Cortana reminds you even when you forgot to add the reminder

Microsoft has announced an update to its voice assistant Cortana with a single new feature. The so-called Commitment feature allows the Windows 10 assistant to remember things you forgot to add to your reminders.

How does this thing actually work? Well, it's as simple as your assistant going through your emails and remembering to add reminders for you. Cortana essentially reads your emails and determines whether there are any commitments that you make.

Once it finds one of these instances it saves a reminder with the subject, persons involved and possible deadline. The result is, as seen in the picture and video, a surprise reminder that will present you with the part of the email that triggered the feature as well as who the commitment was made to, ie. the recipient of the email.

Microsoft's Cortana assistant might not be the most popular of the voice assistants but it is definitely challenging the competition in terms of machine learning. Google's new Google Assistant is also heavily focused in machine learning and context specificity.

The update comes available first on Windows 10 in the U.S. followed by iOS and Android updates in the coming weeks.

Written by: Matti Robinson @ 10 Feb 2017 13:22

sikosrus

I deleted Cortana and edge with an app I found on the internet. PC runs great without them. I don't allow updates either. A couple that I did allow always made pc run bad. No updates No problems. If it came out sooner it could have reminded me not to update to windows 10 in the first place

get rid of Cortana and edge
use at your own risk

http://winaero.com/download.php?view.1832

https://mega.nz/#!1sY3CCRA!4lTuRf1LlvYw...1UM8XPsWTMSh-6g

10.2.2017 14:25 #1

nu2duo

We've had nothing but success with our 4 pc's running Win 10. My wife uses cortana every now and then but I have yet to find use for it.

10.2.2017 15:07 #2

hearme0

Originally posted by sikosrus: I deleted Cortana and edge with an app I found on the internet. PC runs great without them. I don't allow updates either. A couple that I did allow always made pc run bad. No updates No problems. If it came out sooner it could have reminded me not to update to windows 10 in the first place ...This I don't believe.

Proof is in the pudding; show me the pudding please.

I've committed surgery on Win10 to "REMOVE" Cortana and Edge and it fu*ked my OS up whenever tapping into larger processes. I'd like to know of this "app" that just removed it for ya. They're both tightly ingrained in the OS.

NONSENSE until proven otherwise.

11.2.2017 23:43 #3

Bozobub

Originally posted by hearme0: Originally posted by sikosrus: I deleted Cortana and edge with an app I found on the internet. PC runs great without them. I don't allow updates either. A couple that I did allow always made pc run bad. No updates No problems. If it came out sooner it could have reminded me not to update to windows 10 in the first place ...This I don't believe.

Proof is in the pudding; show me the pudding please.

I've committed surgery on Win10 to "REMOVE" Cortana and Edge and it fu*ked my OS up whenever tapping into larger processes. I'd like to know of this "app" that just removed it for ya. They're both tightly ingrained in the OS.

NONSENSE until proven otherwise.

Or maybe read the article linked to?
Quote: Caution: Uninstalling Cortana breaks the Windows 10 Start Menu and probably Search so don't use this if you use the native menu. You will not be able to get it working back easily. You will not be able to-reinstall it quickly without using the genuine install.wim file. For most users, this means that Cortana will be removed from Windows 10 permanently. Think twice before you will continue.
This is meant to be used with one of the many Start menu replacement programs available, such as "Classic Shell".

Edit -> Just installed Classic Shell; I like it quite a bit. Furthermore, the default Windows Start menu is still there, one click away.

12.2.2017 17:43 #4

bw5011

This was great update. It has already helped me by reminding me something I talked about in an email. This is the best personal assistant AI by far.

The comments above must be by people that live and die by google or apple. You can give them a device made by anybody else that accurately tells you the future and they will find a problem with it.

Good job Microsoft! Keep the innovation coming.

13.2.2017 21:42 #5

Bozobub

13.2.2017 22:07 #6

KillerBug

Originally posted by bw5011: This was great update. It has already helped me by reminding me something I talked about in an email. This is the best personal assistant AI by far.

The comments above must be by people that live and die by google or apple. You can give them a device made by anybody else that accurately tells you the future and they will find a problem with it.

Good job Microsoft! Keep the innovation coming. Personally, if Google built in something that read and processed my emails to such an extreme that it could "remind" me of things I had said in them, I'd have a new email provider and I'd be buying a phone that worked with Tizen or something.

I was worried that I would be forced to go to Windows 10 because of DX12...thankfully it is a total failure so that isn't a concern any time soon. I would like some of the 3D printing features but even that isn't enough to justify all the negatives. Sad part is that the underlying OS is decent...better than Windows 7 even; it is all the garbage they put on top. So far no one that I know of has made a mass uninstaller that doesn't cause massive problems, when such a thing is made maybe I'll switch.

14.2.2017 10:00 #7

Bozobub

Originally posted by KillerBug: Sad part is that the underlying OS is decent...better than Windows 7 even; it is all the garbage they put on top. So far no one that I know of has made a mass uninstaller that doesn't cause massive problems, when such a thing is made maybe I'll switch.
You can relatively easily remove each component with Powershell, whether individually or all at one swell foop. Let me know if you want help doing so.

Removing Cortana DOES disable the built-in Search function, but just about every Start Menu replacement uses their own. I recently installed "Classic Shell", and it has its own (much faster!) Search "baked in". I like it quite a bit.

By the by, Classic Shell still lets you access Win10's default Start Menu with a single click, if/when necessary. Even if you don't disable Cortana completely, I highly recommend it.

14.2.2017 12:37 #8

21Q

I don't use MS's built in mail app, and I don't know how I feel about cortana skimming through emails either.

14.2.2017 14:38 #9

KillerBug

Originally posted by Bozobub: Originally posted by KillerBug: Sad part is that the underlying OS is decent...better than Windows 7 even; it is all the garbage they put on top. So far no one that I know of has made a mass uninstaller that doesn't cause massive problems, when such a thing is made maybe I'll switch.
You can relatively easily remove each component with Powershell, whether individually or all at one swell foop. Let me know if you want help doing so.

Removing Cortana DOES disable the built-in Search function, but just about every Start Menu replacement uses their own. I recently installed "Classic Shell", and it has its own (much faster!) Search "baked in". I like it quite a bit.

By the by, Classic Shell still lets you access Win10's default Start Menu with a single click, if/when necessary. Even if you don't disable Cortana completely, I highly recommend it. I tried the Powershelll way and ended up with hitching...not just in games, even in heavy desktop apps like SolidWorks. If you have a method for making a sort of Windows 10 Lite that avoids this, write it up...I'm sure that I am not the only one who would appreciate it.

15.2.2017 08:41 #10

Bozobub

I'll see what I can do. I haven't seen any mention of that "hitching" before, that's odd...

Edit -> Still can't find any references, nor have I seen it in person on my PC or those of friends who have done the same. Are you sure there aren't other possible causes (malware, fragmentation, too many resident programs/low RAM, overheating, etc.)?

Again, feel free to get back to me, I *may* be able to help (no promises though). If not, I'd like to start warning people about this possible side-effect =x .

15.2.2017 10:41 #11

bw5011

Originally posted by Bozobub: Originally posted by bw5011: This was great update. It has already helped me by reminding me something I talked about in an email. This is the best personal assistant AI by far.

The comments above must be by people that live and die by google or apple. You can give them a device made by anybody else that accurately tells you the future and they will find a problem with it.

Good job Microsoft! Keep the innovation coming.
Instant fail.

You can use whatever you like, feel free, but MANY people don't use any of these intrusive bits of software. Your opinion means nothing, in that context. Why should people be forced to keep software they don't like and/or don't use?

Of course, you won't have a rebuttal, because there isn't one to be made; your tastes are yours, no one else's. I didn't say you couldn't use anything that you liked. I could care less what you use. I do know that a lot of people will discredited anything that Microsoft does. If Android or Apple came up with it, it would be the best thing since sliced bread. My opinion must have meant a lot to you, there was a lot of "passion" in your post. Do you even own a Windows Phone? Honestly...

15.2.2017 12:53 #12

bw5011

Originally posted by KillerBug: Originally posted by bw5011: This was great update. It has already helped me by reminding me something I talked about in an email. This is the best personal assistant AI by far.

The comments above must be by people that live and die by google or apple. You can give them a device made by anybody else that accurately tells you the future and they will find a problem with it.

Good job Microsoft! Keep the innovation coming. Personally, if Google built in something that read and processed my emails to such an extreme that it could "remind" me of things I had said in them, I'd have a new email provider and I'd be buying a phone that worked with Tizen or something.

I was worried that I would be forced to go to Windows 10 because of DX12...thankfully it is a total failure so that isn't a concern any time soon. I would like some of the 3D printing features but even that isn't enough to justify all the negatives. Sad part is that the underlying OS is decent...better than Windows 7 even; it is all the garbage they put on top. So far no one that I know of has made a mass uninstaller that doesn't cause massive problems, when such a thing is made maybe I'll switch. I feel that all of our emails are being read and processed anyway. At least this benefits me. I bet Google is already reading your emails, you just don't know or hear about it. They need to collect data on how you access and use your mail clients to make improvements. If you don't want something known, don't use a computer and don't use a phone.

15.2.2017 12:58 #13

Bozobub

Originally posted by bw5011: I didn't say you couldn't use anything that you liked. I could care less what you use. I do know that a lot of people will discredited anything that Microsoft does. If Android or Apple came up with it, it would be the best thing since sliced bread. My opinion must have meant a lot to you, there was a lot of "passion" in your post. Do you even own a Windows Phone? Honestly...
Instant fail. I use Windows PCs (because I have for years, mainly, and they cost a LOT less) and Android phones. And that signifies what, exactly?

Personally, I feel Apple hardware is hideously overpriced but is otherwise decent enough, if you don't mind the "walled garden" approach (which I do). And?

You also forgot to explain why anyone should be comfortable with a company that admits to supplying the FBI, CIA, and NSA with massive amounts of user data, having access to ALL of your personal data. Care to start? For that matter, if you don't use Cortana anyway, why should you tolerate it using up RAM and CPU cycles..?

15.2.2017 13:29 #14

KillerBug

Originally posted by Bozobub: I'll see what I can do. I haven't seen any mention of that "hitching" before, that's odd...

Edit -> Still can't find any references, nor have I seen it in person on my PC or those of friends who have done the same. Are you sure there aren't other possible causes (malware, fragmentation, too many resident programs/low RAM, overheating, etc.)?

Again, feel free to get back to me, I *may* be able to help (no promises though). If not, I'd like to start warning people about this possible side-effect =x . Yeah, I am sure there were no other causes because the same machines (that's two very different machines I tried this on) both had the same issue. One has 12GB, the other 24GB. No overheating issues, they both work perfect on Windows 7. Both have SSD's. And in both cases it was a clean install with no software other than MalWareBytes, Comodo Firewall, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Classic Shell, and Solidworks 2016 x64. I even removed Apple Bonjour after the Solidworks install.

Not sure if I'm using the right term...it is like a one-frame pause. I didn't notice it on an old 60hz screen but it was very noticeable on a good screen @ 120hz. I've read lots of complaints about it happening when DX12 is running in games and they used the term "hitching".

15.2.2017 14:12 #15

Bozobub

Are you certain it appeared only with the removal of Cortana? I should also ask if you removed anything else, as well.

Remember, the Educational version of Win10 doesn't even have Cortana at all, you know.

15.2.2017 14:54 #16

KillerBug

Originally posted by Bozobub: Are you certain it appeared only with the removal of Cortana? I should also ask if you removed anything else, as well.

Remember, the Educational version of Win10 doesn't even have Cortana at all, you know. I removed everything I could; I think there were like 30 bloatware apps I removed (this was a few months ago). I wanted just the OS and not all the garbage they put on top of it. I don't remember the whole list but there was a bunch of Bing crap, some windows phone stuff, Skype, and all sorts of other garbage. It was almost like a Lenovo with Windows 7.

15.2.2017 20:50 #17

Bozobub

Hm. I have some *possible* fixes, after a bit of research:

- If you have integrated graphics, as well as a discrete card, try disabling the integrated version. Even if you have no BIOS/UEFI option � many laptops have this problem � you should be able to disable it in Device Manager.
- If you have an HP PC, uninstall "CoolSense", if you haven't already, it's worthless and can cause this problem.
- When you were murdering bloatware, did you happen to get rid of the XBox BS? If not, removing it may help. You can do so by pasting in the following text into PowerShell:

Get-AppxPackage *xbox* | Remove-AppxPackage

15.2.2017 22:04 #18

ddp

killerbug, that sounds like the anniversary version of win10 as ran into all that bloatware when installing that version of win10 on friend's laptop.

17.2.2017 21:30 #19

ivymike

Sounds like Cortana needs to mind her own damn business, nosy Rosy.

18.2.2017 10:31 #20

KillerBug

Originally posted by Bozobub: Hm. I have some *possible* fixes, after a bit of research:

- If you have integrated graphics, as well as a discrete card, try disabling the integrated version. Even if you have no BIOS/UEFI option � many laptops have this problem � you should be able to disable it in Device Manager.
- If you have an HP PC, uninstall "CoolSense", if you haven't already, it's worthless and can cause this problem.
- When you were murdering bloatware, did you happen to get rid of the XBox BS? If not, removing it may help. You can do so by pasting in the following text into PowerShell:

Get-AppxPackage *xbox* | Remove-AppxPackage

- If you have an nVidia graphics card:
+ Try uninstalling ALL nVidia software (including the HD audio driver), running Display Driver Uninstaller, and reinstalling. You may also benefit from NOT reinstalling the HD Audio driver, according to some accounts.
+Some people have fixed a similar bug in Intel's "SpeedBoost" tech when interacting with nVidia cards by changing the max CPU speed from 100% to 99% for both plugged-in and battery states. You can find this setting under Control Panel>Power Options>Change plan settings>Change advanced power settings>Processor power management>Maximum processor state.
- Scan with more than one scanner for both spyware and malware.

If NOTHING works, you may very well need to do a "refresh" install of Windows 10. This will reinstall all the bloatware, of course but if the problem persists, you'll know bloatware removal wasn't the problem, at least ^^' .

What model PC/graphics card do you have, anyway? There are also certain graphics card models (nVidia 300 series, for example, especially the mobile versions) that are rather buggy, as well, including bizarre thermal "runaway" issues.

Let me know whether or not this helps, if you would, so I can better help others =) .

Edit -> Grr, AD doesn't allow [list] BBCode, WTF. I went through almost all of that list this summer. Same issues on a laptop with integrated AMD graphics and a desktop with a GTX970. Never tried disabling audio, but even if it worked that would just be a new problem. Setting the maximum speed to 99% completely disables turbo boost; that would be like underclocking my CPU...again, just a new problem.

The machines were full of malware and spyware...malware like Skype and spyware like Cortana. But as far as stuff not created my microsoft, they were clean. I'm talking about fresh installs. I do use multiple scanners, but only one resident one at a time because two would slow the system nearly as bad as installing Windows 10.

I didn't notice the issue before the bloatware removal, and I did run SolidWorks on the desktop before the bloatware was all gone. If the choices available are 1-hitching with the trash removed, 2-all the problems with the trash intact, 3-[maybe]Hitching plus all the problems, and 4-keep running Windows 7...well, that's why I am back on Windows 7. I'd probably still have it as a second OS except that it forces you to boot to Windows 10 in order to select Windows 7 and then reboot.

Microsoft knows how to make Windows 10 great...the fact that you can run games on top of it on xbone hardware is proof of that. Unfortunate that they are more concerned with loading it down with spyware and adware and garbage in general than providing their best OS to date. Really hope someone makes something like 98lite for Windows 10.

18.2.2017 21:37 #21

bw5011

Originally posted by Bozobub: Originally posted by bw5011: I didn't say you couldn't use anything that you liked. I could care less what you use. I do know that a lot of people will discredited anything that Microsoft does. If Android or Apple came up with it, it would be the best thing since sliced bread. My opinion must have meant a lot to you, there was a lot of "passion" in your post. Do you even own a Windows Phone? Honestly...
Instant fail. I use Windows PCs (because I have for years, mainly, and they cost a LOT less) and Android phones. And that signifies what, exactly?

Personally, I feel Apple hardware is hideously overpriced but is otherwise decent enough, if you don't mind the "walled garden" approach (which I do). And?

You also forgot to explain why anyone should be comfortable with a company that admits to supplying the FBI, CIA, and NSA with massive amounts of user data, having access to ALL of your personal data. Care to start? For that matter, if you don't use Cortana anyway, why should you tolerate it using up RAM and CPU cycles..? If you think your email isn't already monitored you failed at life. The only thing we agree on is the Walled Garden approach.. I can live without that as well.

24.2.2017 15:24 #22

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