Microsoft testing a new conversation-based UI for Cortana in Windows 10

Microsoft is testing a new user-interface for Cortana in Windows 10. According to a new report, the new Cortana UI will be conversation based, similar to Google Assistant and Apple Siri. However, it isn’t known how the new conversation UI actually looks as of yet. Sources familiar with the matter have told us that the new Cortana-based UI is being tested in some of the internal builds of Windows 10.

The new conversation-based UI should make it much more natural to interact with Cortana in Windows 10. Right now, Cortana feels a lot like a search engine rather than an actual personal assistant but the new conversation-based UI is aiming to change that. As it’s a conversation-based UI, Cortana will now be context aware which is something that’s been a hit-or-miss in Cortana for a while now.

Microsoft will also reportedly move the position of Cortana in Windows 10. The report from Thurrott claims that the company is currently testing Cortana inside the system tray, which is apparently where the personal assistant was originally supposed to live. Interestingly, the new Cortana UI will also include “smart reply” suggestions similar to Google Allo. These smart replies will provide suggestions for things that you can say to Cortana, although it isn’t clear whether the smart replies will be intelligent like the ones found on Google Allo.

The new Cortana UI is still in the early stages of development and it isn’t clear when the new feature will be released to the public. The changes are believed to be quite dramatic, so there are small chances of the new UI being completely cut.