Just as media outlets had been reporting for a while, Microsoft is letting go of their Explorer brand after years and years of struggle against other navigators. This is the end of an era, and it’s rather sad to see it go the way of Netscape, but we’ll see what the company brings forth instead.
Microsoft is replacing Microsoft Explorer for a completely new browser from Windows 10 onwards, a browser that is, as of now, codenamed “Spartan”. Microsoft has passed on the option of renewing their browser again in order to compete with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, the dominant browsers in Windows interfaces as of now.
This is what Microsoft’s marketing chief Chris Capossela had to say at a conference yesterday
We’re now researching what the new brand, or the new name, for our browser should be in Windows 10. We’ll continue to have Internet Explorer, but we’ll also have a new browser called Project Spartan, which is codenamed Project Spartan. We have to name the thing.
Windows 10 still features Internet Explorer (at least on its preview version) in order to ensure compatibility with older websites and online tools, but it’s unclear if it will remain there in the future. By the way, the code name “Spartan” is not definitive, but it plays straight into the Halo lore, where each one of the soldiers in the game is called a Spartan, which added to the fact that Microsoft’s voice assistant is called Cortana, it creates a beautiful synergy.
Are you ready to let go of Internet Explorer? Most people have already, years ago.
Via The Tech Portal
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In the Redmond giant’s next version of Windows, Internet Explorer’s place might be taken by a lightweight browser, suggesting that Microsoft is ready to let go to its 19-year old piece of software.
Microsoft said over and over again that Windows 10 will be built from scratch, unlike 8 and 8.1, which were some sort of incremental updates to 7. To emphasize the fact that it’s starting over, the corporation dumped the 9 and jumped straight to 10. Now, reports claim that Microsoft will make even more drastic changes and will get rid of IE in favor of a new browser, codenamed Spartan. I hope they chose this name because it inspires strength, not because of the behavior it could determine users to have.
Not long ago, there was a joke about IE only being useful for downloading Firefox or Chrome. Microsoft has tried and tried to make Internet Explorer a modern browser, but it obviously couldn’t keep up with the times. Instead of bringing user another insignificant update, the company has decided to create a whole new browser, in an attempt to boost productivity.
“Productivity is the only thing that matters for the individual, the organisation or the entire economy,” said Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, in an interview with the Telegraph. “The core driver of the use of technology is to create fulfillment in individual lives and drive economic gain for entire companies and entire economies.”
Microsoft won’t dismiss IE 11 entirely, as the Spartan Browser will be shipped alongside it. However, considering how much the world is looking for a change, it’s pretty clear who people will favor, in case they don’t go straight for Firefox or Chrome. A lightweight browser that doesn’t have much of an impact on CPU and RAM could be the best way to increase Microsoft’s share in the browser market.
The general consensus is that Microsoft will showcase the Spartan Browser as soon as January, when a Windows 10 keynote is scheduled. Hopefully, Spartan will also be more secure than its fellow browser, which has often been avoided precisely because of that.
I, for one, am not that impressed neither with Chrome, nor with Firefox, and am indeed one of those guys who use IE only to download its replacement. In this case, I’m talking about (an older version of) Opera, one of the most innovative Web browsers out there (but a terrible RAM hog, unfortunately), whose Presto engine has been abandoned in newer versions in the favor of WebKit, which is also used in Chrome.
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This is an awesome prank. What you see here is the Windows desktop that Redditor Croft1342 was greeted with after having a friend repair his computer. Jigsaw from the Saw movies is such a jerk. Only one of those Chrome icons is actually Chrome.
Of course all you have to do is put a new icon on the desktop, but sometimes it is the simple answers that elude you.
[via Geekologie]
