Here’s how to get Windows Phone 8.1 and Cortana

If you use Windows Phone 8 and want to get the new Windows Phone 8.1 hotness and give Cortana a spin before it rolls out officially—and you do, it’s really great—then don’t despair. Although the early access is a “developer preview,” you don’t actually have to write any code to get your hands on it. You just need a Microsoft Account and a Windows Phone 8 phone (obviously).

First head to App Studio and sign in with the same Microsoft Account that you use on your phone. This will make some magical change to your account.

Next, install the app “Preview for Developers.” It’s a regular app you can find in the store, or you can send it to your phone here. Then run the app. It’s straightforward. It’ll ask you to accept some terms and conditions, warning that you may void your warranty. If you don’t want to do that, then you’ll have to wait for the final release. Otherwise, sign in with your Microsoft Account—the same one that you used at App Studio and check one final box.

With that done, your phone is now enrolled in the developer preview program. The phone will be eligible for any developer preview updates that are available. Previously, Microsoft has made the point updates to Windows Phone 8.0 available the same way, so the 8.1 preview is unlikely to be the last update you ever get this way.

You can then wait for the phone to check for updates or force the issue by visiting Phone Updates in Settings. It’ll find some updates and after a few downloads and reboots (probably two: one to “prepare” for 8.1, and then 8.1 itself), it’ll install the 8.1 update. Depending on how much data you have on your phone, this could be quick or it could be slow.

If you want to use Cortana then there are a few extra steps you may have to take. Cortana is only available in the US at the moment. If your phone is using typical US settings (English operating system and keyboards, United States region for the country, and so on) then hitting the search button should take you through the Cortana setup process.

But if you don’t? You’ll have to Americanize your phone. First you’ll have to add “English (United States)” as a language from the Language settings. This change requires a reboot.

Then, set the phone’s region to United States. This too requires a reboot.

With that done, Cortana will be enabled and ready to set up. If you want to set your keyboard language and regional format settings (that is, time and date format, currency symbol, etc.) back to match your preferred language, that seems to be OK, but the operating system language, operating system location, and speech language must all remain as United States for Cortana to work.