Microsoft Releases Preview Of Its New Browser ‘Project Spartan’ In Fresh Windows 10 Build

When given free reign to put their techie skills to full throttle, the whiz-kids of Microsoft can still “bring it”.  That was again the conclusion I came to after my first test drive of Project Spartan the web browser that will takeover from the venerable, yet much maligned, Internet Explorer.  When Windows 10 ships this summer the default web browser will be Project Spartan. I got my first sneak peek at Spartan yesterday after downloading a new Window 10 Preview Build and I was very impressed with it, especially some of the new, exciting features it has built in.

Spartan has a clean, minimalist look with simple menus

Here’s a typical complicated web page with ads

Just one click of the ‘book icon’ takes you to a clean reading mode

Project Spartan helps with a beautiful new Reading List to collect everything you want to read, including the ability to save any webpage or PDF for convenient access later, and an integrated, distraction-free Reading View that keeps you focused on the content.

You can draw, highlight, and crop web pages and save them to OneNote

Everyone uses the Web routinely to share questions, thoughts, info and comments with friends and colleagues. Now with new inking capabilities, Project Spartan enables you to write or type directly on the page, comment on what’s interesting or clip what you want – then easily share this “Web Note” via mail, or a social network. I tried this just using my finger to select a paragraph and save it to One Note and it worked just perfect.

Cortana voice assistant is integrated right into the web browser

Cortana in Project Spartan is a personal assistant that helps make Web browsing easier for you, with whatever you’re trying to get done. Cortana offers help based on what she knows about the Web, about you and what you might be trying to do. She remains in the background but provides additional information when you need it, making browsing easier and more efficient.

You can highlight a word and get more info on the subject from Cortana.

Right now, it’s important to note that there will be tons more features and many improvements coming to Project Spartan before Microsoft makes it available with Windows 10.  This preview is NOT a polished, ready-for-everyone release but it sure is impressive to work with and just make me think again about my favourite web browser – Chrome.  Spartan is definitely built for Windows 10 – it’s brand new, slick and Microsoft is definitely back in the game!

Thanks for visiting!