Microsoft Is Working On Its Own Internet Explorer Killer

When Windows 10 arrives, probably by next fall, Microsoft could include a brand new browser that's more like Chrome and Firefox and less like Internet Explorer. The project goes by the codenamed "Spartan," reports Mary Jo Foley.

Microsoft won't completely kill off IE in Windows 10, sources told Foley. It will include a version of IE for "backwards compatibility" meaning for sites, particularly older enterprise apps, that have been fine-tuned to function with Internet Explorer.  That version is expected to be IE 11, the current version of Internet Explorer.

The new browser is expected to look more like Firefox and Chrome in design and do a better job of supporting extensions, which are apps you can add to your browser.

Interestingly, Foley says that the new browser will still use Microsoft's same underlying browser technology. In geek speak, that's Microsoft's Chakra JavaScript engine and Microsoft's Trident rendering engine, not the popular WebKit, originally developed by Apple and later adopted by Google. Versions of Webkit are used in Safari and Chrome.

This is important because each browser engine has its own tweaks that developers must learn. That's why a website sometimes works well on one device and is wonky on another. As you might imagine, given the dominance Apple and Google have over the mobile devices, a lot of mobile developers optimize their sites for Webkit.

In any case, it looks like Spartan could be a new browser that works across all versions of Windows 10, including desktop and mobile (phone/tablet). Remember, one of the big promises of Windows 10 is that most Windows 10 apps are supposed to be able to run on any Windows 10 device, mobile, desktop, even Xbox.

But one question is if Microsoft will somehow bring Spartan to Android and iOS. Given Microsoft's huge new focus on pushing its software out on all platforms, that seems likely.

Then again, if the browser doesn't use Webkit, it likely won't be accepted into Apple's App store. Apple still requires all "apps that browse the web must use the iOS WebKit framework and WebKit Javascript" according to its store guidelines.

We expect to hear more about the browser next month. Microsoft will be hosting an event On January 21 to show off Windows 10's consumer features.

Microsoft declined to comment.