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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