While the Hershey Company first introduced the unusually-named candy bar, Whatchamacallit, back in 1978, people still find themselves at a loss for words—reaching out to the plethora of information available on the internet whenever they have a question.
Move over Siri, there’s a new kid in town and her name is Cortana! She’s available on Windows 10’s new browser, Microsoft Edge. The personal assistant, Cortana, is a highly capable alternative to Siri. Once you’ve enabled Cortana to work in Edge from the advanced settings menu, it will offer you a host of cool benefits.
You can let her search your files on your computer and the web, make calculations, and even pull up the weather forecast. Either click on the microphone icon, or go totally hands free by saying “Hey Cortana.” For example, are you having a hard time finding a specific budget file on your desktop? Just say “Hey Cortana… Find me all files with the word budget.” Planning a lunch date? You can effortlessly search the web to find out when your favorite local restaurant starts serving lunch. Just say, “Hey Cortana… when does ABC restaurant open?” Reading an article and wondering what a word means? Just say, “Hey Cortana… what is the definition of XYZ?” Want to open up an app? Just say, “Hey Cortana… open up Excel.” If you have an email account set up in Outlook, you can even ask Cortana to draft an email or schedule a meeting.
How sweet is that? Cortana will quickly become your new best friend!
First published in our November 2016 IT Radix Resource newsletter
