Well......Cortana on my W10 is disabled. I don't plan on using it and that's it. End of story. I use Chrome, not Edge (a wannabe browser IMO) and Google as my search engine and Bing can go bing itself.

 Monopoly.... and not a good one.

Didn't MS lose a battle with other software suppliers back when IE was made the default browser. I assume that up until now other browsers worked with cortana so it might seem apparent that this will be headed to the courts as well. 

Not so sure about that...it was the EU and IE was integrated as the default browser with MS claiming it was part of the OS, if memeory serves.

This time it's Cortana working with Edge and Bing, and not other browsers/search engines...of course, if one chooses not to use Cortana from privacy concerns, then one can use any browser and search engine one chooses.

So, in this case, it really is part of the OS which determines the browser and search engine. A good deal more complex a question than the prior case.

For mine, Microsoft can stick Edge, Bing AND Cortana where the sun don't shine... and I imagine they have a HUGE one, given the crap coming out of Redmond as of Win 10.  In fact, I uninstalled all the 'apps' in Win 10 that I could manually, then the stubborn ones were removed by a 3rd party program.  I want nothing to do with any of it. 

MS has more than overstepped the bounds of what's right and wrong and has become an insidious company that'll go down faster than the Titanic when its wiser customers and partners wake up to and tire of the unsavoury behaviour coming out of Redmond.

On another note, but still related to MS' abominable behaviour, I downloaded an 'upgrade advisor' app to my Win 8.1 phone to see if it is eligible for the Win 10 upgrade, so that if it was I could investigate measuresto prevent it if and when the time came.  Fortunately, my phone is NOT a future victim of it, but since damn well downloading the 'upgrade advisor" I've gotten numerous ads for new Microsoft phones... mostly with Win 10 pre-installed, but also a range of newer Win 8 phones that 'later' would qualify for the upgrade.  Now why would on Earth I want one of those?  If I wanted Win 10 on a phone I'd buy one with it on already.

Exact same settings here as well.

Thinking your W8.1 phone ratted you out to MS. 

Same here, Cortana is disabled as it is a useless function, and I use Chrome also.

I don't use Cortana or Edge, so no issue really.

No issue... for now.  Tells you pretty much where MS is going, though.

Honestly, I think MS is becoming truly overbearing.

While it's true that there's no such thing as "Free Lunch", the disguising of the limiting of the OS's feature (Cortana) to MS products only supposedly "for more reliable results" is so flimsy and crass that MS should be slapped down the internet and in Court for this monopolistic nonsense...as long as Apple, Google, and all other OSs are judged by the same criteria.

Go git 'em Doc! 

It was such a refreshingly optimistic moment when Ballmer went away, but the optimism was short-lived & misplaced.

Apparently Satya is Hindi for "Suck this!"

Why are you being so polite?  MS is becoming.... NO, IS a fechen ratbag organisation doing shitty things to people in a bit to become worse than Apple.  Well let me tell you, Microsoft, you are much, much worse than Apple and have become the arrogant bully boy that both Hitler and Stalin would be proud of.

Hehe, when it comes to the MS of today, I don't have a polite bone in my body....and it's not like they didn't earn my wrath and contempt.

That pretty much sums it up.  He's thumbing his nose at us and laughing at the fact he pretty much has a captive market to exert his will over.  Put it this way, if I were fortunate enough to find Satya Nadella and a banker drowning in a canal, I'd throw the banker a lifebelt and Nadella an anchor.

Frankly, I'm surprised that Bill Gates hasn't stepped in to halt these shonky practices.... cos if he were dead he'd be turning over in his grave in total disgust at what has been done to his company.

AFAIK after that MS incorporated an option to "uninstall" IE via Software but all it did was to delete some link (on Desktop & Quickstart etc) as MS claimed IE is an integral part of Win... which is ofc a frustrating situation as the presence of any browser just adds another potential security hole, which really shouldn't be there if one doesn't even plan to use that browser at all!

Here on Win7 some applications even require a working WinMediaPlayer so they can work -.-

MS tactic is to manipulate users into using their own subpar programs when most freeware is much better (just think .mp3 or .flac vs. wma.... with MS deliberately misinforming about it so they can claim more licence fees) when in fact an OS job is nothing but to keep your hardware running. For additional software functions that's wjen you install additional appz spcifically designed for their job, not MS half-worked out junk