Microsoft to replace internet explorer with Spartan

[dragon]

So we have Cortana on the phones and Spartan on computers will the next office product be labeled Master Chief? Granted the name could change before release

Microsoft is developing a new, streamlined web browser that will replace Internet Explorer, according to reports, in an apparent attempt to move towards other popular browsers like Chrome and Firefox.

The new app could also help Microsoft distance itself from users’ bad memories of old versions of IE. In the past the company has considered changing the name to separate the current browser from “negative perceptions that no long reflect reality”, according to developers.

The browser, codenamed Spartan, is set to be shown off on January 21st when Microsoft demonstrates its new Windows 10 operating system, according to people close to the company. But it might not be ready for release when the early version of the software launches the same month.

Microsoft exec Terry Myerson launches Windows 10 Microsoft exec Terry Myerson launches Windows 10

It will be available for both desktop and mobile versions of the operating system, according to ZDNet.

Though the new browser will be the default one in future versions of the operating system, Windows 10 will ship with a new and backwards-compatible version of Internet Explorer, IE 12, too.

The new browser will still use many of the same technologies as Internet Explorer, but will have a stripped down look and feel, and will support extensions.

While the company has long been thought to be planning an overhaul of its browser for the new operating system, it was previously expected that would come as an update to IE rather than as a new and separate app.

Thomas Nigro, a developer on video app VLC and a Microsoft student partner, was one of the first people to mention the new browser.

Code referencing the Spartan name has been found in early versions of the new Windows.

Though the browser is being called Spartan for now, that is just a codename and could well change before launch.

IE was released in 1995, and has since gone through 11 different versions.

It initially dominated the browser market, but competitors like Firefox and Chrome have steadily taken its share. Estimates of its use put it around a quarter and a half of all browsing.

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[madd0ct0r]

Spartan - as in utiliatarian with no frills, decoractions or distractions. Makes sense.

[Joun_Lord]

If they renamed Windows 10 to Windows 117 or Windows Master Chief Edition I'd be much more interesting in getting it (especially if the tiles stuff is optional).

Halo is a big hit that has been around long enough to be in the public consciousness. People who were playing Halo 1 on the original Xbone back in the HS are now people with jobs, buying software for home and office use. The fact they are familiar with such terms as Cortana, Spartan, and anything else Halo means that Microsoft has an edge on the competition. People have emotional connections to those things both by the fun they had killing wart-wart aliens and zombies and connecting with the characters as you killed said wart-wart aliens and zombies.

Now if maybe the can spread that Halo love further to computers and maybe start releasing Halo PC game versions, well that would just be lovely.

[Vendetta]

If they renamed Windows 10 to Windows 117 or Windows Master Chief Edition I'd be much more interesting in getting it (especially if the tiles stuff is optional).

The tiles stuff is gone in Windows 10 (there are a few left at the side of a traditional start menu, but the apps run in a window now).

And it's free for the first year for anyone running 7 or newer.

I'm not sure why this is hitting the news now though, Spartan was officially announced in January as a new unified browser for desktop and mobile versions of Windows 10 with a new rendering engine (Edge) and the death of BHOs and ActiveX in favour of extensions like other modern browsers.

[Simon_Jester]

To Joun Lord:

Uh, honestly, "Spartan" has been a term in common usage in Western civilization for roughly two thousand years. Halo may be playing a bit of a role in popularizing use of the word, but it's had plenty of associations along the lines of "tough, warlike, no-frills, laconic" since long before the invention of video games.

Come to think of it, "laconic" is basically a word from the Latin/Greek for "Spartan."

[Crown]

This is madness ...

[General Zod]

This is madness ...

We have to wait for them to start calling their next build of Windows "Sparta" before we can use that joke.

[Joun_Lord]

If they renamed Windows 10 to Windows 117 or Windows Master Chief Edition I'd be much more interesting in getting it (especially if the tiles stuff is optional).

The tiles stuff is gone in Windows 10 (there are a few left at the side of a traditional start menu, but the apps run in a window now).

Thats good. I didn't hate 8 like many but I saw its tiles as less the optimal for traditional desktops. For a touch screen monitor it was damn perfect but touch screen monitors aren't super common yet.

Also felt too phone like and I hate phones. Seriously hate them annoying little squawk boxes that seem to turn people into annoying assholes and brand whores. But thats just like my opinion man.

To Joun Lord:

Uh, honestly, "Spartan" has been a term in common usage in Western civilization for roughly two thousand years. Halo may be playing a bit of a role in popularizing use of the word, but it's had plenty of associations along the lines of "tough, warlike, no-frills, laconic" since long before the invention of video games.

Come to think of it, "laconic" is basically a word from the Latin/Greek for "Spartan."

I'm aware of the ancient boy loving, slave owning dudes who were such badasses because they were afraid of their slaves which outnumbered them (Thanas feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

However in modern times especially with Microsoft people aren't going to be associating "Spartan" with noted diners of hell but with those faceless super soldier badasses and noted pretty cool guys that kills aliens and doesn't afraid of anything. This is especially true when they are already pushing the Halo angle with the Siri-like Cortana.

[Simon_Jester]

To Joun Lord:

Uh, honestly, "Spartan" has been a term in common usage in Western civilization for roughly two thousand years. Halo may be playing a bit of a role in popularizing use of the word, but it's had plenty of associations along the lines of "tough, warlike, no-frills, laconic" since long before the invention of video games.

Come to think of it, "laconic" is basically a word from the Latin/Greek for "Spartan."

I'm aware of the ancient boy loving, slave owning dudes who were such badasses because they were afraid of their slaves which outnumbered them (Thanas feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

[shrugs]

The Spartans are easy targets for mockery because they were a tyrannical and brutal society with a lot of weird customs. I was referring more to the way their reputation has become a meme- which I really do think it is to a lot of people.

However in modern times especially with Microsoft people aren't going to be associating "Spartan" with noted diners of hell but with those faceless super soldier badasses and noted pretty cool guys that kills aliens and doesn't afraid of anything. This is especially true when they are already pushing the Halo angle with the Siri-like Cortana.

I... really think you may be pursuing your own tangent here.

I'll grant that there's a large number of gamers who will make the association, and that the use of 'Cortana' as a brand name is definitely invoking Halo. But I'm a bit hesitant to label the choice of 'Spartan' as being purely a Halo thing.

Not everyone who uses Microsoft products is a gamer with fond memories of the 2001-era video games.

[Joun_Lord]

To Joun Lord:

Uh, honestly, "Spartan" has been a term in common usage in Western civilization for roughly two thousand years. Halo may be playing a bit of a role in popularizing use of the word, but it's had plenty of associations along the lines of "tough, warlike, no-frills, laconic" since long before the invention of video games.

Come to think of it, "laconic" is basically a word from the Latin/Greek for "Spartan."

I'm aware of the ancient boy loving, slave owning dudes who were such badasses because they were afraid of their slaves which outnumbered them (Thanas feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

[shrugs]

The Spartans are easy targets for mockery because they were a tyrannical and brutal society with a lot of weird customs. I was referring more to the way their reputation has become a meme- which I really do think it is to a lot of people.

I think I see were you are going. The whole "Spartans are uber-warrior proto-American freedom lovers" brainbug that seem to have permeated the modern concept of them brought on by Frank WHORES WHORES WHORES Miller's 300 and probably earlier.

However in modern times especially with Microsoft people aren't going to be associating "Spartan" with noted diners of hell but with those faceless super soldier badasses and noted pretty cool guys that kills aliens and doesn't afraid of anything. This is especially true when they are already pushing the Halo angle with the Siri-like Cortana.

I... really think you may be pursuing your own tangent here.

I'll grant that there's a large number of gamers who will make the association, and that the use of 'Cortana' as a brand name is definitely invoking Halo. But I'm a bit hesitant to label the choice of 'Spartan' as being purely a Halo thing.

Not everyone who uses Microsoft products is a gamer with fond memories of the 2001-era video games.

If it was just Spartan being used without Cortana also being a MS product I would believe that its just a coincidence of the name being shared with the Spartan super duper dudes of Halo. The name does fit their approach to Spartan Explorer with it having a "stripped down look and feel" or being Spartan as in the one that means simple.

However with Cortana coming out aswell it seems way too much of a coincidence.

They are probably going for both terms though. Spartan Explorer is supposed to be literally Spartan, a stripped down laconic browser. But it is also supposed to be named after the Master Chief types just as Cortana is supposed to refer to the blue glowy chick who lives in Chief's head. I somehow doubt Cortana is named after a gastropod or a Danish or British sword. Though Cortana the AI is supposed to be named for the Brit coronation sword so I guess in a way the Siri-ish Cortana is named for the Brit sword too, I guess maybe.

[salm]

I think it would be weird if the Spartan name was not connected to the Halo game. In conntection with the above mentioned Cortana and a the reported "gamification" of the OS it is the most likely conclusion. They have some type of bonus point system, similar to gamer points on XBox for completed "missions" which appears to be MS speak for bug reports. It sounds silly but with "gamification" being a buzz word for about a decade now it seems unsurprising that an enterprise like MS would try to implement it.

[Simon_Jester]

I think I see were you are going. The whole "Spartans are uber-warrior proto-American freedom lovers" brainbug that seem to have permeated the modern concept of them brought on by Frank WHORES WHORES WHORES Miller's 300 and probably earlier.

Well no, it's more than that. It basically boils down to "the Spartans were a nation extremely tough and disciplined slaveocrat warriors who built their entire society around stripping away everything not necessary to turning their citizens into dominant elite warriors, and maximizing everything that was necessary."

And the thing is, by all available evidence that is actually true. The Spartans were in fact not a nation of weaklings or cowards, they did have a no-frills approach toward life promoted by austere living conditions for the elite.

This is not the same as making them out as a "freedom-loving" people (a reputation more traditionally accorded to Athens). Indeed, the image of the Spartans as the prototypical tyranny is quite old, and even the tyrannies would invoke it, as a precedent for their actions.

So the common, longstanding portrayal of Sparta in history is and has always been mixed, with their brutality and their dedication being recognized at the same time.

The history of references to and portrayals of ancient Sparta in fiction goes a LONG time back past Frank Miller, or for that matter Rudolph Maté and George St. George who gave him the idea for the comic.

If it was just Spartan being used without Cortana also being a MS product I would believe that its just a coincidence of the name being shared with the Spartan super duper dudes of Halo. The name does fit their approach to Spartan Explorer with it having a "stripped down look and feel" or being Spartan as in the one that means simple.

However with Cortana coming out aswell it seems way too much of a coincidence.

They are probably going for both terms though. Spartan Explorer is supposed to be literally Spartan, a stripped down laconic browser. But it is also supposed to be named after the Master Chief types just as Cortana is supposed to refer to the blue glowy chick who lives in Chief's head. I somehow doubt Cortana is named after a gastropod or a Danish or British sword. Though Cortana the AI is supposed to be named for the Brit coronation sword so I guess in a way the Siri-ish Cortana is named for the Brit sword too, I guess maybe.

I think a double game is being pursued here. For the gamers the 'Spartan-Cortana' theme makes sense. For people who are not gamers, but who have some degree of historical education, the name 'Spartan' still means something, at least as much as, oh, 'Safari' or 'Navigator' or 'Explorer' means.

Now, I suppose that the game connection may have caused 'Spartan' to be promoted as a possible name above the alternatives.

[General Zod]

I think you're thinking about it too much.

[Simon_Jester]

And I think some other people here are thinking about it too little, or too myopically.

Web browsers are designed to have names that will appeal to broad demographic bases because everybody uses them.

And it always irritates me when people act like everything that happened more than ten or fifteen years ago just does not exist in their cultural reference pool.

[Vendetta]

On the other hand, Spartan is a codename and might not be the name of the actual browser, but Windows 10 is definitely including a direct and blatant Halo reference which you have to mention by name if you want it to do anything.