You can ask it to do a number of tasks either by typing or saying "Hey Cortana" and then speaking your command. When you click on the "Ask me anything" search box next to the Start button, Cortana will give you a list of weather, news and other events tailored to your interests. It can tell you about your computer and launch apps.
Cortana will take notes and reminders for you, tell you what song you're listening to, search the Web, give you information about your commute in the morning, and remind you of your calendar appointments.
It's also got some neat tricks up its sleeve that will make you think twice about Googling everything. Start typing "56 feet," and you'll instantly see that converted to meters (17.1 m). Start typing 5+6, and you'll get see "11" displayed. Type "how tall is Barack Obama," and Cortana will tell you he's 6 feet 1 inch. Type "define astounding," and you'll see "surprisingly impressive or notable."
