Microsoft discontinues Cortana digital assistant on Windows 11
Microsoft has discontinued Cortana for Windows 11. A new update, which is now rolling out, simply disables it. Users who try to launch the digital assistant will be provided with a notice about the app's deprecation and a link to a support article. Cortana, initially announced for Windows Phone, was integrated into Windows 10 in 2015 with features like voice commands, reminders, and app-launching capabilities.
Cortana struggled to face its rivals
Cortana struggled to compete with Alexa and Google Assistant, leading to its removal from various app stores three years ago. While Microsoft had already removed Cortana from Windows 11 taskbar, the company kept the standalone app active until this week. Now, it intends to end support for Cortana in Teams Mobile, Teams Display, and Teams Rooms by this year's end.
Microsoft is now focusing on ChatGPT-powered products
The fate of Cortana was closely tied to Microsoft's failures with Windows Phone. In 2019, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella acknowledged that Cortana had fallen behind competitors. The standalone app persisted until this week when Microsoft decided to discontinue it. The company is now focusing on Windows Copilot—a new sidebar for Windows 11 that uses Bing Chat to control various settings, answer questions, and more.
