Innovation is Back at Microsoft

This may or may not be an official image representing Microsoft’s new web browser.

Microsoft has – by most counts – turned around. They’re no longer the stodgy, dull company from the mid-2000s. They’re turning out products and services that are innovative and useful.

Gizmodo recently wrote about Microsoft’s turn around and I couldn’t agree more.

Microsoft’s Achilles Heel

All of Microsoft’s services require a good web browser. And Internet Explorer – in service in some way or another since 1995 – is their Achilles heel. It’s true, modern versions of Internet Explorer are fast and useful, but it is saddled with a perception that it’s clunky, insecure and generally useless. An Internet Explorer replacement is desperately needed for a browser almost 20 years old.

Spartan is Different

The Internet Explorer replacement is called Spartan. Spartan will be available in Windows 10 later this year (possibly with a different name). Spartan aims to be a lighter, faster experience, more like Google Chrome.

Spartan will depart from the traditional Internet Explorer experience by offering compelling new features:

Page Annotations

Page annotations will allow people to mark up and share web pages on-the-fly without additional software. This is a badly needed feature which will be extremely useful, especially for tablet users (such as Surface Pro owners).

Cortana Integration

Cortana is Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s Siri – it’s an artificial intelligence engine that can handle complex spoken or written questions. Most people agree that Cortana is more capable than Siri, and putting it into a web browser built-in to Windows will enable more people to access this advanced functionality without having to own a Windows Phone. This will be a great gateway to Windows Phones.

Conclusion

An Internet Explorer replacement is long overdue.  But we think the new Microsoft will rise to the occasion with Spartan.

Here’s a great article if you want to learn more about Spartan.