Microsoft: Internet Explorer will remain in Windows 10 for ‘legacy’ reasons

Microsoft has confirmed that Internet Explorer and the new browser codenamed Spartan will co-exist in Windows 10. According to the company, Internet Explorer will be kept for “legacy” reasons. This is mainly to accommodate companies.

In a blog post, Microsoft explains what it plans to do with its browsers once it releases Windows 10. Spartan is fully committed as a new and modern browser, which it is hoped users will adopt as the default. However, the company also admits that there are companies that have built their web pages specifically for Internet Explorer, for example using custom ActiveX elements.

To accommodate these companies, Internet Explorer is still included with Windows 10. This way, such ‘legacy’ web pages continue to work. From the way Microsoft delivers its message, it can be deduced that the browser is given a subordinate position within the operating system. Internet Explorer on Windows 10 does get the same two render engines that Spartan also has.

Furthermore, Microsoft has announced that it will release a new build of Windows 10 next week. This does not yet include the new Spartan browser. However, parts of the underlying, new render engine will be renewed and some new features will be added.

Microsoft released information on Wednesday about the consumer version of Windows 10, which will be provided free of charge to users running Windows 7 or 8.1. The new features of the Spartan browser, including support for the speech and information service Cortana and a built-in reading list, were also shown.