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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.

4 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.

  2. 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.
  3. 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
  4. 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.