Project Spartan is Microsoft's take on what modern-browsing ought to be. The company is honing the new browser to become a contender against Firefox and Google Chrome. It will also be built using universal apps platform which allows it to work across several devices.
One of the notable features of Project Spartan is the Cortana integration. Cortana is said to be integrated directly into the browser and promises to help the user get things done easily.
Microsoft has released a new video showing the new features of Cortana. These include the ability to gather and show some more info about the website that the user is visiting, the ability to give the proper meaning of a word that is not understood by the user, and the ability to provide all of the answers in the form of a sidebar that slides out from the right hand side when the situation calls for it.
It should be remembered that Microsoft first revealed the successor to Internet Explorer at its Windows 10 event in January. Though the company had already hinted at some of the features, such as the Cortana integration, a new rendering engine and inking support, it hasn't really done such in a live browser-based demo.
The video shows most of the features of Cortana that Microsoft mentioned in the January event. As soon as Cortana detects that she has more information to offer on a site, she makes a rapid bounce in the address bar where her icon is nestled. Some of the information she can deliver includes an address and the operating hours of a business site.
The video clearly demonstrates how Cortana can provide directions and information without having to go from one browser to another. This allows the user to fully coordinate all of the displayed information and even create a stronger connection between the presented ideas.
While Cortana can be seen mostly in a sidebar that would slide out the screen's right hand-side, she doesn't really sit on the screen 24/7. She will only show up when she's needed. The user can find her either by clicking on her icon, which appears to be bouncing, indicating that she's ready to offer more information or by simply using the "Ask Cortana" feature.
Designed with enhanced reliability, interoperability and discoverability, "Project Spartan" has the chance of becoming the next generation browser and probably the only browser that one would ever need. Apart from the Cortana integration, Spartan will also have the ability to annotate by pen or keyboard directly on the webpage, which can be shared easily with friends, a reading panel that is totally free from distraction, and a simplified web layout to deliver a great reading experience for online and offline articles.
