Forum Discussion
Ask Cortana / Ask Bing - Discussion
Hello Insiders! You have told us that you really want the Ask Cortana / Ask Bing feature in our next version of Microsoft Edge.
In the current version of Microsoft Edge, you can select text or click on an image and get a result from Cortana / Bing in a side panel, without leaving the page you are browsing.
We hear you and from your feedback we understand you would like similar contextual search functionality in a way that does not pull you out of your browsing flow.
We are investigating our ability to add this to the next version of Microsoft Edge and we would like to understand what makes this feature useful for you.
How did you use this feature? If you ever attempted to use Ask Cortana / Ask Bing and couldn’t get the answer you were looking for, what steps did you take, if any, to get the answer you were looking for?
What aspects of the Ask Cortana experience do you like or appreciate? What improvements would you like to see?
Please let us know, either in the comments below or by using the Send-A-Smile feedback.
Thanks – Jared Brown and the Microsoft Edge Search Team
Hello Insiders!
Thank you so much for your feedback. We are excited to announce sidebar search - the first step in our evolution of contextual search in the new Microsoft Edge.
You can find more details about sidebar search in this post - https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/discussions/introducing-sidebar-search-in-microsoft-edge/m-p/1406242
Thanks!
123 Replies
Hi Elliot Kirk. I usually use Ask Cortana functionally while studying. It is very helpful for finding relevant information about unknown terminologies. Please please, keep this functionality in Edge Chromium as well. Its a life saver for students.
evidement que l'option "demander à Cortana" est cool ! le panneau latéral pourrait par contre avoir une plus belle interface et plus ergonomique
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Obviously the "ask Cortana" option is cool! the side panel could have a nicer and more ergonomic interface
Elliot Kirk Yes i will love Cortana support. But i want easy way to get access to cortana.
Drag the sentence and cortana icon flow on sentence without right clicking it.
And show the result in small window.
exapmle
Elliot Kirk I use this feature to check meaning of some words while reading any article, search for the review of any movie so that I could decide whether I watch that or not and many other stuff. These all were very handy and I didn't had to launch a new tab every time to perform those actions.
But now since they are absent in the new edge browser, I don't find edge better than Google Chrome.
Those are some features of the edge due to which I shifted to edge browser otherwise Google chrome was working just fine for me.
Please take in consideration and bring this handy feature back in the browser.
NightCrawler11 Elliot_Kirk
Look, Elliot, another new person expressing the same ole stuff (as SO many before)...
Wonder, is the Team getting the hint (??)
"Power to the People!"
Cheers,
Drew- Spoiler
Drew1903 wrote:
another new person expressing the same ole stuff (as SO many before)...
Wonder, is the Team getting the hint
Power to the People!currently in Edge classic, there is no sign of Cortana.
Microsoft Edge 44.19037.1.0
Microsoft EdgeHTML 18.19037
Windows 10 build 19037.1
no word about "Cortana" in the Edge settings neither. only there is option to ask Bing
- I use it a little, but when I use it to check the information I'm reading, for example I'm reading about a TV series, and I want to know something or see a picture of an artist I don't know, so I use the feature to know the artist, This without leaving the page I'm reading, I also use to see the lyrics of the songs I listen to on youtube. I like the feature
viniciusbezerra
Vini, not only is it used & liked, but, you hit on the part that is a, really, BIG factor making it especially cool & appealing...
"This without leaving the page I'm reading", Vini
Cheers,
Drew- Thanks, I must say which feature is very useful, it adds in the navigation 😉
- That is an option of the old browser that stood out before the other browsers, I also think it is important to add the option to select only one word to be able to translate it, option that if it exists in the old Edge, and not in the new one, translates the whole page and I would like you to add both options that are very helpful to me personally. I hope you'll add both functions. Ask Cortana, is an option like yourself you mention it of being able to search for something without leaving the window, a quick view; for example: of a meaning of a word, a quick response to a doubt of a word you find, and good for me if that option serves me a lot and I've been waiting a lot for it, is one of the reasons why I don't totally switch to the new Edge.
AnphirAddoN
Can add your name to the ever-growing list of countless people praising these same things & wanting them to be kept in Edge C. Team needs to hear & know how important these things are & to so very many End Users and make sure these items & features continue! And besides being handy Ask Cortana does a fine job and if not enough, at that point one can go on to Bing from there, if necessary.
Cheers,
Drew- Look, Opera has an extension for this, do they have Cortana or any kind of AI? Nope
https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/sidebar-for-googletm-search/
- Tbh these are great features but I don't see how they need an AI (Artificial Intelligence) like Cortana.
any browser can implement these features without an AI.
Microsoft needs to look up to Google Assistance and how smart it is in Android, then make Cortana like that.
Opera, Yandex etc all are based on Chromium and they already have some of these features (translations, sidebar view etc) without Cortana AI.
maybe Microsoft's definition of AI is different than that of the rest of the world?- Well, personally, I like me use Cortana. Although it is known that it is not on a par with the other AI, I get used to the use that I have with this one; to me, it shows me the results I want, I have no problems with that. Although it would be a good option to have different AI in the browser.
So I forgot to mention but there is no word whatsoever about Cortana in the Edge classic, neither in Windows 10 insider fast ring nor in slow ring. it's all removed.
am i missing something?
not talking about stable versions, but slow and fast rings.
if that is true then it means the same Cortana features from Edge classic can't be just shipped to the new Edge, they must be reworked and be compatible with the new Cortana beta experience which is only in insider channels.
see there is only ask Bing and search Bing, nothing about Cortana. that side panel search also is so basic that it doesn't need Cortana API.
it's a simple panel like Collections panel. once Cortana is integrated, it should make the whole browsing experience smarter and more helpful, so people will know the difference between a browser with AI (Edge insider) and a browser without AI (Google Chrome).
AI = Artificial Intelligence = Cortana, Google Assistance, Alexa etc
- For the purpose of making Edge browser more smart with the help of AI and Cortana, add support for recognizing QR codes inside the web pages, let Cortana do it.
I feel like the title of this topic "Ask Cortana / Ask Bing - Discussion" is limiting the abilities of Cortana to be only for doing searches. it's super basic task.
I watched the Ignite 2019 and how AI is helping throughout the Microsoft 365 products (Excel, Teams, whiteboard etc), Edge browser is being left out..- Yeah I liked that in Classic Edge the Cortana icon activated on some websites and I could have some help or insights (basic things like the lyrics of a song I was listening, but also more advanced things)
- My first thought is that this was a feature I never knew about. So it might be useful to add notifications to users about features that may be of use to them that they haven't used.
My second thought was to add a similar notification for gestures but in this case after the first usage as well in case it was accidental.
My third thought having tried it is that it is a useful if marginal improvement over opening a new tab using it and closing it.TimIrons
Tim, you raise a good point, but, I want to take it beyond the context of Ask Cortanta/Bing. Many/most people use a small fraction of what's in their computer & what it can do. And many/most are, indeed actually, unaware of what's available. I have been in this for a long time and the info IS there IF one looks for or reads it... do you have to notifications or do you have to be curious. Try stuff, look around, poke at things (click). But, more than that, one can become easily educated & enlighten, but, some instinct has be the impetus to discovery & learning. For those who are prone to find find out what a browser or OS offers, besides trial on error: When browsers are introduced or new Builds of them there is an accompanying "What's New" which, actually, goes though new & already existing details. When OSs or new OS Builds are released, there's "What's New", again. And, how many End Users know about Tips? Tips in the OS talks about basically the whole OS regarding How, What, Where, Why, etc. and all in plain English. And, the 'Show & tell" and available info in the Settings windows is terrific & blossoming as time passes.
One of my company's mottoes is "Education Breeds Empowerment". And person can teach themselves a lot. Just has to occur to one to look (seek), read, it's there & often right at ones fingertips, even, right in ones OS & or browser.
Cheers,
Drew- It will help better if a software shows its capabilities to user first instead of letting user go treasure hunting on their own 🙂
I like the ability to highlight something and ask Cortana to have information without opening another tab.
Bing is fine, but since Edge and Bing are two different services, someone may like the opportunity to change Cortana's default search engine.
Anyway, for me it's quite a good feature in the way it is in Classic Edge.Maybe, it could be interesting adding to the popup you have by right-clicking anywhere in the screen an Ask Cortana feature that could let you have a quick search without opening another tab (like in Classic Edge but with the opportunity of choosing what to search, not just by highlighting a word).
Elliot Kirk Since Cortana is apparently productivity-focused now, it would be nice to have the ability to highlight some text then ask cortana to turn it into a to-do task, or turn it into a calendar event (especially if it includes a date/time).
The old Cortana was a share target for links (which attached them to a new task), but the new Cortana Beta on Windows Insider Fast Ring does not appear to be a share target for links, so providing a way to turn a webpage snippet or url into a task in Cortana could be valuable.
