Perhaps, you think that Windows Cortana can be too annoying so you want to switch to a new digital assistant. Or maybe you have been using Amazon Alexa and find it much friendlier than others. What if you could install it own any of your Windows Machines?

Yes, it is certainly possible, although with some caveats. First of all Amazon Alexa is an exclusive app limited to Windows machines from HP, Lenovo or Acer, but this isn’t going to stop you from installing Amazon Alexa on any machine. Other than this, there are some things which won’t work (more on that later), but at least you can get to see Amazon Alexa up and running on your very own Windows Machine. Here is how you can install Alexa on a Windows 10 PC:

Installing Amazon Alexa

• 1.       First of all, you need to download the setup file which you can do that from the dropbox link here. Alternatively, you can also download the file by Googling the following term “Alexa_App_for_PC_Installer_1_2_9”. The file size is supposed to be around 134 MB for this version.
• 2.       Once the file has downloaded, open the location, and double click on it to run through the setup wizard.

• 3.       Follow the prompts given by the setup, and Alexa would soon be installed on your system.
• 4.       Now click on the Alexa icon in the Start Menu to launch the newly installed App.
• 5.       You would need to log in using your Amazon account if you already have one. Else, you will have to create a new one.
• 6.       If you are outside the United States, you might need to change your system language.
• 7.       In case you want the application to auto-start (which you should if you want to use it as a personal assistant), then you need to enable ‘Launch app on sign into this computer’ which you can find under Alexa settings.

Also, if your computer doesn’t currently have the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 installed, then don’t worry, the installer would install that automatically. By the time of this writing, it is also possible that newer versions of Alexa rollout, so do check out for those too.

If you want Alexa to appear in the taskbar all the time, like the Windows Cortana does, then you need to do that manually. For this head over to Windows Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Select which icons appear on the taskbar and then toggle Alexa to On.

As of now, it is unclear if the application is supposed to Automatically update itself. Therefore, for later versions, you might need to find newer setup files.

The Caveats

There is a huge question mark on whether the feature for Wake word would work. This is a feature which allows you to wake up Alexa via your voice as the name suggests. It is only supposed to work your PC officially supports Alexa, which isn’t the case usually. Also, you must have custom firmware for Alexa too for this feature to work. Therefore, rather disappointingly, you have to rely on the blue Alexa button to turn it on by yourself, which can be arduous for some.

Other than this, most of the stuff works perfectly as Amazon intended. You can easily use Amazon Alexa for shopping on Amazon.com or using Amazon’s third party-apps known as Amazon skills. It can also be beneficial in the case you want to play Amazon music. Other than this, there isn’t anything which Cortana can’t do.