Articles about Project Spartan

As the launch of Windows 10 draws ever-nearer, we're hearing more about Microsoft Edge and less about Internet Explorer. Edge (formerly known as Project Spartan) may be the default browser in the upcoming version of Windows, but the browsing stalwart that is IE will live on nonetheless.

Anyone using the Windows 10 preview has had a chance to use the HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) in Microsoft Edge, and today the security feature comes to Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. This security protocol protects against man-in-the-middle attacks and is being delivered to users of older versions of Windows through an update in the form of KB 3058515.

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Project Spartan is no more, now it's all about Microsoft Edge. It's only been a few months since the successor to Internet Explorer was revealed and it will be the default browser when Windows 10 sees the light of day later this summer -- but has enough been done to shake off the poor reputation that Internet Explorer has earned itself over the years?

There's no getting away from the fact that Microsoft Edge has an uphill battle on its hands if it is to avoid being tarred with the same brush as the millstone around Microsoft's neck -- Internet Explorer. Microsoft is pinning a lot of hopes on upping the security feature set, but is this a case of too little too late? Is Microsoft Edge doomed before it even gets off the ground?

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It's not unknown for technology companies to run bounty programs that reward bug hunters for unearthing problems with software. Discover a security vulnerability and you could be in line for a nice cash bonus. Microsoft is one firm that runs such a program, and today the Microsoft Bounty Program is being expanded -- with a particular focus on Azure and Project Spartan.

Microsoft has already been asking for feedback about Windows 10 Technical Preview, but this is the first time a financial reward has been offered for pointing out security issues with any of its components. The maximum pay-out has been increased to $15,000 USD, so there's more incentive than ever to seek out problems and report them to Microsoft.

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The latest Windows 10 release, Build 10049, comes with Microsoft’s new browser, Project Spartan. The software giant describes the new app as being built for the modern web, with a design that’s "streamlined and puts the focus on the page, not the browser". My colleague Mark Wilson, has a different view, describing it as "fat, chunky, and devoid of style and features".

While you can launch Project Spartan directly from the Start menu, Internet Explorer remains the default web browser in the new build. You can easily change this behavior though.

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Do Not Track will not be enabled by default in future versions of Microsoft web browsers, the company says. The decision comes in response to the latest draft of the World Wide Web Consortium's DNT standard which states "in the absence of user choice, there is no tracking preference expressed".

Microsoft is concerned that if the setting is enabled by default in Internet Explorer or Project Spartan, sites would have a loophole permitting them to ignore a DNT signal. In the future users will need to manually enable the feature, and Microsoft says that clear information will be provided about how to do this.

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After all of the talk, some action. Microsoft has been gentling building the hype about Spartan for some time now, but it's only with the release of Windows 10 Technical Preview Build 10049 that we get to, officially, go hands on. This is the web browser that's replacing Internet Explorer, the default web browser in Windows 10, so it has quite a role to perform.

It's a browser that's "built for the modern web" -- whatever that means -- and it sees Microsoft trying to shed the shackles of IE and move forward. Microsoft has been talking the talking for months, but does Spartan walk the walk? No. Spartan, at the moment, appears to be a joke. Let me elaborate.

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It is now a couple of months since Microsoft started talking about Project Spartan, the Internet Explorer successor that's set to become Windows 10's default web browser. Some have suggested that this will lead to the death of Internet Explorer, but today Microsoft confirmed that the two browsers will live on side by side in Windows 10.

At the Project Spartan Developer Workshop, Microsoft went into more detail about the future of the two web browsers. In particular, there is the revelation that previous plans to use a new rendering engine in both Internet Explorer 11 and Project Spartan have been ditched. Internet Explorer will live on in Windows 10, providing legacy support for those who need it, and it will be virtually identical to the version found in Windows 8.1.

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You shouldn't believe everything you read online -- no, really, you shouldn't. Just the other day we heard from John Gruber who made the baseless suggestion that Apple invented USB-C (hint: it didn't). Now it's the turn of Tom Warren from the Verge. Yesterday he wrote an article with the headline "Microsoft is killing off the Internet Explorer brand". Gosh!

He goes on to talk about Project Spartan (the new default web browser in Windows 10 that we learned about weeks ago) but also immediately contradicts himself in a sub-heading: "IE will live on...". Hang on... I thought it was being killed off? There then followed confusion, back-pedalling, and playing with semantics from Warren that did nothing to clarify the matter and served to rile many on Twitter.

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