Draft:Cortana
| Component of Microsoft Windows | |
 | |
 Cortana in Windows 11 | |
| Introduced in | Windows Phone 8.1 |
|---|---|
Cortana is a virtual assistant developed by Microsoft. It was first introduced with the release of Windows Phone 8.1 in April 2014. It would later be integrated to Microsoft Windows with the release of Windows 10 in July 2015. Cortana would later be released on iOS and Android in December 2015 and on the Xbox One as part of a major dashboard update in July 2016.
Cortana is integrated with Microsoft's Bing search engine and performs tasks such as setting reminders and answering questions for the user. It accepts both text-based and voice-based input. It is named after a character in the Halo video game franchise.
Cortana was integrated into Windows 10's search box until Windows 10 May 2019 Update in which Cortana was separated into its own button and flyout. Cortana would later be completely decoupled from the Windows shell in Windows 10 May 2020 Update in favor of a UWP app which features an updated chat-based interface as part of downplaying Cortana as a virtual assistant. Cortana was removed from the Xbox One in 2019 and the Cortana mobile apps would later be shut down in March 2021. It would later be removed from the OOBE in Windows 11 and is not pinned to the taskbar by default.
On 2 June 2023, Microsoft announced that support for the standalone Cortana app for Windows 10 and Windows 11 will end in late 2023 in favor of Bing Chat AI and Windows Copilot.