Page 339 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

When you’ve tired of a particular Skill, click its name on the Manage Skills

panel; hit Disconnect.

Cortana’s Personality

Cortana’s understanding of casual spoken commands is so impressive that
you might sometimes think she’s almost human. And that, of course, is
exactly what Microsoft wants you to think. A team of Microsoft writers has

put a lot of effort into giving her perky responses to all kinds of off-kilter
things you might say to her.

For example, if you ask her, “What is the meaning of life?” she might say,

“We all shine on, my friend.” Or “I’ve heard from a reliable source that the
answer is 42. Still no word on what the question is.” (You’ll get that joke if
you’ve ever read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.)

Tip

Clearly, somebody over at Microsoft has been paying close attention to Siri; while the silly
responses are always different from Apple’s, the silly questions Cortana knows how to answer are
nearly identical. Often, though, Cortana’s replies are more fun, because they’re recordings of an
actual human—not a synthesized voice. So Cortana can tell jokes with interpretation, funny
accents, and so on.

Cortana is full of such comebacks (Figure 5-10)—she’s especially adept at

quotes from sci-fi movies.

There are whole websites dedicated to her snark, but here are a few hundred
of the best examples.