Sources report that Microsoft is developing an entirely new browser to go along with the much-anticipated release of Windows 10, as opposed to updating and releasing version 12 of its long-time browser program Internet Explorer.
Rumors have previously suggested that Microsoft will be making massive changes to Internet Explorer, which will make the program function and look more like its rival Internet browsers Mozilla's Firefox and Google's Chrome.
It was thought that the new version of Internet Explorer was codenamed "Spartan." However, it seems that Microsoft is creating a new browser with the same codename, and not Internet Explorer 12.
Microsoft Student Partner lead Thomas Nigro, who is also a developer of VLC's modern version, tweeted in November that he heard rumors that Microsoft was developing a brand-new Internet browser from an episode in December of the podcast LiveTile.
Spartan will still be using the Chakra JavaScript engine as well as the Trident rendering engine of Microsoft, according to sources. In addition, reports in September by Brad Sams of Neowin revealed that Spartan will be supporting extensions just like Firefox and Chrome.
An additional report by Sams revealed that Microsoft was working on two separate versions of Trident, which supports the suggestion that Microsoft is developing two separate browsers based on the rendering engine.
Sources add that the desktop version of Windows 10 will include both Internet Explorer 11 and Spartan, with Internet Explorer 11 included in the operating system for backward compatibility. Spartan, on the other hand, will be included in both the desktop and mobile versions of the upcoming operating system.
The Internet Explorer team said in a Reddit Ask Me Anything gig earlier in 2014 that there have been discussions on changing the name of the Internet browser so that users will not associate the newer versions of the browser from the older, slower version. The "Spartan" name, however, is not the new name and is still just a codename.
The first instance when Microsoft could reveal Spartan would be on Jan. 21, which is when the company is set to reveal more features for Windows 10. However, the new browser may not yet be ready to be included in the Technical Preview of Windows 10 for January, as well as for the preview releases for mobile devices early next year.
However, there is a chance that Spartan may be ported to be compatible with non-Windows operating systems such as Apple's iOS and Google's Android. The Internet Explorer team previously said that there are no plans to port Internet Explorer to other operating systems, but Spartan is a different piece of software altogether. In addition, Microsoft has recently been porting several pieces of its software and services for usage in non-Windows devices.
