Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled Windows 10 — not Windows 9, as users were expecting — and revealed various Windows 10 features, although not all of them. Microsoft focused on assuring existing Windows users that it understood their main concerns with Windows 8, and showed off various user interface changes that are supposed to offer both future desktop and tablet Windows 10 users a much better experience than Windows 8.
FROM EARLIER: This is our first look at Windows 10’s completely redesigned Start menu
One of the features Microsoft failed to mention during the brief media event was the rumored desktop version of Cortana, but the virtual assistant that’s so far officially available only on Windows Phone smartphones is coming to Windows 10. In fact, The Verge has already found out that Cortana is not going to be included in the Windows 10 Technical Preview release due today, but Microsoft already has it working inside internal Windows 10 builds.
The publication has also learned more details about how Cortana is supposed to work. Once activated, Cortana appears on top of the search app, which has its own special button in Windows 10. Users can either type a request or use voice to tell Cortana what to look for.
Cortana for Windows 10 will be able to offer similar features as the mobile version does, including searching for content locally and online, or setting up reminders. However, according to The Verge, Microsoft isn’t making a special Cortana app for Windows 10, but simply upgrading the existing search features in Windows 8.
It’s not clear at this point when Cortana for Windows 10 will be available for beta testing, but a mockup image showing how the Cortana UI is supposed to look like follows below.
