"Spartan" is the codename of a web browser under development by Microsoft. Officially unveiled on January
21, 2015, and first publicly released as a preview on March
30, 2015, it will replace Internet Explorer as the default browser of
Windows 10 and Windows 10 for smartphones
and
tablets.
"Spartan" is designed to be a lightweight web browser with
an engine built around web standards that is
"designed for
interoperability with the modern web". It removes support
for
legacy technologies such as ActiveX in favor of extensions and integration with other Microsoft services,
such as the Cortana assistant and OneDrive, and will also offer annotation tools and a reading mode.
Development
In
December 2014,
writing for ZDNet, technology writer
Mary Jo Foley reported that Microsoft was
developing
a new web browser codenamed "Spartan" for Windows
10. She claimed that "Spartan" would be treated as a
new
product separate from Internet Explorer, with Internet Explorer 11 retained alongside it for compatibility reasons.
"Spartan"
from
sources close to Microsoft,
including reports
that
it would replace Internet Explorer on both the desktop and mobile versions
of Windows 10. Microsoft officially unveiled "Spartan" during a Windows 10-focused keynote on January 21,2015.
"Spartan" will be marketed as a separate product from Internet Explorer,
and carry a new brand;
"Spartan" was first made publicly available as the default browser of Windows 10 Technical Preview build
10049, as released on March 30, 2015. The new engine used by "Spartan"
was
previously available in Windows 10 builds as part of Internet Explorer 11,
and was also to be used by the browser on the final version of
10.
Features
v "Spartan" will serve as
the default browser on both the PC
and
mobile device editions of Windows 10,
"Spartan"
uses a new "Edge"
layout engine that is
"designed for interoperability with the modern web".
The
new "Edge" engine will be used by default across Windows
10, and pages can be rendered in the legacy MSHTML engine for backwards compatibility with enterprise-specific websites and software.
v "Spartan" does not support legacy technologies such as ActiveX and Browser Helper Objects,
and will instead
use
an extension system. Internet Explorer 11 will remain available alongside "Spartan"
on Windows 10
for
compatibility purposes;
v "Spartan" will integrate with Microsoft's
online platforms: it integrates with the Cortana digital assistant to provide voice control, search functionality, and dynamic, personalized information related to searches within the
address bar. Users can make annotations to web pages that can be stored to and shared with OneDrive. It
also integrates with the "Reading List" function to sync content between devices, and provides a "Reading Mode" that strips unnecessary formatting from pages to improve their legibility.
Performance
Early benchmarks of the Edge HTML
engine used by "Spartan" demonstrated drastically improved JavaScript performance in Internet Explorer 11,
and
that Microsoft's new browser has similar performance to Google Chrome 41 and Mozilla Firefox 37.
