Cortana Coming To OS X Via Parallels 11 Running Windows 10

One of the big features for Windows 10 is the arrival of Cortana, Microsoft's voice-powered virtual assistant, to the desktop. Prior to Windows 10, Cortana was limited to Windows Phone devices, however, with the release of the new operating system, the Siri-like assistant will be coming to Mac's OS X. Parallels, the popular virtualization software that allows the use of Windows within the native OS X environment, will launching a new version specifically with support for Windows 10 and the ability to summon Cortana at any time.

A leaked but now-deleted page on Parallels' website detailed that with the upcoming version of its software, users can say the "Hey Cortana" voice command at any time, as long as Windows is running in the background. This is a big advancement over Parallels 10, which already promises support for Windows 10, but requires it to be the foreground application in order to use Cortana.

With the Windows 10 version of the virtual assistant, users can perform web searches and ask basic questions. It's not clear how much of this functionality will make it way to OS X via virtualization, but it should be able to be used with Mac applications in the foreground, and Parallels simply minimized.

The webpage also detailed that Parallels 11 will be compatible with OS X El Capitan, due for release sometime this fall. This means the latest operating systems from both Apple and Microsoft will be able to be used together on a single machine. There was no mention of a release date for the new software, but with Windows 10 launching tomorrow, it will probably be available in the very near future.

VIA MacRumors