Despite the concern, Microsoft is not abandoning Cortana. In fact, the emerging AI front-end will only go deeper into Windows 10 starting with Windows Core OS.

With the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) wrapping recently many people have been worried about Microsoft's Cortana assistant. After all, Amazon's Alexa and Google's smart services dominated the show with plenty of new product announcements and – more importantly – large partnerships with home accessory makers (notably absent: Apple). Despite that, however, Microsoft did have some big announcements including Synaptics and Qualcomm for reference boards and integration into home products. The Qualcomm announcement is significant because it lets manufacturers of smart home devices add Cortana without any work – it comes built into the reference board.

Additionally, Ecobee, Geeni, Honeywell Lyric, IFTTT, LIFX, TP-Link Kasa and Honeywell Total Connect Comfort are all on board too. Indeed, my Cortana already has Ecobee and IFTTT integration letting me control my thermostat through my Android phone or Harmon-Kardon Invoke speaker. Best VPN providers 2020: Learn about ExpressVPN, NordVPN & more But the more significant news that was not announced is what's coming next for Windows 10 and Cortana. Despite not having a smartphone to serve as a proper vector for Cortana Microsoft is repositioning the smart assistant for the PC. Looking towards Windows 10 Redstone 5 in fall 2018, and Redstone 6 in 2019 Microsoft is beginning to weave Cortana and artificial intelligence (A.I.) through the shell of Windows 10.