Back in September, just before the first
Windows 10 Technical Preview, there were some rumblings that the
future version of Internet Explorer (i.e. IE12) might support extensions, and
that it would have a reworked interface. Now, ZDNet and Neowin are reporting — from fairly reliable
sources — that there may actually be two different browsers that ship with
Windows 10: Internet Explorer 12, and this new Spartan browser. Neither of
these browsers (if they exist) have yet made an appearance in the public
Technical Preview, but presumably they would have to emerge quite soon if
they want to debut with the final build of Windows 10.
According to the various reports, Spartan (which is just a
codename right now) is a new web browser, but it uses the same Trident
rendering engine and Chakra JavaScript engine as Internet Explorer. The rest of
the browser would be different, though: It would have a different UI —
something like Firefox or Chrome, with the tabs on top — and allow for
extensions. Extensions (add-ons in Firefox parlance) could be very
interesting, though we should wait and see what Microsoft’s implementation is
before we get too excited. Microsoft would have to create a completely new
front-end to allow for powerful, Firefox-like extensions — whic According to
Neowin, Spartan “looks a lot like Chrome but with Microsoft’s flat lipstick
applied.” To be honest, Internet Explorer 11 is already quite flat, so
presumably the big change is dropping the address bar below the tabs.
(Amusingly enough, Microsoft originally moved the address bar in-line with the
tabs to reduce the amount of vertical pixels wasted by the browser UI — so
it would be a bit of a regression to have tabs on their own row, starting in
the top left corner of the window.)h would take a lot of work.
Personally, I’m not entirely sure
how Microsoft would go about accomplishing a lightweight (read: spartan)
version of Internet Explorer.
IE11 is already fast and lightweight. It has a few user experience and
interface oddities that need to be cleaned up, but that could be done
without a whole new browser. Another possibility is that Microsoft is actually
working on more of a general rebranding — as in, a hip new interface and name
that puts some distance it and ye olde Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer
hasn’t really been “IE” since IE9, when Microsoft started to embrace HTML5 and
the open web — but I’m sure many people still avoid IE because of the
stigma attached to its name, thanks to the scourge upon humanity that is IE6.
As for what Microsoft’s new web browser might be called, we
could find out at the next Windows 10 unveil event on January 21. My money is
on something confusing, like “Modern Browser” or maybe “Explorer One.”
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