back to article FIVE Things (NOT 10: these are REAL) from the WINDOWS 10 event

Microsoft offered a teaser of its work across its three main platforms yesterday, enough to give us an insight into how well Operation Relevance is going. It’s very much a work in progress. Here are the five key points on Windows 10 and the accompanying strategy. 1. 'Please come back to Windows 10 – for free' The challenge is …

Page:

  1. dogged

    Nobody talks to Cortana

    I use Cortana a lot on my phone but I only talk to Cortana in the car. The rest of the time, I type my questions/instructions. Obviously, I don't want to do that while driving but I find it's by far the best option.

    Cortana's added-value searches are pretty good and I get to control them precisely with my text rather than have a back-end on Azure try to guess what I wanted or get it wrong if I happen to sneeze or be eating a mint or whatever.

    I can see typing to Cortana becoming useful on the desktop, especially given the extra bells and whistles they're giving it. That thing about searching for a restaurant on Maps and getting not only the location but also (optionally) opening times, contact details, reviews and menus? Handy.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Nobody talks to Cortana

      >> a back-end on Azure try to guess what I wanted or get it wrong

      >> if I happen to sneeze or be eating a mint or whatever.

      "Azure!"

      Bless you.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Nobody talks to Cortana

        Driving in the car and wanting to find a restaurant on the spur of the moment doesn't seem to be a common occurrence for most people. Even when it does happen I've always managed to find something by looking out of the windows and it's fun to take pot luck once in a while.

        To be honest I've never really wanted to interact with my phone while driving. Most of the time the radio is on and occasionally the sat nav. Often there's Mrs AC and the young ACs creating hell in the back. So I doubt Cortana would hear me or that I would be able to hear the answer. Quite honestly I just want to be left alone.

        The only times I talk to the computer are to hurl insults when it doesn't do what I want, I don't need a reply from it as well, that kind of escalation is only going to end in tears.

        1. dogged

          Re: Nobody talks to Cortana

          > Driving in the car and wanting to find a restaurant on the spur of the moment doesn't seem to be a common occurrence for most people.

          But driving in the car and replying to an urgent text is a very common situation.

          Nice try though.

          1. cambsukguy

            Re: Nobody talks to Cortana

            And reply to unimportant texts, and carry on entire text conversations.

            Not that you need Cortana for that, it has worked well since the WinPho getgo.

          2. Szymon Kosecki

            Re: Nobody talks to Cortana

            Not sure if there's such a thing as an urgent text message. If it's really urgent, you call...

          3. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            @dogged

            "Replying to an urgent text" - tell me you're joking. If you really do text and drive, god help anyone near you.

            Do you send those urgent tweets - you know, the ones the world is so desperate to read - as well?

            1. dogged

              @SRS

              > tell me you're joking. If you really do text and drive, god help anyone near you.

              No, Cortana reads the text, asks if I want to ignore it or answer it, if I choose to answer it I do so by voice.

              All handsfree, all via voice.

              Are the 32 downvotes for that post strictly a result of poor reading comprehension?

              1. Tchou

                Re: @SRS @ dogged

                Sir, you rationalize too much on votes.

                It's El Reg, not the parliament.

                Have a down vote from me too.

                Cheers.

                1. dogged

                  Re: @SRS @ dogged

                  Normally I don't even look at them but 32? For having your texts read to you? Man. That's crazy.

          4. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Nobody talks to Cortana

            Windows Phone has driving mode, when paired to a bluetooth unit in the card (head unit etc) it can be set to auto-reply to people that you are driving.

          5. DanceMan

            Re: driving in the car and replying to an urgent text

            I hope you're not driving anywhere near me.

          6. dogged

            Re: Nobody talks to Cortana

            32 thumbs down for stating that having a text read to you in the car and replying by voice is both common and useful?

            Wow.

        2. This post has been deleted by its author

          1. Sebastian A

            Re: Nobody talks to Cortana

            When I see terms like "Tightly integrated" in regards to a feature I don't want, it just makes me shudder. That thing's gonna pop up every time I try to search for anything anywhere, isn't it?

            Definitely going to be adding some Microsoft addresses to the firewall as well. I don't need every word I say anywhere near my PC to be in an NSA-queryable database.

        3. JDX Gold badge

          "never ... interact with my phone while driving...the radio is on and occasionally the sat nav.""

          My Lumia phone IS my sat-nav.

    2. big_D Silver badge

      Re: Nobody talks to Cortana

      Exactly dogged, Cortana is a virtual assistant, not a voice assistant. She can also respond to the spoken word, but it isn't the only way to interact.

      1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

        Re: Nobody talks to Cortana

        "Cortana is a virtual assistant"

        So was that paper-clip.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          "So was that paper-clip."

          ...and so was Bob. This isn't going to end well.

        2. N2

          Re: Nobody talks to Cortana

          And the dog,

          'My dog has died, come and revive it while I make tea' one memorable support call

    3. TheVogon

      Re: Nobody talks to Cortana

      "This means Microsoft needs to get business users upgrading again – 85 per cent of installations run Windows 7 or earlier – but without unnecessarily pissing off the minority who are happy with the 8.x Sinofsky’d Windows 8.0/8.1 design.

      Microsoft is going to do this by writing off next year’s Windows upgrade revenue. "

      Rubbish - this has nothing to do with business users. They generally pay maintenance and can upgrade for free anyway. And this offer doesn't even apply to business versions!

  2. Tsung
    Meh

    I don't get Cortana either!

    How is it going to work in an office? Even if you choose to use it, Cortana will need to know the person talking to her/it is the right person and not an overly loud person sitting near them or indeed someone going thro' the office saying "Cortana shut down PC".

    Even in the home environment I think it will have limited use, maybe we just need to get use to talking to our computers. Again, really needs Cortana to be intelligent enough to accept direction from the correct person. (So someone on voice comms/skype or a TV in room cannot trigger it).

    However, for people who have difficulties typing it might be a godsend. So include it, just allow people to disable it.

    1. WP7Mango

      Re: I don't get Cortana either!

      You don't need to talk to Cortana. You can write to her too, and as you're writing she automatically tries to pre-empt what you want to do with intelligent suggestions, exactly as Microsoft showed in the demo. It looked pretty good IMHO.

      Also, Cortana does things in the background for you - it's not just about having a dialogue with her.

      1. Annihilator
        Alert

        Re: I don't get Cortana either!

        "You can write to her too, and as you're writing she automatically tries to pre-empt what you want to do with intelligent suggestions"

        "It looks like you're writing a letter. Would you like help?" <shudder>

      2. Mephistro
        Unhappy

        Re: I don't get Cortana either! (@WP7Mango)

        You can write to her too, and as you're writing she automatically tries to pre-empt what you want to do with intelligent suggestions

        Hmmm... Some of the probable effects of such text pre-emption programs on the way people writes are quite terrific. Users would end up writing like Cortana, in subtle -or not so subtle- ways. The effect could be weaponized by including subliminal messages in the list of suggested words, and making access to 'sensitive' words slower or more prone to errors, so as to make it more difficult to write/express dissenting opinions. Sorry, excuse me for a minute while I change my underwear.

        The first thing I'll do if/when I install a Windows 10 machine at home will be to disable that bitch for good!. And I'll advice all my family, friends and customers to do the same.

    2. Khaptain Silver badge

      Re: I don't get Cortana either!

      " Cortana will need to know the person talking to her/it is"

      Henece the reason for MS pushing the need for an MS Live account when logging in to your machine.

      1. Neil Barnes Silver badge

        Re: I don't get Cortana either!

        How does she respond to "Cortana! Command. Del star dot star"?

        Just askin'...

        On a more serious note, I suspect this is not for me if only because wide-ranging AI interraction requires rather more contextual information that I am comfortable allowing. The thought of a speech-to-text possibly accidentally running all day strikes me as a potentially very serious security hole.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: I don't get Cortana either!

          Err, Cortana is an "it", so is "Siri" ; just like Clippy was.

          anthropomorphizing them may not be such a good idea longer term

          ( sorry, feels like I just said Santa Claus doesn't exist )

          1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
            Thumb Up

            Re: I don't get Cortana either!

            "anthropomorphizing them may not be such a good idea longer term"

            Ably demonstrated in The Big Bang Theory when Raj "falls in love" with Siri, for a recent reference.

    3. TheVogon

      Re: I don't get Cortana either!

      "Cortana will need to know the person talking to her/it is the right person "

      In an office you generally use a headset / microphone for Lync, etc anyway.

  3. Wade Burchette

    Microsoft is still not listening

    I put in a request for Aero to return several times. Many other people did too. Is Aero back? There are two reasons why I'm sticking with Windows 7 until the bitter end, and maybe beyond. First, Aero, because that flat square look is hard on my eyes and I have a hard time finding anything on the screen. Second, Windows 10 still has that "cloud first, mobile first" strategy. Doesn't Microsoft get it? A tablet is a different tool than a laptop. You don't put a screw in with a hammer, you use a screwdriver. This touch UI design needs to confined to tablets and phones only. Windows 7 focuses on the laptop and desktop, and it also doesn't have built-in cloud/Bing/advertisement integration like Windows 8/8.1/10. Just because you put a start button back doesn't mean you fixed the problem. Listen! Stop trying to make a desktop a tablet!

    1. cmannett85

      Re: Microsoft is still not listening

      "This touch UI design needs to confined to tablets and phones only."

      No it doesn't. A touch screen is just an another input device, and an increasingly popular one on laptop screens and standalone monitors, so an OS that that pretends they aren't used is hardly something that should be praised.

      There's no reason at all why an OS cannot have a touch compatible interface that doesn't hinder mouse interaction.

      1. Craigness

        Re: Microsoft is still not listening

        Touch UI is fine, they just need to change the cursor to a circle to mimic the positioning/shadow of a finger. The Asus Transformer tablets do that and it works.

        1. jason 7

          Re: Microsoft is still not listening

          I have to say I was handed a 24" Windows 8.1 all in one PC to work on a few weeks ago.

          Touch screen the works.

          Whilst I'm a big "no touching my screen bitch!" type I decided to try the whole thing as it was intended for an afternoon.

          To be honest it worked really well. Side swiping news articles and other such stuff was a pleasant experience and switch back and forth between worlds was pretty slick. With an open mind it did work, possibly more as a domestic interface rather than a hardcore user interface.

          I also must admit the screen didnt suffer too badly from smears and fingerprints either. Light swipes and prods were all that was needed.

          Back to sitting at my Win7 Pro workstation thinking Windows 10 might be nice for a change. I've got 10 on it as a VM by the way.

      2. Jess

        Touch screen on a laptop

        Asking for RSI, as far as I can see.

        1. JDX Gold badge

          Re: Touch screen on a laptop

          Where is your medical degree from Jess?

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Touch screen on a laptop

            Where did you pick up such an attitude that an observation has to be backed with a specific degree JDX?

            You might be surprised to learn that MS could benefit from listening to some real people not just those swinging their believed credentials or position.

            1. JDX Gold badge

              Re: Touch screen on a laptop

              Yeah, nobody at MS uses computers for their job. They don't count as 'real people' when it comes to knowing about computer use-linked RSI.

        2. Law

          Re: Touch screen on a laptop

          "Asking for RSI, as far as I can see."

          Actually I don't use my touchscreen on the laptop enough, sort of forget its there until I realise I'm struggling with the trackpad and a simple point and drag on the screen would do.

          Touch definitely worked better on win 8, even in the non metro bit, but I still installed win 7 over the top because 8 had shotgunned its settings all over the place, scattered between both legacy and metro settings panels. Drove me nuts.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @cmannett85 - Re: Microsoft is still not listening

        I can travel with my mouse across my 24in screen by barely moving my hand for 2 inches and I could do better than that. Now tell us again how does your touch screen swipe looks like in this scenario ? Popular ? Let's not be silly, shall we ?

    2. Kunari

      Re: Microsoft is still not listening

      I'm with you that Windows 10 is too "cloud first, mobile first" in that it's being so tied to MS cloud offerings and I too can just see the pop-ups for their "cloud/Bing/advertisement" every time I boot. Plus it begs the question, How soon before the subscription costs come into play?

      Touchscreens are getting more popular, so I'm not opposed to Windows 10, or any OS, having a touch UI design instead of bolted-on as an afterthought.

    3. Col_Panek

      Re: Microsoft is still not listening

      Two dozen Linux desktops aren't enough for you?

  4. Stuart 22

    The Business Legacy

    Win8/8.1 - mostly consumers will probably be well advised to do the free upgrade. Win7 - consumers with recent hardware might find it a good move too with '7' support ending within its lifetime.

    Guess Microsoft are betting nearly all its Win7 business users will be unable to take advantage of the free upgrade. 12 months is just too short for any significant operation to evaluate, decide, test and deploy a new operating system. They will just hang on grimly until 2020 when it will, hopefully, be someone else's problem.

    1. Alan Bourke

      Re: The Business Legacy

      Business won't be taking advantage simply because the 'upgrade for free' offer doesn't apply to the professional variants of Win 7 and Win 8.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The Business Legacy

        "...the 'upgrade for free' offer doesn't apply to the professional variants..."

        Citation?

        1. David Neil

          Re: The Business Legacy

          "It is our intent that most of these devices will qualify, but some hardware/software requirements apply and feature availability may vary by device. Devices must be connected to the internet and have Windows Update enabled. ISP fees may apply. Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 Update required. Some editions are excluded: Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise, and Windows RT/RT 8.1. Active Software Assurance customers in volume licensing have the benefit to upgrade to Windows 10 Enterprise outside of this offer. We will be sharing more information and additional offer terms in coming months."

          http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/about?ocid=WIN10_0_WOL_Hero_Home_Windows-10_Null_01

          Bottom of page

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: The Business Legacy

            That doesn't say anything about the professional versions only the enterprise versions and they are normally on a rolling Volume Licence Agreement. The pro versions are widely used by businesses and allow domain access.

            So it would appear that the comment about business users and professional version is incorrect.

          2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

            Re: The Business Legacy

            "Some editions are excluded: Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise, and Windows RT/RT 8.1"

            Oh goody, my Asus EeePC Netbook with Windows 7 Starter edition isn't excluded. I wonder if it will be capable of opening more than two browser tabs without thrashing the swapfile?

            1. Col_Panek

              Re: The Business Legacy

              Put Peppermint OS, Puppy or Lubuntu on it.

  5. theOtherJT Silver badge

    Doing Something Stupid...

    "For three decades, Microsoft has responded to competitive pressure by panicking, and then Doing Something Stupid."

    This... is about the most perfect explanation I have ever heard for the entire history of that company.

Page:

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like