Today is the last day you can use Cortana on iOS and Android

Hindsight is 20/20 and we now know that Cortana didn't go anywhere. Microsoft had to know they weren't planning on putting much effort into the platform, but I guess they still wanted to try? It never had any chance given the lack of effort. We now know that for sure. How am I wrong? That little bit of effort could have been put into something with a future.

Microsoft has LOADS of common sense. They kill products that are losing money and have no future. They concentrate on products that HAVE a future. Thus, Windows phones/Cortana/Band/Groove Music are gone. Azure/Linux/Android are here. More Government contracts are here. Their stock price is at an all-time high. THAT is common sense AND good management. Microsoft's survival is WAY more important than the survival of money-losing products that too few people cared about.

Yet Skype continues to run parallel to Teams while they discussing an 11-figure deal for Discord.

That is an excellent point Keith.

@naddy6969 why has Microsoft spent 9 billion dollars on Skype and systemic dismantling of Windows Live Messenger which was far superior in everyway except video calling. Heck, WLM was the backend for rooms? Also Groupme, which has languished on Microsoft's part yet has accrued a natural userbase. Yet Skype has gone through many iterations. What about continuum? Which is perfect for the current pandemic environment. Again due to the current pandemic Chromebooks have seriously eaten into Windows Laptops primarily due to availability. Now if Windows phone and continuum were around it would have been boosted not only sales of devices but office / Microsoft 365 packages and continuum associated devices. At the same time boosting monetization opportunities for developers and growing UWA. The latter is what would have enabled the Duo and Neo devices stand out - growing the Surface divisions profits. Bean counting never works long term. Microsoft has become risk averse. Some risks need to be taken to grow profits and diversify the portfolio. Xbox for instance would have been killed off under the current Microsoft if the rrod saga occurred. Same with Surface. Both are now billion dollar assets.

Could would should... Microsoft made all the right choices. Their shares are at an all time high. Windows 10 is getting some design love soon, PC shipments are up a lot since the pandemic, gaming is going very strong on Xbox and PC thanks to gamepass and soond xCloud gaming, Microsoft Teams is booming and iterating features at breakneck pace, ... It is about time the few people left like you gave up on this phone / music service / assistant / UWP dream. The market has spoken and other products have won in that category. You can't win in every product category, even the other big tech companies have failed products sometimes. If you keep on throwing money towards a race you can never win, you are a bad manager and the shareholders will boot you after a year.

Great points and well stated. The people who continually whine about "imagine how great things could have been if only MS concentrated on phones" are TOTALLY missing the point. Microsoft DID make the right choices. Microsoft is thriving. Microsoft is NOT a consumer products company. They never have been.

"Bean counting never works long term" LOL, right. Bean counting is the ONLY thing that works long term. If you consistently make money THIS quarter, the long term takes care of itself. Profits HAVE been growing and the portfolio IS diversified. There is a reason you are not running Microsoft. The person who IS running Microsoft is presiding over the greatest stock prices in 25 years. That is all that matters.

Yeah but if you came to Windows Central to get an update on Microsoft stock, then I'd argue you're in the wrong site. Maybe try the NYSE. Nobody here cares about Microsoft’s bottom line. Folks buy products because they find them useful, not because it makes Gates wealthy

Microsoft kills products that are poorly executed; poorly marketed, and that they just don't put any effort into. THAT, to me, doesn't sound like common sense & good management.

I'll never forgive them from killing Cortana.

Goodbye old friend, well at least you're still available and supported on Windows 10... Though its still half baked... Guess I'll switch to Alexa on my phone.

Stupid Microsoft!!! Is there a way to put Alexa on the invoke?

Just buy an Alexa speaker and you can pair them through Bluetooth if you really want.

I don't think that would work. You can't even pair one Invoke with another Invoke. It has no concept of stereo. Which is why I use mine for podcasts and other non-music stuff. I am not interested in music in mono. 1960 was a LONG time ago. Dunno how you would pair 2 speakers from different companies.

Bluetooth. I know my Google Home Mini will pair with it via Bluetooth, and music will be played through the Invoke through voice commands. I was doing it with a Bose speaker for a while.

Another sad consumer play Microsoft were all excited about (so was I in...2014) and they completely messed up. We never even saw it in my country, not that many people did. And to think, apparently they're thinking of having another play for consumers again. Yeah no thanks Redmond.

If Nadella hadn't done absolutely nothing to make Windows 10 Mobile successful, Cortana might be living on and Microsoft wouldn't have been so far behind in other consumer markets and shifting Windows 10X to single-screen, budget laptops because they were starting from scratch in mobile/ARM OS development again.

"...and Microsoft wouldn't have been so far behind in other consumer markets.." Once again: Microsoft does not care about consumers. That is not their strength. They know it. They are concentrating on their strengths. Which is what any well-run company should be doing.

There is nothing Nadella could have done to make W10M successful without a major change in software and a strategy to match. The total lack of effort by the previous administration put them too far behind to ever catch up without something new and ground breaking. They don't have that.

We are all missing Cortana on the Invoke too, we had four of them, what a shame But we too got paid for them. We have moved on and are now using an Alexa devices. It is a shame to see what Cortana could have been if Microsoft had supported it.

Still working here in the UK as of today April 3rd. I've even just set a reminder with it. I've not seen any messages to say it's no longer wotking.

I miss my Invoke bad...for me, Cortana was "more pleasant" than the alternatives. Can't explain it better than that, sorry. Anyway, the reboot as an Office tool is not entirely bad, but even office workers like to listen to music. I have a feeling they may realize this and return that functionality. Too late for the Invoke, which I used primarily for music listening and weather.

Seriously, this type of news is really impopular.
But Cortana exist again in 365.
In States (Usa) you can use Cortana in Teams, then it.s not totally ending.
Alexa, Siri, conversationnal agent for nothing ?
it's distraction, not real utility, but you have beautiful material object.