Microsoft Windows 10 Insider Preview 14986 lets Cortana shutdown your PC or Surface Tablet and control volume

The latest Windows 10 Preview Build 14986 for fast ring Insiders comes with a laundry list of features, some of which will make Cortana users very happy.

So far, Cortana has improved at a pace that, while considerably fast, has always been capped not very far beyond the capabilities of a smartphone or a tablet.

Cortana’s focus has been on search, and native apps, like Mail, Calendar and Groove. Also, when it comes to using regular desktop apps, like Microsoft Office, of all things, Cortana is no help at all, beyond retrieving and opening files.

This will remain largely true, at least until Microsoft grants Cortana with desktop-level abilities, such as creating and managing virtual desktops, resize and reposition window elements, and navigate within apps, effectively making a Windows 10 PC, completely voice-activated. With that said, something is starting to change, as of this brand new build 14986, which is for now a fast ring Insiders exclusive.

Those enrolled in the fast ring, will finally be able to turn off, put to sleep, restart, or lock their PC, and raise/lower/mute the sound volume. This is big, because it gives way to possibilities that make desktop PCs more attractive to consumers, in a market where desktop PC sales continue to spiral down.

Products like Surface Studio, though formidably expensive, and justifiable so, need to offer a lot more than stunning resolution, a sleek design, and a massive touchscreen capable of putting the most expensive high-resolution professional graphic tablet to shame.

The truth is, not everyone is a creative professional, and the desktop market has shifted to catering to professionals first, while seemingly abandoning regular consumers who just want a PC that works for them. As laptops and tablets reign supreme in the heart of consumers, being able to control your PC without the need to sit right in front of it, to perform tasks that usually take several mouse clicks and keystrokes, could finally give a much needed break to the desktop PC, as the family hub that was always meant to be.

Imagine being able to dictate a school paper in Microsoft Word, while exercising on a treadmill, or having the ability to navigate from within web pages in a browser, by simply telling Cortana where to click. This might not be what we can do now, but it’s definitely a plausible scenario.

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