Microsoft has built a new web browser designed for the modern web and mobile devices to go with its new Windows 10 operating system that’s coming later this year. Explorer will still be available, but Microsoft hinted this week that its new browser will get top billing in the future.
“They want to be associated with something sexy and new,” said tech analyst Al Hilwa, who follows Microsoft and other software companies for International Data Corp. “Explorer has gotten kind of a bad reputation for not being as fast as the Chromes and Firefoxes of this world,” he said.
Though exact estimates vary, market researchers say Explorer has been outpaced by Chrome in recent years as the world’s most widely used web browser. While some analysts say Explorer is still the leader on desktop PCs, it lags far behind browsers made by Google, Mozilla and Apple for smartphones and tablets.
Microsoft unveiled the new browser, known inside the company as “Project Spartan,” at a January press event. Corporate Vice President Joe Belfiore said that the new browser will make it easier for users to view web pages, save them or share comments about them with friends. Even then, the company said it would continue offering Explorer with the new version of Windows.
But the tech world took note this week when Microsoft marketing chief Chris Capossela told a tech conference in Atlanta that the company is in the process of choosing a new name that won’t include the word “Explorer” — underscoring the difference from previous browser updates that were simply assigned numbers, such as Internet Explorer 11.
Project Spartan is Microsoft’s next generation browser, built just for Windows 10. We will continue to make Internet Explorer available with Windows 10 for enterprises and other customers who require legacy browser support.
- Microsoft Statement
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