Microsoft Spartan: A few questions answered

Yesterday, Neowin showed the world the first images of the new browser that Microsoft is building for Windows 10. After I posted that information, I received a boatload of questions on Twitter about the browser and will attempt to answer the ones I have reliable information to pass along.

The most frequent question asked is if you can run Spartan and classic IE at the same time. As of right now, that answer is yes. Both browsers can be run at the same time and aligns to what Mary Jo Foley was saying, we will see both browsers at launch.

For those thinking that this means we will see three browsers in Windows 10, that does not appear to be the case. Spartan is said to replace Modern IE and since modern apps can be run on the desktop in a Window just like any other apps, this means that you will have two options for desktop browsers in Windows 10.

This has big implications as well, as this means Spartan is the browser that we will see on Windows 10 mobile. And Yes, the current builds of Windows Phone do call it Windows 10 mobile. While I do have other information about the changes coming to this OS too, I am waiting for things to firm up before I pass it along.

Not long after I posted up the shots of Spartan yesterday, this thread popped up on Reddit which resulted in quite a few asking if that image is real. I believe that image is fake, for a couple of reasons. That same user posted up another "leaked" Spartan shot that was fake and then suddenly posted up a correct image after the real bits leaked.

The Reddit image is also missing a few things that are not shown in the images that I posted that were hidden intentionally. Also, the user is not showing the taskbar too, Spartan has a unique icon which they would have posted to further their claims but without seeing it, this leads me to believe that this is a mockup rather than a real image.

There were also a couple questions about browser extensions. Previously, I had heard that Microsoft wants this browsers to support extensions like Chrome and Firefox. I believe that is still the case but I have not seen any evidence personally to show that this feature is working, yet.

For those asking about performance data from the browser, working to see if we can dig any of that up but don"t get your hopes too high. Also, seeing that the browser is still early in development, the data is likely not representative of the final product.

If you have any other questions, let me know in the comments below and I"ll try to see if I can get you the answer.