Microsoft has just released its latest version of the Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones, which includes the mobile version of Project Spartan, Microsoft’s next generation browser. While Internet Explorer is still present in this build, Microsoft points out in a blog post on the IE blog that “Spartan” will be the only browser in Windows Phone moving forward, and that IE will be removed.
Microsoft has been changing its thinking on how Spartan and IE will interact in Windows 10, and removing it from Windows Phone seems to be a further indication that Microsoft is set to go “all in” with Spartan:
You’ll still find Internet Explorer 11 as the default browser in this preview – in a later update, Project Spartan will be the only browser included on Windows phones. Project Spartan can be found in the All Apps list, and you can pin it to the start screen yourself.
As far as what’s included in the new browser, the IE blog has a few details:
You’ll find that this build has our new design for our Windows phone version, with the address bar on top, and a small actions bar at the bottom (a bug in this build means that the actions menu is larger than its intended to be). We’ve heard your early feedback about the position of the address bar, and we are looking closely at the design. We encourage you to try out, see what you think, and continue to share your feedback with us.
You’ll also find early versions of the mobile reading view and reading list. Other features will light up in future flights.
We’ll have more on the latest on Windows 10 as it arrives, stay tuned!
