Windows 10's "Cortana" boasting 100 million monthly users

Status
Not open for further replies.

Noxx

Level 3
Thread author
Verified
Jul 13, 2016
123
TLDR: 100 monthly monthly users, 8 billion questions asked, 1/3 of Windows 10 users use it, it's expected that Cortana will continue to be developed and will become MORE and not less central to 10 inherent functionality. In other words, Cortana isn't going away!

"During the company's fourth quarter earnings call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella dropped a bomb on us that's arguably bigger than any figure touted since the release of Windows 10.

"The Cortana search box [in the Windows 10 task bar] has over 100 million monthly active users, with 8 billion questions asked to date," Nadella stated plainly on the call.

Now, the Redmond campus chief didn't specify exactly how many of those users are using Cortana on the desktop with their voice or simply typing into the search box, but how much does that matter?

Regardless of their method – granted, 100 million vocal users would go a long way to improve the virtual assistant's voice recognition – a lot of users are tapping into Cortana's cloud-powered knowledge graph and machine learning, which will all improve the more it's used.

The figure is big enough to draw specific attention to it in an earnings call, at least.

Now, to put that into a bit more perspective, Microsoft has issued 350 million Windows 10 installs as of this May. So, theoretically nearly a third of all Windows 10 users are using Cortana.

Can Apple say the same for Siri or Alphabet for Google Now? At the very least, it sure seems that neither of them have bothered to.

And that's not even considering Cortana on iOS and Android

The most specific Apple seems to have ever gotten about Siri's usage statistics was at its WWDC 2016 keynote, wherein SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said that Siri serves over 2 billion requests a week.

That's no doubt an impressive figure, but not as specific and widely recognized a metric as "this many million monthly active users." Monthly active users, or MAU, is the generally accepted metric for an app or service's success.

Alphabet seems to have said even less about how many people are using Google Now, it's Android-based virtual assistant. The firm gave no specific figures during its 2016 Google I/O keynote regarding Google Now usage, though we do know that Google voice searches have doubled over the past year – as of this February.

(An independent Parks Associates study pegs more than half of iOS users regularly using Siri and less than a third of Android users accessing Google Now, figures we should be hesitant to count as they're not from an official source.)

Keep in mind that, while Siri's billions of served requests per week is poised to only grow once macOS Sierra is widely released later this year (and Google Now is accessible virtually from anything that has access to Google.com), Nadella's comment on Cortana usage doesn't include numbers from Android, iOS andXbox One.

So, it's likely that Cortana's usage on the whole is even bigger than Microsoft is letting on, but probably not by an enormous margin. (That could change as more gamers download the latest version of the Xbox One software.)

Generally speaking, companies don't release MAU figures unless they're large enough to be worth mentioning. On a related note, it's for similar reasons that Microsoft recently opted to stop releasing Xbox One sales figures.

So, is Cortana enjoying more success than its rivals already? That's tough to say without either of its biggest rivals being more specific regarding their offerings. But, what can be said is that Microsoft is enjoying wild success with the assistant within its own ecosystem.

AI and machine learning: a pillar of Microsoft's strategy?

What else can be said that's even more important is that, with numbers like these, you better believe that Microsoft is poised to double down on not only Cortana, but the core concepts behind the virtual assistant: artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.

From expanding Cortana's functionality and breadth to investing in bots, these two corners of the computing space have become central to the company's ethos.

Cortana is getting even more tricked out in the forthcoming Windows 10 Anniversary Update, and we should expect the assistant to be even more central to the operating system (OS) come next spring or summer, when the second phase of "Redstone" is expected to land alongside new Surface hardware.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Cortana soon take the wheel in Windows 10 as soon as next year, similar to that of the OS in the film Her, albeit on a far more rudimentary scale.

Sure, everyone's been making projections like this for a while of every major tech firm, but now we have far more concrete evidence of the imminent push. And, with Microsoft seemingly leading the pack in AI and machine learning (despite its stumbles), you can bet that Apple and Alphabet will respond in kind.

Regardless of who is in the lead, what's key to take away from Nadella's awfully specific remarks on Cortana is that A.) it's not going anywhere, and if anything it's only going to grow more central to Windows and B.) the rest of the industry will respond in kind more emphatically than it has already.

Whether you like it or not, AI and machine learning are all but the future of computing. Microsoft may have sorely missed out on the mobile revolution, but it's not about to miss out on the next one."
 

XhenEd

Level 28
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Content Creator
Well-known
Mar 1, 2014
1,708
I voted "No".
I voted: "Not presently available in my country".

I don't have Windows Phone.
And Windows 10 in my laptop doesn't currently support Cortana due to geographical restriction, which I don't understand why they couldn't just make it global.


Edit: I voted: "Not presently available in my country".
 
Last edited:

Noxx

Level 3
Thread author
Verified
Jul 13, 2016
123
I voted "No".

I don't have Windows Phone.
And Windows 10 in my laptop doesn't currently support Cortana due to geographical restriction, which I don't understand why they couldn't just make it global.

I had no idea that Cortana was restricted by country. That's very odd, all things considered.

Edit: I added a poll option for users that can't access Cortana atm.
 

XhenEd

Level 28
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Content Creator
Well-known
Mar 1, 2014
1,708
I had no idea that Cortana was restricted by country. That's very odd, all things considered.
MS said that they're going to roll out Cortana gradually to other countries in the next months or years. Currently allowed countries are just for "testing".
 

Noxx

Level 3
Thread author
Verified
Jul 13, 2016
123
MS said that they're going to roll out Cortana gradually to other countries in the next months or years. Currently allowed countries are just for "testing".

I'm not exactly sure why it would take many months, if not years to implement a feature that's nearly stable. I guess M$ is just a very odd entity, indeed...
 

XhenEd

Level 28
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Content Creator
Well-known
Mar 1, 2014
1,708
I'm not exactly sure why it would take many months, if not years to implement a feature that's nearly stable. I guess M$ is just a very odd entity, indeed...
MS said that even before the release of Windows 10. :D
"Next months or years" is true indeed, given the time of release up to now. :D
And that move by MS is what I do not understand totally. :D
 

Ink

Administrator
Verified
Staff Member
Well-known
Jan 8, 2011
22,361
I had no idea that Cortana was restricted by country. That's very odd, all things considered.

Cortana for Android and iOS is currently restricted to USA and China. Unless users are willing to go through loopholes to get the app, Windows 10's Cortana has been available for almost 12 months and nothing for worldwide users.

upload_2016-7-21_15-43-2.png

Link: Cortana - Android Apps on Google Play
Beta Registration: Sign in - Google Accounts

Microsoft can boast all they want, but slowly and surely are losing users.

Viv.ai
 

Noxx

Level 3
Thread author
Verified
Jul 13, 2016
123
Lol, what? CHINA? I'd imagine they'd be the last people to buy into Cortana.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DardiM
H

hjlbx

I disable Cortana's internet search and create a block firewall rule.

Cortana is only a convenience to me when I need to get to a buried setting - and that is maybe once or twice per year.

If it didn't break the Start Menu, then I would uninstall Cortana; it's a completely needless resource hog...
 

DJ Panda

Level 30
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Aug 30, 2015
1,928
How do you do that?

Goodseartch.com is a special browser almost like google but if you make an account you can specifically choose which organization gets the money. Every search gives a to the cause and buying certain products on a software makers site will donate too! For example if you buy MBAM Premium, Malwarebytes will donate I thjthjink 8% of the cosdt you paid. :)
 

DardiM

Level 26
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Malware Hunter
Well-known
May 14, 2016
1,597
Voted no (already tested).
Main reason => after reading several info.
One example :
"Windows 10, the new free operating system from Microsoft pushes far the collection of personal data of its users for advertising purposes. A true spyware, according to critics.
To do its work, Cortana has access to an impressive list of personal data: alarm settings, calendar data, text messages or emails, the name of the installed applications and programs, and their frequency of use, or, from a smartphone, the list of the last people called and call duration. Microsoft even says in his new privacy rules that Cortana may have access to "more" information".
 
  • Like
Reactions: Logethica
Status
Not open for further replies.

About us

  • MalwareTips is a community-driven platform providing the latest information and resources on malware and cyber threats. Our team of experienced professionals and passionate volunteers work to keep the internet safe and secure. We provide accurate, up-to-date information and strive to build a strong and supportive community dedicated to cybersecurity.

User Menu

Follow us

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to know first about the latest cybersecurity incidents and malware threats.

Top