Internet Explorer is finally dying…sort of

You know, I never imagined this would actually happen, but it’s finally a reality: Internet Explorer is dead.

According to a report from The Verge, Microsoft’s marketing head Chris Capossela said at an internal Microsoft event yesterday that “We’re now researching what the new brand, or the new name, for our browser should be in Windows 10.”

Project Spartan, Microsoft’s all-new web browser, will be front and center in Windows 10 and is planned to be the default way users interact with the Web.

Internet Explorer will remain in some specific versions of Windows 10, but only for enterprise users for compatibility reasons. It wouldn’t be surprising if it eventually is dropped altogether. It’s the kind of inclusion that says Microsoft’s keeping it around out of obligation to big business customers that rely on it right now, nothing more.

Microsoft is reportedly researching names for the new browser and found that simply putting “Microsoft” in front of the name made it appeal more than “Internet Explorer.”

Here’s the thing: this brand sacrifice was long overdue. Microsoft made some token efforts last year to revive Internet Explorer’s brand, even trying to make it ‘cool’ again by appealing to users and developers to give it a chance again to little avail.

Internet Explorer is simply a baggage-laden brand that many associated with the early days of the internet (like having lots of spammy toolbars), which aren’t particularly fond memories.

The new browser in Windows 10 isn’t all that different from Internet Explorer; it still uses Microsoft’s Trident rendering engine that powered the old browser underneath. Renaming the browser and putting a fresh lick of paint on it, however, may just make customers give it a change all over again.

Project Spartan is expected to be included in a preview build of Windows 10 in the near future for users to take for a test drive.

➤ Microsoft is killing off the Internet Explorer brand [The Verge]