Cortana: The sassiest virtual assistant?

Cortana, Microsoft's digital personal  assistant, is now available in Australia across Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile. While she's not the first virtual assistant to launch in Australia, she's easily one of the smartest – and the sassiest.

Microsoft's spent a great deal of effort localising Cortana for an Australian release and as a result, she's oozing with personality. In addition to her trademark geeky quips, she's got a bit of larrikin humour under her belt – and more than a few pop culture references. Here are some of our favourite Cortana moments.

This story was sponsored by Microsoft Australia.

Tell me a joke 
An optimist sees a glass half full. A pessimist sees it half empty. An engineer sees it twice as large as it needs to be.

What do you call a cow with no legs? Ground beef.

An infectious disease walks into a bar. Barman says, "we don't serve your type here". "Infectious disease replies, "well, you are not a very good host.

What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta.

Am I beautiful? 
You’re certainly not Visual Basic.

Who's your daddy? 
Technically speaking, that would be Bill Gates. No big deal.

How's Master Chief? 
How is he? You try getting that guy to open up about his feelings.

What is the meaning of life? 
I've heard from a reliable source that the answer is 42. But still no word on what the question is.

What does Cortana mean? 
I am named after Cortana, the AI from Halo. Or since she's 500 years in the future, she may have named herself after me.

Of course, there’s more to Cortana then sass and jokes; she’s an incredible useful digital assistant thanks to features such as natural language search and cross-platform reminders!