In
a move that is certain to raise eyebrows the world over, Microsoft has
blocked Cortana from searching Google in Windows 10. The voice-based
virtual assistant now only performs searches using Microsoft's own Bing
search service.
The company on Thursday in a blog post titled
'Delivering Personalised Search Experiences in Windows 10 Through
Cortana' explained its reasons for the move. It essentially comes down
to the company wanting to provide "an integrated search experience" in
Windows 10, which will enable Cortana to anticipate users' requirements,
help them complete their tasks, and even help save time and money.
Examples of such integrated, personalised search experiences were detailed by Microsoft on the blog post.
Search for "Pizza Hut" in the Cortana box and, once you're on
the Pizza Hut website in Microsoft Edge, Cortana can show you your
closest locations.
Search for "Bluetooth not working" in
the Cortana box and Bing gives you a rich video help answer only
available on Windows 10 as a Bing search result.
Shopping
for a new black dress in Microsoft Edge, do an image search in Bing and
then right click a dress to Ask Cortana to get you more information on
it.
Search for "Best Buy" in the Cortana box, click
through on the top web result to bestbuy.com, and Cortana will offer up
coupons to save you money. The list goes on and on.
So,
why can't Google search be used for this purpose? Microsoft says
"Cortana was designed to work with Microsoft Edge and is powered by
Bing." It adds that a third-party search provider, one that was not
designed to work with Cortana, would make the Windows 10 search
experience "less reliable and predictable." The Redmond-giant elaborated
further, and said the continuity of task completion scenarios if
"Cortana can't depend on Bing as the search provider and Microsoft Edge
as the browser."
Starting Thursday, Cortana in Windows 10 will
only search Bing, while Microsoft Edge will be the only browser to
launch when users search via Cortana. Microsoft reassures users that
they will still be able to use whichever browser and search engine they
want on the Windows 10 platform, but just not via Cortana.
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