Windows Help and Advice - USA (2019-06)

/HʋʢɚKʝɦWɛ

Master Cortana with

these key commands

“MakeusingWindows 10 easierthanever,

andgeta littleassistancealongtheway”

orsomeusers,especially

thoseusedtoversionsof

Windowspreviousto10,

Cortanais a bitofa non-event.Why

wouldyouwanttouseanAIassistant

todosomethingyoucouldverywell

doyourself?

Thesepeoplehaveprobablynever

experiencedthejoyofusingan

AmazonEchotoswitchthelightson

andoff,andthetwothingsarevery

similar:Cortanaexiststomakethings

easier,tosmoothyourpassage

throughWindows’interminable

screensandpop-ups,andtoputa

friendlyfaceontechnicalsettings.

We’reusingtypedcommands,but

youcanalsotalktoCortanaif your

Windowsdeviceis equippedwithan

appropriatemicrophone.Toready

Cortanatoacceptvoiceinput,either

press[Win]+ [C],a dedicatedsearch

button,clickthemiciconnearthe

systemtray,orsay‘HeyCortana!’if

you’veenabledit.Let’sgetstarted.

1 Searchandlaunchapps

OpeningCortanaandtypinggivessimilarfunctionalityto

typingontheStartmenu– it searchesyourPC,bringingup

documentsandappsthatmatchyourparameters.It’sspeech

recognitionthatimprovesthingshere,as‘HeyCortana,open

Excel’willplungeyouintoa funworldofspreadsheets.It might

notbefasterthanclickingonanicon,butit feelsfuturistic.

2 Searchtheweb

YoucangiveCortanamorecontextforthesearch,for

example‘documentsfromthelastweek’.If Cortanacan’tfindwhat

youwantonyourPC,it resortstoanInternetsearch,inthiscase

usingBing,withresultsopeninginEdge.If youtypeyourquery,it

willhappenwhenyoupress[Enter],oryoucansay‘HeyCortana,

findmepicturesofpuppies’toseesmalldogsfromtheweb.

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+ʑɨ &ʝUWʋQɈ

Step-by-step GiveCortanaorders

Anyonecandoit

Straightforward

Trickyin parts

Windows 10

Windows8.1

Windows 7

At a glance

Skill level...

Suitable for...

Image credits : Microsoft

30 |^ |^ June 2019