Microsoft Confirms Internet Explorer’s Impending Demise

After two decades of service, Microsoft’s own Chris Capossela expressed the software giant’s plan of moving the Internet Explorer brand to the back seat in favor of the new and improved browser codenamed Project Spartan for the upcoming Windows 10 operating system.

According to Capossela, Microsoft has not yet decided on the name of the new browser, but what is guaranteed is that the Redmond-based firm wants to steer clear of the Internet Explorer brand for Project Spartan. This is primarily due to the fact that the IE has failed to regain a good reputation among internet users despite of MS’ best effort to remove the stigma brought forth by the security loopholes in IE6.

He did, however, mention that the use of Project Spartan as the main browser of Windows 10 will not exactly be the doom of the beleaguered browser, at least not yet. Capossela stated that IE will still be part of some of the Win10 builds, albeit for compatibility reasons for enterprise versions of the upcoming operating system.

We recognize some enterprises have legacy web sites that use older technologies designed only for Internet Explorer, such as custom ActiveX controls and Browser Helper Objects. For these users, Internet Explorer will also be available on Windows 10. Internet Explorer will use the same dual rendering engines as Spartan, ensuring web developers can consistently target the latest web standards.

Unless Microsoft decides that the IE brand is still worth keeping, the fate of browser currently hangs in the balance and is tipping in the wrong direction.

For what it’s worth, we hope that this all hullaballoo isn’t just for the sake of not passing the negative image of IE to Project Spartan. What Microsoft should really be focusing on, in our opinion, is how they can make their upcoming Project Spartan good enough, feature and security wise, to not suffer the same fate as IE and compete against popular third-party browsers like Chrome and Firefox.