Pictures of Windows 10‘s new browser, codenamed “Spartan” have appeared online and, while they’re somewhat blurry, they appear to show a totally reimagined browser.
The shots, which PC Pro hasn’t been able to independently verify, were received by Neowin from one of its sources.
From the looks of the images, Spartan has very little in common with Internet Explorer (IE) as it exists in Windows 7, 8, or Windows 10 Technical Preview. The address bar extends across almost the whole of the top of the window, rather than about a third of the way across as it currently does. The forward and back buttons are rather more minimalist, and are not surrounded by circles, with the refresh button now situated just to the right of them. The bookmark star, meanwhile, has been brought into the address bar, sitting at the far right end.
Totally new features include a new reader view button at the end of the URL bar, the three-dot settings menu icon, and a share icon for sharing to social networks or email.
The window is also seemingly borderless, with no toolbar or additional information hidden away at the bottom or down the sides.
If this all sounds rather like Chrome, you wouldn’t be too far wrong – it do has a similar feel. However, it’s still definitely a Microsoft product, with the squared-off tab edges that are already a feature of IE, as well as being evocative of Modern UI aesthetics. Additionally, many of the icons, including the menu dots, share button and reader view option (although not the icon) will be familiar to Windows Phone users from both the mobile version of IE and other Windows Phone apps.
In many ways, this is unsurprising. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been promoting Windows 10 as a single operating system across all Microsoft devices, with the exception (for now) of Xbox.
Whether Spartan is a replacement for IE or an evolution of the venerable browser, which is now nearly 20 years old, is unclear. It’s possible more information could be made available following a special press event taking place on 21 January, however.
As ever, we’ll keep you updated with all the latest news as it becomes available, but for now we’ll leave you this mock-up image produced by Neowin from the leaked photos to give you an idea of what the new browser may look like in its final form.
Geeky sidenote
Despite Xbox being left out of the Windows 10 convergence, Microsoft certainly to seems to like taking names from the primary characters of the console’s flagship game, Halo. Cortana, Microsoft’s Siri rival, was named after the AI in Halo and, in the US, is voiced by the same actress who portrayed her in the video game, while Master Chief (the game’s protagonist) is a Spartan supersoldier. Got any thoughts on what the next Halo-themed product codenames may be? Let us know in the comments.
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