Microsoft Considered Naming Their Virtual Assistant As 'Alyx' Before Ending With 'Cortana'

Answering to a user question on Twitter, Marcus Ash, Microsoft’s Group Program Manager for Cortana on Windows Phone revealed that Microsoft had a  list of names for their digital assistant before it was named Cortana. ‘Alyx’ was the name that was leading the list, but the immense support for ‘Cortana’ name in the user voice website made Microsoft to choose it over Alyx.

We had a list of names. One early front runner was Alyx. Thanks again WP community for weighing in 🙂

Who is Alyx?

Alyx Vance is a non-player character in Valve’s 2004 first-person shooter video game Half-Life 2, and its following episodes: Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two. Alyx is portrayed as a young woman in her mid-twenties of Afro-Asian descent, and is a prominent figure in the human resistance against the rule of the alien race called the Combine and their human representative, Dr. Breen. She is a close friend and ally of the player’s character, Gordon Freeman

Source: Marcus via: winbeta