!!!!!! I sometimes hum little songs to myself but they are not any particular genere. Am I a bird?
No, you're a douche.
Cortana.
Where do you want to go today?
Well you CAN'T! FUCK YOU!
Instead of turning the Cortana interface into a useful tool, they've basically hamstrung it.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
...And nothing of value was lost.
does anyone care what Microsoft does with the latest release of explorer
how they can even say the reason for this is to "prevent a compromised user experience" with a straight face when everyone knows the real reason behind it... Oh wait, it was written in a blog
Does anyone use Cortina? I played around with it for about a day, found it less than useless and disabled. I don't care if it uses Alta Vista and Mozilla 1.0.
Ok firstly you are WAY too emotionally invested in this for anybody to take your obscenities seriously. But to his point, what is the setup that offers that sort of integrated experience that you get with a Surface Pro or an iPad Pro? It's the same old "me-too" story with FOSS again, late to the game with no disruptive innovation. For what it's worth Microsoft did exactly the same thing with Windows Phone, it (like the Linux desktop) is quite a good system but it (and desktop Linux) was a late entrant to a mature market and provided no disruptive features to win over users. The proprietary vendors are getting out in front and producing great end-user products that end-users like and the FOSS evangelists like yourself are just getting all angry about it instead of innovating. The FOSS innovation and great products are backend ones, not consumer-facing ones so you can either keep getting all upset about it or you can innovate or fund innovation in the consumer product FOSS space.
Even today most of the people here are still getting riled up about Microsoft because in the end they use Microsoft products, still hung up on the actions in of Microsoft in the mid 90s but still using their products and supporting them decades later.
Does Edge support plug-ins, like adblock and noscript? If not then it's a broken browser.
And what problems in Windows 8.1 are fixed? That's what I'm running and it fixed stuff in Win8. I don't care about the stupid start menu anymore, I learned to live wihtout it and I don't want a stupid wannabe start menu that shows Metro apps.
What about all the problems and misfeatures that Windows 10 added? Cortana, pure idiocy (hey, if we copy Siri badly we can be rich too!). Forced acceptance of all upgrades, idiocy. A giant string of registry hacks and control panel settings to make the thing play nice with telemetry, spying, advertising, peer-to-peer sharing of updates, sharing wifi passwords, etc, it's all idiocy. Not to mention the militant marketing campaign to dupe people into getting Windows 10.
Fucking liar.
Pardon my C#.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
MS is going nuts over us disabling all the spying telemetry that 'makes' bing works? Yes, I know I got a free upgrade going from windows 7 to windows 10, and no, I'm not interested into being a part of Microsoft's data collecting experiment. I cannot use bing on either Edge or chrome due to disabling most of the telemetry, and somehow, I suspect I'm not the one losing out on this. I don't use Cortana, and I'm only using Edge for school related works, because, for some reason, when I login to the school's site using chrome, i'm logged out of gmail, which means I'd have to fire up keepass 2 to get my google password and log back in.
It sounds like you are replying to a coward. Why even bother reading their trash? Personally I consider all coward posts as lies and not worth the name they are signed with.
Star Trek, there maybe hope.
To confirm can you change the search engines in:
Amazon Alexa?
Apple Siri?
Google Now?
Are there any other of these digital assistants?
Can the default search engine be changed in Alexa? Siri? Google Now?
Finally, a use for that authentication stuffup that left most Office365 accounts wide open.
Just another case of MS being Evil. People there don't know how to make money any other way, IMO.
"Unfortunately, as Windows 10 has grown in adoption and usage, we have seen some software programs circumvent the design of Windows 10 and redirect you to search providers that were not designed to work with Cortana. The result is a compromised experience that is less reliable and predictable"
The Microsoft stooge went on to say:
"Of course, we /could/ have created a framework that incorporated the ability to use different search providers, since this is obviously something in which some customers are interested. But instead, we have decided to further limit customer choice, breaking third-party applications, so we can bolster the diminishing market-share of the financial black-hole that is Bing, while pretending it's all in the name of "improving" the customer experience. And then we'll look around all confused as people stop buying our products because we've stopped providing them something that works for /them/ in lieu of offering something that works for /us/."
Sorry that an objective and balanced post highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of both FOSS and proprietary camps upsets you but you need to learn to deal with failure in some aspects without getting all angry about your own inadequacies. Id say "have a nice day" but undoubtedly this post will just infuriate you even more.
Is the same changing of default search engine available in Siri, Alexa and Google Now?
Similar to Android maps. When any application wants to display a map it only displays Google Maps. Despite I have several other better (=offline) maps installed. And no, I have downloaded the areas into Google Maps offline maps and it still does not display anything offline. Plus other maps (like mapy.cz or MapsWithMe) render the maps better anyway.
Pfffft!
I don't use Cortana
I don't use Bing
I don't use Edge
Mind you, I only use Windows 10 on a small netbook so the impact of this petulant action by Microsoft will be minimal as far as I'm concerned. Looks like they're not just shooting themselves in the foot, they're after the whole LEG!
Shrill alert. Nobody on slashdot or most corners of the internet can articilate themselves in such a manner.
Go drown in a river of piss fag.
Stupid Windows 10 users. You belong to Microsoft. Don't you ever forget that.
How would the EU Commission feel about Microsoft limiting Cortana search to Bing and Edge only?
I know I'm replying to an AC, but what the hell, it's Friday
The surface is both a poor tablet and a poor laptop. If you absolutely have to have a single device that can be both, it's adequate. No more. Windows 10 is nowhere near as good a tablet experience as either Android or iOS - there's still too much desktop getting in the way. For example, if you want to open a file in a universal app you get the good old classic Windows file selection dialog which is fiddly and awkward to use in tablet mode. Most of the settings can be configured through the touch friendly settings page, but advanced ones require control panel applets. If you don't let it hibernate after a few hours (and therefore pretty much require a reboot next time you use it), battery drains too quickly - based on my experience with iOS and Android I expect a tablet to start instantly (and OSX proves you can have a full blown OS sleep properly with minimal battery drain and still wake up instantly)
On the laptop side, it's too much of a compromise. If I want to use a laptop I want to be able to use it on my lap - the clip on keyboard arrangement only really works on a desk.
Sigs are so 1990s. No way would I be seen dead with one.
Tell us again how Google is using their market leverage to block other search engines, I forget
Who would use an OS whose maker claims to be too incompetent to work with internet search engines?
I don't think you're thinking it through. Microsoft needed Google to say "no complaint" so the real deal was to do something that would cheese off more Microsoft customers and drive them over to Google.
Adoption is high enough now that we can start pulling shit like this.
Remind me again... How do I uninstall Cortana?
I mean other than with a Windows 7 install disc.
Its hard to imagine windows 10 getting any traction in the business world if you couldn't turn this consumer nonsense off.
Microsoft doesn't want Windows 10 "getting any traction in the business world". It wants the more expensive Windows 10 Enterprise "getting any traction in the business world".
Cortana ... what's that ??
Cortana, search LMGTFY <rest of search>
Expect another slap in the face by the European Commision. Not that we did not know, but thanks for illustrating that you remain the same stupid, obnoxious criminal organization that you have always been.
Ohh Nooes! Not Cortana Searchbox. What ever will we do?
Don't get mad at the shills, it'll only make you go off the hinges and result in a down mod. Do like I do. Mock them!
Why would you bother using a Google search with a Cortana request. If you're asking an interactive, natural language agent for information you should get natural language information back. Not some 1990s era web page search result. It's why I rarely use Google's voice search - what good is saying "Okay Google, where is the closest Five Guys" while driving in traffic and having a web page come up that you have to read? There is no way Cortana is going to take generic web search information and parse it without some additional qualifiers.
Luckily, Cortana does a piss poor job of natural language response in the first place, so it's not like we're actually losing anything by being diverted to Bing. A bunch of useless results on a web page are barely more useful than a bunch of somewhat useful results on a web page when what you really wanted was a natural language answer.
It's the sound Ed Grimley's triangle makes. (Or is that "ting"?) The OS has been turned into a giant browser helper object. My grandma is even pissed at this shit.
So now the only alternative is to get crappy results from a stupid bitch on a lousy browser?
Wow, what a great World of Tomorrow. Can't wait till MS finishes sticking Win10 in my Win7 box like a rancid suppository.
I'd sue them except I don't have standing. This is a clear violation of the clayton act, now some lawyers go fuck these monopolists!
because there is now no use for her.
If now is not the time, it will never be. Windows 10 is essentially only good for gaming. For every other task, a Chromebook or a MacBook, depending on your budget and preferences, does the job better while being less annoying. Yes, they also have frequent software updates, limitations and analytics. But they are not obnoxious in normal daily use. Every time I want to use my gaming box, it has logged me out and I have to sit through 10 minutes of "working on updates" until I can start Portal.
Video card and game manufacturers should partner with distributors like Steam and commit to same day Linux releases for titles and drivers. Invest in Vulcan and whatever is the most promising replacement for X11 until performance/stability is as good as DirectX. Then there will be no more reasons for people to get abused by their computers.
What? No you can't use that other search engine.
What? No you can't use that other browser.
This is Cortana! It's for you.
We know better.
Bitch.
It was one of the first things I disabled. I disabled it for the same reason I disabled the Amazon search integration in Ubuntu.
I've never quite understood why I would want my application launcher to search the web.
Now, if Microsoft did something dumb like make it so you can't disable Cortana, that might just be enough to make me replace Windows with something else. (Haven't wanted to put in the effort, but they are really making it hard to justify not putting the effort in. That might be the proverbial straw.)
Go ahead Microsoft do all you can to get people to use your services. I never cared about Cortana, Edge or Bing. Doing this does nothing to stop me from using the services I want so do what you have to. I always have Chrome open to search, and I think only once did I search from the task bar. I eventually hid it to make room for apps I actually use. Windows 10 is a decent version, once you turn off and disable all of the crap Microsoft throws at it.
I think you should read your comment out loud and let us know if you think they sound like something a sane person would say. If not, then perhaps you should talk to someone. I'm not kidding/trolling.
Edge just plain sucks. We've all but disabled on the Win 10 installs at work because it's so broken.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Why can't his response be earnest? Linux is a cancer.
-Bill G... err -anonymous coward
Put up with being fed garbage, and you will continue to be fed garbage.
Three birds with one stone.
Requiem for the American Dream
So when my lap top did a recent auto-update to the most recent flavor of windows 10 it broke my laptop. Had to buy a new drive, re-load a new copies of windows, then mount the old drive to recover my files. Then the laptop re-updated again despite my taking pains to turn off auto-update. Once again my laptop was made useless. That's my mac conversion story. I have never regretted switching and will never buy another windows machine again if I can help it. Microsoft seems to be all about being Microsoft as an advantage to Microsoft and then excuse their poor product and abysmal user experience by saying marketing double speak things like, "The result is a compromised experience that is less reliable and predictable." Well, I can tell you what else is predictable. If you screw the customer too often, they take their money elsewhere.
First, I think you have to bend over by giving them your Microsoft account login and everything else they want. I hate Bing with a passion.
Chewbacon
The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
Microsoft is back, bitches! Returning to their strategy of using their desktop dominance against all rivals.
Suck it, freedom!
First thing I do when I install a 10 box is get rid of that crap. Or rather hide it, probably can't get rid of it.
About a month ago the wife got a new laptop, and it had Win10. I was asked by my 5 year old to put flowers on "the screen when it goes to sleep". (Lock Screen.) So I set a picture, and wanted to see it. I looked for a "Lock" button. Didn't see one.
.
.
.
I have Win8.1 (setup more or less to look like XP, as I am used to that, with Classic Shell.) and have a lock button in my start menu..
Wasn't sure where the heck it was in Win10. So I typed in the search box, and got Bing search results, none of which (well, at least in the first page of results) had the answer I was looking for. I copied my search and pasted it into Google and not only did it come up with good results, it came up with instructions where to find the Lock Button I was looking for right on the search result page. I didn't have to go any further..
Google knows more about Win10 than Microsoft Bing does! What the hell? And I have a nagging feeling I have encountered stuff like that before..
I may have some issues with Google, but at least they know how to find stuff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/....
Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issued his findings of fact on November 5, 1999, which stated that Microsoft's dominance of the x86-based personal computer operating systems market constituted a monopoly, and that Microsoft had taken actions to crush threats to that monopoly, including Apple, Java, Netscape, Lotus Notes, RealNetworks, Linux, and others.[15] Judgment was split in two parts. On April 3, 2000, he issued his conclusions of law, according to which Microsoft had committed monopolization, attempted monopolization, and tying in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Microsoft immediately appealed the decision.[16]
On June 7, 2000, the court ordered a breakup of Microsoft as its "remedy". According to that judgment, Microsoft would have to be broken into two separate units, one to produce the operating system, and one to produce other software components.[16][17]
you must be new here...
There is a big difference between Google and Microsoft.
Microsoft is evil even when the evil lowers Microsoft income. Evil, not making money, is Microsoft's core business.
Google takes advantage of social weakness to make money, like providing no way to update Android. The managers of Microsoft (Monkey Boy, for example) have such limited social ability that they are not able to avoid being self-destructive.
I read his comment and found it to be precise. If you disagree with it, then you don't live in reality.
What if I don't want a "personalized, end-to-end search experience". What if I want useful search results instead?
Wow if only I had known how much of my search experience was being ruined by routing cortana to Google I would have dropped them months ago. I love having to search 2 pages in for a result that Google would have put up in the top 3, its like Bing and I are working together to find the results instead of it patronizing me by just finding it for me. And with the added benefit of not being bogged down by that same old browser. You know the one is been using for years, and have synced accross all my devices its so liberating. Great job microsoft this is almost as good of an idea as the Kinect. A camera that's always watching you in the living room whether you like it or not, Where do you guys keep getting these a plus ideas?
In China the default search engine is Baidu,the state-owned search engine.
Maybe Monopo$oft is trying to make our 1984-ish situation worse.
as long as I can boot into root by default without any password, windows10 will make me a happy customer.
ps don't forget to disable your firewall as well, it's easy too
-m$
Windows professional which retails for $150 permits the administrator to select between vista 7,8, and 10.
To the extent that windows10 creates new sales for windows professional, m$ can actually make money by paying providers to bundle win10.
And paradoxically, conscientiously destroying the quality of win10 is the best economic outcome for() in time interval (from.now -to- some.futuretime)