Microsoft working on a new voice assistant for its Windows 10x

Microsoft is reportedly developing a new voice assistant for its much-hyped Windows 10X, a new iteration of Windows OS meant for newer form factors such as dual-screen devices.

Speculations about a new voice assistant were fuelled after a new job opening was spotted on LinkedIn. According to the job listing, Microsoft is looking for a developer in India to build a "superior voice control experience."

"Since this is a new application, the number of coding challenges is high: taking advantage of conceptual services for voice command and control, identifying interesting components in the context of the application, interacting with the entire desktop, interacting with 10X OS in new ways within the scope of security and integrity," the post description says.

The new job posting also marks another nail in the coffin of Cortana, Microsoft's home-grown voice assistant that competes with the likes of Google Assistant, Amazon's Alexa, and Apple's Siri. Even as Microsoft has improved Cortana a lot since its debut in 2014, the virtual assistant has seen its application getting skewed to limited places.

Just in November last year, Microsoft pulled the plug on the Cortana application for iOS and Android platforms. The company is now looking to push Cortana to enterprise users with efforts such as integrating it with Microsoft 365 applications.

As far as Windows 10x goes, Microsoft is gearing up for the future of dual-screen laptops and PCs with a new iteration of its operating system. Described as an "expression of Windows 10", Windows 10x is said to be much faster and smoother than the main software. You can read our complete guide on Windows 10x here.