Microsoft to bring its new Spartan browser to Windows 10

Microsoft is reportedly readying a new browser believed to be codenamed “Spartan” that will launch with its Windows 10 operating system.

ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley reports that this new browser is a departure from Internet Explorer, the Microsoft browser whose relevance has waned in recent years.

Spartan will reportedly be based on Microsoft’s Chakra JavaScript engine and Microsoft’s Trident rendering engine, which means it isn’t switching over to WebKit.

Spartan is expected to be lighter and quicker than Internet Explorer 11; it will include proper extension support as well. It’s also supposed to come in desktop and mobile versions for inclusion with both the desktop and mobile versions of Windows 10.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer is still the most popular browser in the world, holding steady at 58 percent of the user base throughout all of 2014.