Cortana can be disabled using a Registry key. I disabled it on the last update when they removed the UI that let you do it. Luckily, the setting stuck and Cortana is still gone after installing this latest update.
I hate this also. Unfortunately, I think the only real solution is to switch to Linux though. Corporations such as Microsoft and Apple simply can't be trusted. You can't trust a corporation who worked with the NSA while designing the OS, as Microsoft did with Vista and admitted it. Closed source, also can't be trusted.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
