Microsoft has begun following via on its promise to kill off Cortana, the AI assistant that debuted in Windows 10.

Microsoft’s latest Windows Insider construct within the Dev channel turns off Cortana, which solely seems as an app inside the Microsoft Store. If you apply an accessible replace to the Cortana app, that may basically flip it off: You’ll obtain a message saying that Cortana has been deprecated — programmer-speak for turning off a selected characteristic.

Microsoft had made its intentions clear: In June, the corporate mentioned that it might start ending support for the Cortana app in August. That doesn’t imply Cortana is fully gone. Microsoft did say that Cortana will nonetheless be accessible inside Outlook Mobile and varied variations of Teams, together with Microsoft’s conferencing resolution, Teams Rooms. 

Instead, Microsoft seems to be backing Windows Copilot, which brings AI into Windows 11 through an internet interface to Bing Chat. The drawback is that whereas Cortana debuted in Windows 10 (!) as an AI assistant that might creator e-mail, set reminders, and search the net, many of these features have yet to make it into Windows Copilot. Copilot, whereas a complicated search engine, can’t actually do any greater than the Cortana app can do proper now.

Microsoft hasn’t commented additional on its determination to kill off Cortana, however it’s possible testing the deprecation of the app within the Dev Channel to find out if its absence will provoke any extra bugs inside your PC. The firm nonetheless maintains a Cortana web page, together with what you can do with Cortana on Windows. If the present deprecation course of goes easily, nevertheless, anticipate Cortana to quietly fade away on the remaining userbase of Windows PCs.