Microsoft showed the world yesterday its future with Windows 10 and part of the conversation included a new browser which the company is calling "Project Spartan"; that"s a codename for now and may not be the final name. While the details were light yesterday and not all of the features were shown off, the company has provided a bit more information today.
As we previously scooped, Microsoft confirmed that Spartan is a single browser that is designed to work on every Windows 10 device and also includes a new engine too. The company says that the browser will retain legacy support for the enterprise by using the IE11 engine for legacy sites when needed and will use the new engine for modern web sites.
Based on the post, the best way to think about Spartan and the new engine is that it is a browser built for the modern web that aims to do away with the legacy support. While it can render legacy sites when needed, it appears that you will lose out on the performance enhancements of the new engine when that scenario occurs.
Microsoft says that the new engine will be the default for Windows 10, which isn"t a major surprise. And for those of you who are curious about what the mobile interface will look like, the images above give us our best look yet including both dark and light themes.
But for those of you who are hoping to see the new browser, it will not arrive in the next public release of Windows 10 Technical Preview. While that will surely disappoint some, it"s important that, when Microsoft does release Spartan, first impressions are fantastic as this is a new adventure for a team that"s hoping to finally leave all the Internet Explorer baggage behind.