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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: 3, Interesting) by tibman on Wednesday July 27 2016, @02:26PM
Murdered her because she wouldn't go away. You can hide her with a setting but she's still running and that really isn't my definition of off. Before you delete her though be sure to have a replacement start menu like classicshell.net. When she died she took search with her and windows 10 wasn't designed to survive without search. The classicshell search is better (faster), imo. Maybe because it doesn't need to communicate with the MS mothership?
For anyone who buys pre-built computers from companies like dell, you had to deal with cleaning up the preinstalled crapware. Windows is like that now. It use to be a barren thing you had to fill with apps. Now it comes filled with crap that you have to remove to get down to base functionality.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @12:08AM
I turned it off because frankly it was not really working for me the way I use my computer.