Microsoft won't let you Google search from Cortana any more

Scorpus

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Microsoft is sick of people ignoring its home grown web browser and search engine, so it will no longer allow people to search using Google via Cortana in Windows 10 any more. Instead, any searches performed by Cortana will use Bing from within Windows 10's stock internet browser, Edge.

The reasoning behind this change, at least according to Microsoft in their latest blog post, is that blocking third party search engines will provide an "integrated search experience designed for Windows 10". Apparently when other search providers "circumvent the design of Windows 10", the resulting experience is "compromised [...] less reliable and predictable".

Microsoft makes it clear in the blog post that you can still use your browser and search engine of choice in Windows 10. It's just that these choices won't apply to Cortana, which will be stuck using Bing and Edge even if you would much rather use Google and Chrome.

There are some tasks that will work best with Cortana using Bing and Edge, as Microsoft has specifically designed some of Cortana's actions to harness the features of their search engine and browser. But there are also some other times where users may simply want to use Cortana to quickly search on their favorite engine; something that won't be possible in Windows 10 beyond today.

It's especially interesting to see Microsoft make this move when it wasn't easy to force Cortana to use Google in the first place. The company has been giving users a lot of choice in Windows 10 lately, though Cortana is one area that Microsoft clearly wants to lock down and control.

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Cortana: I don't want you hanging around those other search engines anymore.

Ditch the bi..... buy an Apple product.
 
Hoping we will soon see Gracie (possibly modeled by the immortal Gracie Allen - "The President of today is just the postage stamp of tomorrow.") for Google. Frances for Firefox could be modeled after Jane Curtin (Queen of the Deadpan - Charlene in The Librarians).

Bing drives me up a wall and I see no reason to use it. I have dabbled with Edge, but it keeps falling off the workbench. Too much fuzz and buzz and media hype for me.
 
If Apple is the answer, you are asking the wrong question.

Cortana is under the impression there aren't any other girls out there. Going out with Siri demonstrates otherwise.

Hate all you want, people love bad girls.
 
I like to use Bing, but it has increasingly grown in its results that are irrelevant or assume that I want to buy something. This, unfortunately, is not unlike the results from google or elsewhere.

I upgraded to 10, but I turned off Cortana and I've set Waterfox as my default search engine.

I've also shut down all the "send what I am doing to Microsoft" garbage.

Shutting down all that stuff is not all that hard to do with 10.

Personally, I don't care about the integrated experience with 10.

I suspect that the blog post is not at all about what it says it is about, rather, it is about trying to force users to submit to the invasive data collection so that M$ can market to the end users.

I am sure that this practice will inspire some users to find another alternative.

Isn't this the kind of thing that gets MS is hot water with regards to the EU's anti-trust laws?
It's what Google's in hot water for this very moment. We'll see how this plays out.
In the meantime, I'll be waiting for someone's program that changes this.
Absolutely agree. The US Justice Department, should have, in my opinion, broken M$ up when they had their last antitrust suit against them.
 
Still not telling me I'm glad I stuck with vista? All others upgrade to windows 10. This is just ridiculous. And cortana thus will never be siri either. Next step win 10 won't use ie entirely nor firefox. Some businesses still have legacy apps on internet explorer 6 with xp, like where my brother works at molex. I heard fox uses windows 2000 (IE5?) in some of their video switching. My dentist's crown maker (company called serak) uses xp, ie6 - not upgradable like this. This is past the blow to business. Business, what's that?
 
Still not telling me I'm glad I stuck with vista? All others upgrade to windows 10. This is just ridiculous. And cortana thus will never be siri either. Next step win 10 won't use ie entirely nor firefox. Some businesses still have legacy apps on internet explorer 6 with xp, like where my brother works at molex. I heard fox uses windows 2000 (IE5?) in some of their video switching. My dentist's crown maker (company called serak) uses xp, ie6 - not upgradable like this. This is past the blow to business. Business, what's that?
Yep they are completely oblivious to what made them succeed in the first place and have the blinkers on like it's a contest to become the touch screen desktop experience with voice controls and social media wrapped around our lives.
 
I use Edge browser, Google as homepage, Edge won't allow you to choose the page that opens when you open a new tab. Options are 'Top sites and suggested content', 'Top sites' and 'blank page which really isn't blank. Try to submit feedback (browser allows it by a setting) and you are stopped if you don't have a Microsoft account.
Welcome to how we do business at Microsoft.
 
As Bing is a disaster for me in finding the correct information (apart from images) and that includes Bing results within Microsoft's Office product, I have to assume that Cortana is a disaster as well and have switched it off.

The last time I used Edge on Microsofts own Windows 10 catalogue, I was told that the site only supported Internet Explorer.

This looks like another own goal by Microsoft again.
 
Told ya just another internet explorer bing blunder. It's bad enough they adware ie as default and bing your default search engine. Now this.... Instead of getting better they make sure you can't vote oh wait that's republicans. Apples over priced crapola is starting to look better.
 
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