Microsoft is intending to offer deeper integration and support for third-party voice assistants like Alexa and company for Windows 10. While numerous improvements to Cortana have made it a lot more user-friendly and intuitive, Microsoft still wants people to customize Windows 10’s experience based on their own preferences. This doesn’t guarantee however that you will be to command your PC from across the room to start your favorite songs but it is definitely a start.
These voice support integrations have been spotted in test editions of Windows 10. Check the tweet below by Albacore:
This looks like it might be related to assistants? You’ll be able to configure permissions for Voice Activation using keywords/hotwords. pic.twitter.com/VwFt4nYPg5
— Albacore (@thebookisclosed) December 14, 2018
As per that screenshot above, users will be able to activate apps using keywords even if the PC is locked. In one instance, Microsoft will even separate the search icon and voice icon in the taskbar. The Cortana app will also be replaceable by another voice assistant.
there are some internal APIs about “IsSystemCortanaAppReplaceable”/”IsSystemCortanaAppReplaced” in the Cortana app, maybe related
— WalkingCat (@h0x0d) December 13, 2018
All these changes are intended to appeal to the users and give them a reason to shift to Windows 10 if they are not already using it. As of now, Windows 10 has a 38% market share in the desktop computing segment.
