I'd like to be able to use Cortana to set timers without it taking up the screen so I have to use the X in the top right corner to continue to use my PC. Having to use my mouse to get Cortana out of the way undermines having been able to use my voice to set the timer.
I thought you might find this amusing...
Canwill Cortana Close Applications - Microsoft Community
...in a warped twisted frustrated kind of way....!!
However... for some programs
"Open exit <program name>" is supposed to work.... or maybe not.
May be an old comment but, still relevant. When I got the full screen treatment a moment ago.. told Cortana to get off my screen so, of course, she Bing'd it. *rolls eyes
Ultimately I had to disable Cortana because I could no longer put up with being randomly interrupted to say stupid crap like "Sorry; I didn't hear anything". I mean ****** really; you didn't hear anything? Then why the **** am I being interrupted? Presumably if you want a decent digital PA, you need to pay for Amazon Echo. I wonder whether MS get money from Amazon to keep Cortana acting like it has learning difficulties.
I may do that soon.. just get rid of her.. I do have at least using my browser of choice instead of /shivers/ that new one of theirs.. what's it called.. Edge. I'm an old-time purist and like my Netscape suite, though it's now called SeaMonkey. I may have to move ol Alexa in here and replace her with a dot out there.. been thinking along those lines already. ;-)
If you want a better start menu and configurable search (no microphone) try Classic Shell start menu (free). Drag and drop, readily configurable, more than the best of XP & Win 7 start menu features. And it correctly expresses deeply nested menus where Win 10's can't.
Thanks for the info Dalchina. Right now I'm using Start10 ..as soon as I got this system with 10 on it, I knew I had to have a proper start menu again and it worked with windowblinds perfectly. Those are from Stardock.com's software offerings.
Is the Classic Shell - Start Menu from a site called ClassicShell.net? I just found their site after reading your reply and it looks interesting.
Thanks for both the info on disabling Cortana and a free solution to a decent Start Menu.!
Quite a few here use it. It means you are free from not being able to configure the LHS of the Win 10 start menu readily, and can choose how search works. (The search for files in C Sh if you want to use it uses Windows search).
You can configure it to expand across the screen, or like Win 7's.
Note how search is configurable ..
oh, and you can change the start button too.
And did I mention you can launch universal apps from it?
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