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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.
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.
It sure seems like this is anticompetitive and probably should land Microsoft in some hot water with the DOJ.
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.
$$$$$$$$$$ 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.
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.
At this point, it might be cheaper to just get a supported scanner instead. It's not as if scanners are really that expensive any more.
Having said that, we are in a similar situation and our household still has a single Windows 8 machine. The rest is Linux, ChromeOS and a Macbook that for all practical purposes might as well be a Chromebook; it's not as if it ever does anything other than Chrome.
The Windows machine is needed for Photoshop. If there was a viable Photoshop clone for Linux, we would not have any need for Windows. As such, Windows 10 has absolutely zero appeal to us; if anything, it only has downsides compared to Windows 8. We'll continue using Windows 8 as long as it is supported, and then probably just disconnect it from the internet and keep using it for as long as we still need Photoshop.
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
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.
What is it they say about turnabout?
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!!!
Meh, Photoshop is close to running on Linux. I have CS5 (32-bit) running in Crossover Linux...it seems to just crash on Windows created PSD files for some reason (but any other file format it is fine with...or Linux-created PSD files (I haven't tested how complex)).
For the curious: http://imgur.com/a/mMrHJ
This used to be a problem for me (I do a fair amount of scanning/OCR). But in the last little while, xsane backends have gotten better, and there are decent OCR interfaces to decent engines like Tesseract. I find I'm able to scan/OCR without having to leave Linux, and I'm getting results about as good as I got with Windows and commercial software.
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.
The O'Really Windows DLL parody is hilarious. Source?
(The goog gives me nothing, and bing just stares off into space....**)
** So I suppose that's exactly the problem:
Google gives answers that range from [precisely-right] --- to --- [not-quite-relevant-but-i-see-where-you-were-going]
Bing gives answers ranging from [didn't-understand-the-question] --- to --- [utterly-random-shit-the-bed-schizophrenic].
I think not...(*poof*)
This.
Often people are surprised at how well scanners work on Linux in general. For example, I was in the office recently and needed to scan a lengthy document, so I borrowed one of those nice Fujitsu scansnap-style scanners. The owner cautioned me that the software and drivers were a 300+mb download for Windows, and was astounded that it was fully supported in xSane and SimpleScan with *no* driver download. I have a similar one at home and knew the drill, but it was fun to see someone really take in how bad the experience is on Windows these days. I plugged in the USB cable, started xSane, threw 50+ pages into the feeder, clicked just a couple adjustments, and saved the project as PDF with no fuss, no driver fuckery, etc etc. Works better, faster, cheaper in Linux than the "fully supported" Windows config.
Otoh, there's no convincing some people, and I'm not the geek evangelist I used to be. More for me, I guess.
(Oh, and Hi there, fellow 2K slashdotter... )
I think not...(*poof*)
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.
They seem to have forgotten the requirement to have the browser selection screen to handle the anti-competitive behavior.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
AltaVista before it was hijacked by Yahoo was actually good.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
Finally, a use for that authentication stuffup that left most Office365 accounts wide open.
Often people are surprised at how well scanners work on Linux in general.
I'm surprised people still use scanners? Do you also still have a fax machine and a cheque book too?
"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/."
Often people are surprised at how well scanners work on Linux in general.
I'm surprised people still use scanners? Do you also still have a fax machine and a cheque book too?
There are plenty of unscanned dead tree docs & books out there, cameras could be used, but tedious. And if by fax you mean email, then yes.
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.
... fully supported in xSane and SimpleScan with *no* driver download
And not only that - the SANE daemon makes it easy to build a networked scanner (see http://www.linux-mag.com/id/16...); one that you can access from any system on your network. I use that at home - bought an HP scanner/printer in a car boot sale for £5, set it up on a RaspberryPi, and now we have a neetworked scanner and colour printer. And it is very good scanner too. I only use it from Linux; there is a way to do it from Windows, which I tried, but I don't use Windows for anything, so I don't know how well that works.
Pfffft!
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.
You should have look at his screenshot more closely, the hint was in the title: d8PTVnL
I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of killer sig, which this margin is too narrow to contain.
9/10 scanners I've owned became available cheaply because Windows no longer supported them AT ALL in spite of the scanner typically using the same protocol as the newer scanners. HP is especially shit about this. They bring out a new version of the driver, and just tell it not to support their old scanners deliberately. Another reason not to buy anything from HP. All the manufacturers do this, though, e.g. Canon. My last Canon was picked up for the same reason.
We need a standard language for scanners (like we have for printers) to stop these shenanigans.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Adoption is high enough now that we can start pulling shit like this.
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".
CS5? Oh good to know I can almost run several year old software on my cutting edge OS. Yes being facetious. But what you mention is not a good thing especially as Photoshop and other software now moves to a subscription based rolling release. The feature of being able to run old software isn't.
Cortana ... what's that ??
In completely unrelated news, Microsoft and Google just signed an agreement not to complain to regulators about each other. ... someone at Google is incredibly naive
Do you need standing to complain to the EC? Because if so, the only one likely to complain is Google, and conveniently they just signed an agreement with MS not to complain to regulators. I'm sure the timing of this announcement so shortly after that agreement was signed is a mere coincidence...
And Google is different how? Remember with Google unless you are a paying customer you are the product and they make money from you.
Not just scanners, but just about anything. Plug a keyboard/mouse/drive into Linux? Works in a couple seconds. The same on Windows? Have to wait a couple minutes for it to use the same exact generic HID driver it was using for the previous keyboard, wait for it to install it, and then finally it works.
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.
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.)
The entire first page of Google results is not dominated by paid advertisers masquerading as legit 'best possible results for your query'. This is very different from Google. In fact that is why it is so successful as a search engine. People use it because it returns functional results. If Bing were better or duck duck go, then people would head there to search instead of Google.
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
I just wonder if they have enough politicians in their pocket now that they can get all antitrust claims waived.
Knowledge = Power
P= W/t
t=Money
Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
unless you are a paying customer you are the product and they make money from you.
Tell that to everyone that installed Win10 !
Avoid the MS tax, always buy I.B.M. PC's (I Built-it Myself)
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.
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.
Actually, I think that's the issue. There are paid results on google too but google puts them at the bottom of every page and bing always puts 2-3 at the top of the first page ala amazon.
The main difference is google has become very adept at removing clickbaity sites from the first page and Bing has not. I don't think Microsoft is making money off any of those results, they are just not good at removing them.
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...