Microsoft announcd an updated Cortana experience in Windows 10 that will deliver more help from your assistant in Microsoft 365.

This next step in Cortana’s evolution will bring personal productivity assistance as a free update to the latest version of Windows 10 coming this spring. The upcoming update to Windows 10 will include access to a new Cortana with an emphasis on productivity.

Through this updated Cortana experience, Microsoft will roll out new Cortana services delivered through Microsoft 365 backed by the privacy, security and compliance promises of Office 365 services.

The new Cortana in Windows 10 features a chat-based UI that gives you the ability to interact with Cortana using your voice or the keyboard.

For English (United States) users, Cortana will assist you in better managing your schedule and tasks by staying on top of your calendar and focusing on what matters with meeting insights. You can speak or type requests to find people or files, or quickly create or query emails. You can also easily check your calendar, set a reminder, or add to your lists in Microsoft To Do:

• “What’s next on my calendar?”
• “Remind me to send the ‘weekly report’ every Friday at 2pm.”
• “Add ‘status report’ to my task list.”

And Cortana will continue to help you get answers from Bing, set alarms and timers, open apps, adjust settings, or give you a joke you can share with colleagues, friends or family.

Outside of the United States, the initial release of the Cortana experience in Windows 10 will include answers from Bing and the ability to chat with Cortana. Microsoft plans to enhance the international experience with more productivity-based capabilities in the future.

As part of Cortana’s evolution into a personal productivity assistant in Microsoft 365, you’ll see some changes in how Cortana works in the latest version of Windows 10. Microsoft has tightened access to Cortana so that you must be securely logged in with your work or school account or your Microsoft account before using Cortana, and some consumer skills including music, connected home and third-party skills will no longer be available in the updated Cortana experience in Windows 10. Microsoft is also making some changes to where Cortana helps you. The company is ending support for Cortana in older versions of Windows that have reached their end-of-service dates. Microsoft will also be turning off the Cortana services in the Microsoft Launcher on Android by the end of April.