Microsoft is already hard at work on the next major update to its latest desktop, tablet and smartphone operating system, Windows 10.
Dubbed Redstone, the upcoming Windows 10 update is expected to introduce a slew of clever new features and tweaks to the operating system.
According to The Verge, Microsoft is experimenting with a number of upgrades to Cortana, including allowing the voice assistant to float around the operating system.
Microsoft could allow Cortana to follow users as they navigate around the operating system, surfacing useful information based on what users are viewing on-screen.
The nifty context-aware functionality sounds closer to Now On Tap in Android Marshmallow than the infamously annoying Clippy character bundled with Windows 97 to 2003.
Microsoft is also believed to be planning a number of updates to the Notification Centre, also known as Action Centre.
Future versions of this pane are expected to include widgets, offering quick snapshots of data, synced across your Windows 10 devices.
Uber recently updated its Windows 10 app to allow users to book a taxi from the Cortana window. It's possible the Notification Centre widget could boast a similar functionality.
Microsoft is also believed to be looking into a deeper integration between its hugely popular Office 365 services and the Windows 10 operating system.
The US technology firm is expected to focus on Task Continuation – a feature that allows users to resume and seamlessly transition between devices and operating systems.
Task Continuation allows users to start a task on one device and then finish it on another.
Microsoft introduced the ability to sync Cortana's Notebook, which includes your interests, weather preferences and more, from your PC to iOS or Android with the Cortana app this week.
The Cortana app on Android also allows PC owners to send and receive text messages from their desktop OS. Call notifications will also appear within Windows 10.
Microsoft had previously limited this functionality to customers running Windows 10 on their computer and smartphone.
Task Continuation is expected to get another bump in functionality in Redstone.
The major update is still in the early stages, so some of these details will change and evolve through the next few months.
Still, these early details offer an intriguing insight into the priorities within Microsoft, as well as how the US firm sees its Windows 10 operating system evolving over the next calendar year.
