To the shock of no one, Windows 10 users who upgrade to the Anniversary Update (scheduled for release next week), will not be able to disable Cortana using the settings.
If you compare the start menu settings of Cortana of the current version of Windows (version 1511) with those of the Anniversary Update (version 1607) you will notice that Cortana's off switch is no longer available (thanks Ian Paul @PC World for spotting that)
Cortana, the digital assistant that Microsoft touts as one of the major features of Windows 10 supports interaction via touch, typing, ink and voice.
Microsoft integrated Cortana deeply with the native search functionality of Windows 10. While linked to search, Windows 10 users may turn off Cortana currently to use search without it. While you might have to turn off web searches on Windows 10 as well, doing so ensured that you got search functionality that matched those of previous versions of Windows.
Windows users who turned off Cortana had two main reasons for it: either they did not need Cortana functionality, or they did not want it because of privacy implications.
[...] It is still possible to turn off Cortana, but not by using the preferences. The policy to disable Cortana is still available and you may use it to turn off Cortana on the device.
Please note that the Group Policy Editor is only available in professional versions of Windows 10. Most notably, it is not available in Windows 10 Home.
The linked article goes into detail on how to disable Cortana using the Registry in Windows 10 Home, and Group Policy Editor in Windows 10 Pro. However, Microsoft no longer makes disabling Cortana anywhere near as easy as it was.
(Score: 4, Funny) by aristarchus on Wednesday July 27 2016, @06:46AM
I am torn between "So, it has come to this!" and "Thus it begins."
(Score: 4, Insightful) by anubi on Wednesday July 27 2016, @06:50AM
Its been going on for some time now.
Problem is this dinosaur is so big it may still be years before it realizes its tail is on fire.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 27 2016, @06:55AM
Mozilla?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 27 2016, @07:09AM
Firetai... err... firefox.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 27 2016, @09:33AM
Xkcd quotes
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday July 27 2016, @10:23AM
Really? Citation(s) needed! http://xkcd.com/1656/ [xkcd.com] http://xkcd.com/1022/ [xkcd.com] Unless the "begins" is Gandalf's "So it begins", but that doesn't quite have the same note of drama necessary for Balrogs invading your desktop operation system. "You SHALL NOT search!!" (Fly, you fools!)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 27 2016, @01:22PM
"You were warned. Now it begins."
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 27 2016, @07:44AM
I was more of a "Wow, I didn't expect this for another 2 weeks."
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday July 27 2016, @05:57PM
That's the "because of overwhelming customer positive feedback, we extended the Free W10 Mandatory Upgrade period by three months" statement.
Actually, that's coming on Friday.