Internet Explorer's Successor, Project Spartan, Is Called Microsoft Edge

An anonymous reader writes: At its Build 2015 developer conference today, Microsoft announced Project Spartan will be called Microsoft Edge. Joe Belfiore, Microsoft's corporate vice president of the operating systems group, announced the news on stage, adding that Edge will have support for extensions. Edge is Microsoft's new browser shipping on all Windows 10 devices (PCs, tablets, smartphones, and so on). Belfiore explained the name as referring to "being on the edge of consuming and creating."

Comments

Microsoft Edge?

[DiSKiLLeR]

So.. ME instead of IE? ME.... reminds me of Windows ME. *shudder*.

Re:Microsoft Edge?

[Adriax]

Nah, just E.
It will be introduced to the public via incredibly annoying commercials featuring stereotypical frat guys telling each other "Duuuude! She so wants the E!" "Ya man, I showed her my E last night and she was all over it!" and so on. Ending with them in uncomfortable silence after one of them (probably the token uncool guy) makes a homoerotic comment about another guy's E.

Re:Microsoft Edge?

[Jason Levine]

Nah, just E.

Well, at least users won't be confused. They can still "click on the E" to get to the Internet.

Safari Does

[CritterNYC]

Safari works the same way. That's why folks with older Mac hardware who aren't running the latest OS can't run the latest Safari.

Re:Safari Does

[dgatwood]

Yes, but the underlying WebKit framework still gets updates that bring better compatibility. Only the user-facing features remain static.

Re:Safari Does

[sootman]

Not forever. When updates stop, updates stop. There's a relatively short time when old OSs still get updates.

An up-to-date 10.10 Mac shows webkit version 600.5.17. A 10.6.8 Mac has 534.59.10. A 10.3.9 Mac has 312.9. (According to http://browserspy.dk/webkit.ph... ) Current webkit nightlies (.dmg) won't run on 10.6 or 10.8. MAYBE I could build from source, but a) I doubt it and b) effectively no one, anywhere, does that.

Re:Safari Does

[dgatwood]

That's true, but FireFox and Chrome don't maintain backwards compatibility forever, either. Firefox 16 and Chrome 21 are the last versions that support 10.5. And older, 32-bit-only machines are limited to Chrome 38 even if they're running 10.6.x. Otherwise, I think they're both still supporting 10.6.8 for now, but it is probably just a matter of time.

IIRC, they already don't support certain features on old operating systems. For example, Chrome supports WebGL only on 10.8 and later (unless they've changed that recently). So although the UI might be getting updated and security holes might be getting fixed, they're still not getting the full upgrade experience.

Big News!

[tsqr]

The last big news about Windows 10 was Spartan. Today's big news about Windows 10 is that Spartan has been re-named.

I can't tell you how excited I am. Really, I can't.

Allows them to keep the blue "e"

[Lumpio-]

So that the clueless people still using it don't have to buy a new computer when the Internet disappears.

Re:E = Internet

[TWX]

Well, since the current logo is an E, if the new logo is an E, then the end-user won't have any trouble knowing which icon to avoid clicking on.

I think our namespace is getting too crowded...

[itsdapead]

Edge?

Would that be named after the mobile broadband technology, the guitarist from U2 or Samsung's flagship smartphone? Why don't they give it a meaningful name that somehow relates to its function, like, er, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Mozilla, SeaMonkey... Oh, right. Failing that, why not the old, reliable pseudo Latin/Greek names: Webia, Browsium, internet startup names (MeWeb, WebBox, WeBrowse...) or even retro Unix names ('yawb', 'enie')?

Re:I think our namespace is getting too crowded...

[PhrostyMcByte]

IE has long supported a header:

X-UA-Compatible: IE=edge

This tells it that your website is compatible with the "edge" of technology... the latest stuff the browser supports. If you don't have it, IE might determine your site needs to be run in IE6 compatibility mode.

This idea of the "edge" has been around IE since I believe IE10. The concept has clearly stuck.

Re:Hah!

[Anonymous Coward]

Google thanks you for your loyalty. And the x-year long history of add-on choices, Web searches, personal and business correspondence, phone records, daily movements, Web browsing, and whatever other personal, private information you have given to them. You truly will be a warning to future generations.

(chrome, search, android / voice, android, doubleclick, other)

They named it Edge years ago

[Lodlaiden]

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge" />

Re:Hah!

[fisted]

Well, these last days our Windows support has made Google inaccessible (peer disconnected all the time).

I hate that damn peer guy, he disconnects me from IRC all the time, too. Happen to know where he lives?

*sharpens fists in a giant pencil sharpener*

Honestly,

[fisted]

Windows Idiot was much better than expected.

Was anyone else reminded of Ubuntu Edge?

[MarsLander]

I wonder if the trade mark that Ubuntu presumably has could come into legal dispute? https://www.indiegogo.com/proj...

From a Microsoft hater

[Ol Olsoc]

I'm actually hoping that Redmond puts out a good product with W10, and if Edge works well, that will be good also.

Microsoft has been wallowing in a Ballmer induced miasma since Vista, they have lost their way. And even though 7 didn't suck - how's that for damning with faint praise? - Windows 8 and 8.1 had the shithouse rats complaining about the stench.

But I'm really really hoping that they climb out of the abyss, and return the user experience to XP days, which was one where people came as close to "just doing stuff" as Microsoft ever did.

Waiting hopefully, and if they don't, it's not a huge problem, I've got my Linux and OSX machines - but maybe pappy wants a new toy, a bright shiny Windows lappy.

Re:Not even going to consider it

[Anonymous Coward]

Considering that Windows 10 will be free for anyone with Windows 7 or Windows 8, legal copy or not, I don't see a problem. Additionally, all current browsers are shit. There isn't a single one that behaves the way I want with the features I want with the performance that I want. Microsoft does make some good products, so I'm looking forward to trying their new browser.

Killer feature

[mwvdlee]

Just watched the promo video. It looks f**king awesome!

Away with consumption (according to the video; writing HTML) and towards creating (according to the video; drawing a smiley face)!

The "drawing mustaches on marsupials" feating is the killer feature of a new generation of browsers.
Can your Chrome or Firefix draw mustaches on marsupials? Does it even HAVE mustaches?
Do you want to be a slave to consumption? Making webpages? While you can be the god of your own highlighted-random-text creations?