Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

You Can't Turn Off Cortana In the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (pcworld.com)

Posted by msmash on from the things-Microsoft-does dept.

Microsoft will release Windows 10 Anniversary Update next week. Earlier this week we listed some of its best features. PCWorld is now reporting about a major change that may annoy some users: once you've installed the update, Cortana can no longer be disabled. From the article: Cortana, the personal digital assistant that replaced Windows 10's search function and taps into Bing's servers to answer your queries with contextual awareness, no longer has an off switch. The impact on you at home: Similar to how Microsoft blocked Google compatibility with Cortana, the company is now cutting off the plain vanilla search option. That actually makes a certain of amount of sense. Unless you turned off all the various cloud-connected bits of Windows 10, there's not a ton of difference between Cortana and the operating system's basic search capabilities.

7 of 369 comments (clear)

  1. It didn't have an off switch before by LichtSpektren · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In some ways this is more honest, it's been demonstrated that the OS will talk to 107 domains whether or not some switches are toggled in the Control Panel to give the illusion of privacy.

    I wish Microsoft would've been more up front about this last year, and not two days before the "free" "upgrade" is scheduled to be concluded.

    1. Re:It didn't have an off switch before by Holi · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Host file won't help. Telemetry bypasses internal firewall and the hosts file. You need standalone firewall to block it.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    2. Re:It didn't have an off switch before by TroII · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Wouldn't blocking the ASNs associated with Microsoft be any more efficient?

      You'd be blocking every legitimate, non-Microsoft-affiliated service hosted on Azure, and there's no guarantee they're only using their own IP space for this to start with. In the end, I think blocking surveillance and spying that's baked into the operating system is a losing game.

      With Windows 10, the only winning move is not to play.

      --
      "If there was a gay Afro-Puertorican Linux distribution, I'd give it a try" ~lucm
  2. Of course not by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "You Can't Turn Off Cortana In the Windows 10 Anniversary Update"

    Of course not- that might interfere with their advertising schemes and the ability to monitor whatever they like in order to better monetize your entire existence.

    Welcome to the Brave New World of surveillance, brought to you by the same forward-thinking folks that brought you Windows ME, the Zune, and PlaysForSure.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  3. Re: O RLY? by thaylin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    hmm job prospects for Linux admins are pretty darn good right now.

    --
    When you cant win, ad hominem.
  4. Re:I Say Bullshit! by Killall+-9+Bash · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In this brave new world, hiding an app is equivalent to turning it off.

    --
    "Prediction: within 10 years, Windows will be a Linux distribution." Me, 7-6-2016
  5. Re: O RLY? by rudy_wayne · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As admin, run this command in one line:

    reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search" /t REG_DWORD /v "AllowCortana" /d 0 /f

    There, no more cortana.

    Did you bring up Task Manager and verify that Cortana isn't running? Hiding Cortana is not the same as disabling it.