14 DAY TRIAL // Cortana continues to be a Windows Phone-exclusive feature for the time being, but Microsoft is already working to bring the personal assistant on the PC with the release of Windows 10.
It turns out, however, that Microsoft is planning to make Cortana available to even more users, as Julie Larson-Green, currently chief experience officer at the company, hinted that work in this regard was already being conducted internally.
JLG, who was once considered a potential successor to Steve Ballmer at the helm of Microsoft, told journalists and analysts during a press conference that Cortana would indeed arrive on other platforms in the coming months, but no other specifics were provided.
“The short answer is, yeah,” Larson-Green replied when asked if there were plans to bring Cortana personal assistant on some other operating systems besides Windows Phone 8.1.
Windows 10 version already in the works
It's a well-known fact that Microsoft is already developing a PC version of Cortana, and Windows 10 is very likely to be the first operating system coming with such a feature.
References to Cortana have already been found in the original Windows 10 Technical Preview 9841 testing build, and sources close to the company's development plans indicate that the personal assistant is already there in the PC operating system, but it's currently locked for users.
We've heard from inside sources that few people have already received access to more advanced versions of Cortana, but the company is testing them behind closed doors to make sure that no leaks occur.
At the same time, some voices have suggested that, at some point in the near future, Microsoft might actually implement a working version of Cortana in Windows 10 Technical Preview and thus give users the possibility of trying this feature out before the public launch of the operating system.
Cortana could also launch on iOS and Android
The statement made by JLG clearly leaves room for interpretation, and we've heard some people saying that Cortana might also be launched on other non-Windows platforms, including iOS and Android.
This, however, doesn't make much sense, especially because both iOS and Android have their very own personal assistant, namely Siri and Google Now, respectively, so Cortana might not be so well-received by fans of other platforms.
At the same time, Microsoft needs to keep Cortana a Windows-exclusive feature if it wants to bring more users on board, so there's no doubt that bringing it on other platforms, be they Android or iOS, could also reduce the consumer appeal of its very own products.
