Bots, Windows, and Xbox Star at Microsoft’s Big Developer Conference

Tay was only the beginning.

Microsoft on Wednesday laid out its vision for the future of computing, and that vision includes people like you and me "talking" to bits of computer code—bots, if you will—to accomplish everyday tasks like setting calendar reminders and booking hotel rooms.

Speaking at Build 2016, the company's big developer conference of the year (think Apple WWDC or Google I/O), Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella conceded that discussion surrounding technology is no longer confined to enthusiasts and people involved in the industry.

"There's a much more mainstream dialogue about the role of technology in our society," he said, perhaps alluding to any number of recent topics, like the FBI's now-halted attempt to force Apple to create a software tool that would let the law enforcement agency break into Syed Farooq's iPhone, or Microsoft's own chatbot's disastrous (albeit highly successful!) Twitter debut just a few days ago.

But besides acknowledging technology's outsized influence in so many people's lives, what else did Microsoft discuss at Build? Here's a quick recap.

Windows

Now installed on more than 270 million PCs, Windows 10 is the central platform around which Microsoft revolves, giving developers the ability to create apps that run a variety of different devices, from everyday computers to Xbox game consoles to augmented reality headsets, with minimal changes to their underlying code.

Something people like you and me can look forward to in the coming months is a major, free update called the Anniversary Update. (Free updates like this are increasingly the norm: Windows 10 was free for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users, while Apple has been giving away major updates to OS X since 2013.) The update will extend Windows Hello to individual apps. Hello is the Windows 10 feature that logs me into my home-built PC using a webcam and facial recognition Theoretically that means I won't need to remember my Twitter password whenever I want to log into its Windows app.

Xbox

Your Xbox One is now a fully fledged development kit. Microsoft is releasing a free beta version of a piece of software today that makes it so any retail Xbox One, the kind you'd pick up from BestBuy or Amazon, can run still-in-development games. Microsoft's goal here is to turn everyone who owns an Xbox One—which may be about 20 million units, if you believe Electronic Arts—into a potential Xbox developer.

Microsoft also said that Cortana, its digital assistant that's similar to Siri or Google Now, will soon become available for the Xbox One—potentially turning the gaming console into an Amazon Echo-like hub for our vast, Internet of Things future.

HoloLens

The development kit for HoloLens, Microsoft's augmented reality headset that projects holograms into the real world (here's what a HoloLens version of Minecraftlooks like to get a better understanding of the underlying technology), begins shipping today for $3,000. Microsoft was keen to stress that HoloLens isn't merely a side project for the company, but a potentially major computing platform that can improve people's lives, describing a number of early apps from organizations like Japan Airlines, Saab, and Case Western. The Cleveland-based university demonstrated had the best HoloLens demo of the day, showing an app that helps medical students better study the human body:

Thoigh this is interesting. Dean of Medicine at Case Western Univ showing Hololens use for students #Build2016 pic.twitter.com/qD6UEeTfL1
— Adrian Weckler (@adrianweckler) March 30, 2016

Bots

Microsoft wrapped up Build with a love letter to bots, those small apps that carry out simple tasks inside of apps like Slack and, as of later today, Skype. If Microsoft has its way, bots will rule everything around you: You'll be ordering pizza using a Domino's bot inside Slack or Skype, or having a Skype bot ping one of your friends to alert them that you'll soon be visiting their home city. Microsoft even has an entire bot framework—a collection of software tools—to help people develop bots of their own. (I'd like a bot to regularly order dog food for me.)

The overall goal of these bots is eliminate some of the hassle that comes with dealing with life's more mundane chores—who actually like maintaining their calendar?—so you can spend more time doing more meaningful work, or otherwise enjoying your time on this planet.