Windows 10 could come with new Spartan web browser, not IE 12

Microsoft is supposedly developing a completely new web browser, codenamed Spartan.

Spartan will launch around the same time Windows 10 is set to debut, transitioning Microsoft away from Internet Explorer, according to ZDNet. The new web browser is not the next version of Internet Explorer, thought to be called Internet Explorer 12. Internet Explore is Microsoft’s age-old browser that typically updates with every major Windows release.

Spartan will be different in that it looks and feels more like Chrome and Firefox. It even sports a new design and nifty features like extensions, but it will still be based on Microsoft’s current web technology and use the Chakra JavaScript engine and Trident rendering engine.

Microsoft isn’t nixing Internet Explorer in favour of Spartan, as IE 11 will be available to Windows 10 users. ZDNet claimed Microsoft plans to ship both browsers with its next major operating system upgrade.

Keep in mind Microsoft has a Windows 10 event scheduled in January, when the company is expected to talk about consumer features, rather than technical stuff, as well as Windows 10 on tablets and phones.

Microsoft might even discuss Spartan at the January event, though ZDNet indicated Spartan is very early in the development stage.