Microsoft locks-in Cortana search on Windows 10 to Bing and Edge

Has Satya Nadella forgotten the 1990s Microsoft anti-trust case?

Microsoft is courting controversy, once again, by revealing that its Cortana virtual assistant will be locked in solely to the company's own Bing search engine and Edge browser.

The company had already tied Cortana as standard to the Edge browser and the company's search engine, but with limited options to change to Chrome and Google. However, Microsoft now plans to remove those options, tying in Windows 10 users of Cortana solely to Microsoft's own software and online services.

Microsoft made a statement about the move on the Windows Experience blog, and also sent a copy to Computing's sister site The Inquirer last night in a bid to head off the inevitable bad press over the decision.

"Cortana was designed to work with Microsoft Edge and is powered by Bing. This integration is what enables Windows 10 to anticipate your needs, help you complete tasks, and even help you save time and money. Examples of this are Coupons in Edge and location search scenarios in the Cortana box," the company claimed.

It continued: "Unfortunately, as Windows 10 has grown in adoption and use, we are seeing some software programs circumvent the intended design of Windows 10 and redirect in ways that were never intended. Cortana was built and designed to use Bing and this was not designed to be something that could be swapped in or out.

"To protect this end-to-end customer experience we are making a change that you will begin to see today. This change is consistent with how others in this space operate. Siri is an end-to-end experience as well and does not allow changes in the search provider. This is also the same experience in Apple's Spotlight, Google Now and Amazon's Echo with Alexa."

Our take:

Note that Microsoft has specifically pointed out the other players in the field that already operate a similar policy on their own assistant. It's as if the company knew this was going to go down like a lead balloon and felt the need to get its defence in early. The fact that Microsoft proactively sent us, and, presumably, other media outlets, a summary will just fuel the fire.

Traditionally, this would be the point where we'd have some big rant about Microsoft keeping a stranglehold on the market. But this time, the fact is it's true: everyone else is doing it, so why can't Microsoft?

The short answer is, because it's Microsoft. The company continues to dominate the desktop market, and regulators and private citizens with too much time on their hands will see this decision as another example of anti-competitive behaviour. Which, of course, it is.

Speculation that the European Commission will enthusiastically dive in, especially as it's impossible to switch Cortana off completely (although you can make her less obtrusive), is already mounting.

After all, it was the EU that forced Microsoft to break its dominance of the browser market through the so-called 'browser ballot'. If Microsoft forces people to use Bing and Edge, aren't we back at square one?

However, it's perfectly natural and understandable that Microsoft would do this. As the company points out, Siri, Google Now and the rest are all also closed, end-to-end systems. The problem is that they're all as bad as each other and Microsoft is simply deploying the old "everyone else is doing it" excuse.

The problem is that there are very few companies with the resources to develop a comprehensive virtual assistant - which is exactly why they are all doing it.