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Ask Cortana / Ask Bing - Discussion

Microsoft

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

123 Replies

Hi @Elliot Kirk 

 

Here is what I expect to use with Cortana integration into the new Edge browser

 

  1. Highlight a word or sentence and then tell Cortana (either with mouse or voice) to translate it to a different language. and how she will know which language to translate it to? she will know it from my voice or give me a list of available languages so I can select one with mouse/touch.
  2. do a quick search about a subject and show me on the right sidebar.
  3. when we right-click on an image and select "search for similar images", Cortana should show the result in her sidebar instead of opening the result in a new tab.
  4. please do allow us to change the default search engine of Cortana. this is really helpful and the lack of it is a Huge dealbreaker. it's been asked many many times for Cortana on Windows. enabling it for Cortana on Edge is a great start. Please don't limit us to use Bing only.
  5. not sure if this is possible but integrate the Cortana beta which is currently in Windows 10 insider fast and slow ring to the new Edge insider so that both versions can actively listen to the user's voice commands.
Hi,
I'm curious to know how Cortana can be used on PDF files, I can't personally think of anything :)
I don't think the same Edge classic features should be shipped to the new Edge, they need certain adjustments, improvements and so on.
Edge classic's Cortana integration was very limited. the new Cortana 2 (Beta) didn't exist 5 years ago when Microsoft integrated Cortana into Edge classic, so the new Cortana must mean something, more abilities, more features and tighter integration.
something that puts Edge insider ahead of Google chrome.
Spoiler
@Drew1903 wrote:

Ask Cortana: Same as others are saying... often, without interrupting what you're doing/viewing, can view at the side what may well be enough info... without, actually, going to a search page per se... unless, turns out to necessary to dig further or deeper.  But, to take a quick look without leaving the page is great.

if all Cortana integration is gonna bring is to provide us just with a small window to see search results then they better drop it already because things like that are not new, they can be achieved with Google chrome extensions too, so no real advantage against Google chrome.

 

@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.

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).

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.
After musing some more, I think Ask Cortana actually could work in a side bar. Maybe it was just the layout and density of the sidebar's contents that threw me off in Edge Classic. One of the benefits of a sidebar over a more squared popup window is that the original page doesn't have to be obscured.

@Tim Irons 

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

@WolfIcefang 

Again, we can take this beyond this specific context of the thread title. Countless times we are saying things that are all pointing to not leaving the page in question! So much of Edge HTML we accessed what we want/need whilst STILL viewing the page and that is wonderful!  The Chromium full page approach is so wrong & unappealing... leaving what one was thinking about & looking at and being switched to a whole OTHER page is silly, senseless, not intuitive, distracting & counter-productive. 

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 :)
Chromium isn't the only engine that has full page approach, literally any browsers on the market has this behavior because none of them have Cortana integration.

@WolfIcefang 


@WolfIcefang wrote:
After musing some more, I think Ask Cortana actually could work in a side bar. Maybe it was just the layout and density of the sidebar's contents that threw me off in Edge Classic. One of the benefits of a sidebar over a more squared popup window is that the original page doesn't have to be obscured.

A sidebar sounds good but not a sidebar like collection's sidebar where it pushes the web contents to the left to make room for itself instead of overlaying the web contents.

when it pushes web contents to the left, it breaks the original view, can create problems, can force an already loaded heavy page to need to reload etc.

 

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.

 

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Annotation 2019-11-27 162508.png

 

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)
Well I can't find any sign of Cortana in classic Edge anymore, you can see it on my screenshots above
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.
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.