David Briddock examines Microsoft’s all new browser technology for the web generation
At the end of 2014, the web was buzzing with rumours about a new browser technology destined for Windows 10. At the time, though, Microsoft declined to confirm these rumours.
However, on 21st January 2015 at a Windows 10 news event, Microsoft shared details about its Project Spartan initiative. Since January there’s been a steady flow of information about why Microsoft decided to build a new browser, the features on offer and how it compares and contrasts with Internet Explorer 11.
But before we start, let’s first take a quick trip down memory lane.
IE History
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) browser has a long history. In fact, August 2015 marks its 20th anniversary. Over this period, it has been a mainstay of every Windows desktop OS release and has appeared on the Apple Macintosh, Unix, Windows CE, Windows Mobile and Windows Phone platforms.
Yet the very first version didn’t arise from the hands of a Microsoft development team, but was instead a modified Spyglasslicensed version of the National Center for Supercomputing Association’s Mosaic browser product. Spyglass was acknowledged as the licensor for the IE browser code until IE 7.
IE 1.0 was launched in August 1995 as part of the OEM release of Windows 95. It also became a component of the Microsoft Plus add-on pack for Windows 95. A little later, IE 1.5 added basic support for table rendering. It’s this version that first appeared on Microsoft’s business-focused Windows NT platform.
As the early web gained momentum, a flurry of new standards such as cookies, SSL and VRML accelerated the pace of browser development. Yet there was also a race to deliver the best web browsing experience, a key marketing driver in order to attract the fast growing numbers of internet-savvy consumers.
IE For Free
In April 1996, Microsoft released IE 2.0 for both Windows 3.1 and Mac. But the most significant moment in web browser history came later that same year when, under pressure from rival technologies like Netscape Navigator, Microsoft released the free-ofcharge 3.0 version.
The free-to-all tactic was all about gaining market share, and it worked like a dream for Microsoft. As the years went by and the releases kept on coming, IE’s market share soared. Consequently, most of IE’s rivals fell a long way behind, and some even ceased trading altogether.
However, nothing lasts forever. And by 2006, despite all those years at the top, IE has been steadily losing its dominant market position. By 2012, IE had been overtaken as the market leader by the relatively new Google Chrome browser. And with only around 20% of the browser market, IE struggled to fend off competition from Mozilla’s Firefox and Apple’s Safari.
Now Microsoft has decided it’s time to replace its IE technology. So let’s explore what’s destined to be the default browser experience for anyone running Windows 10 on their desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
Why Spartan?
Windows 10 is a fresh new start for Microsoft, an opportunity to re-engineer its operating system and meet the needs of individuals and businesses, not just today but for many years to come.
In the course of its re-engineering review, Microsoft scrutinised its IE browser to determine if it should also be reimagined. An internal team was asked to study the underlying browser technology, website compatibility, web app interoperability, the needs of web developers and every aspect of a user’s browser experience. After all, the modern web is where many of us spend a significant portion of our lives, browsing, watching, listening, communicating, researching and learning.
What came out of this review was Project Spartan, a web browser based on a brand new engine that delivers a fast, secure, reliable and power-efficient experience, and which is designed to be highly productive, yet remain instantly familiar and easy to use.
Edge’s Features
Microsoft recently stated that its new Spartan browser, now renamed ‘Edge’, will be available across the Windows 10 device family – in other words, on all desktops, laptops, tablets, Windows Phones, and even it seems some IoT devices (such as the Raspberry Pi).
In terms of typical development cycles, it’s still early days for Edge, but with Windows 10 expected to be released around the beginning of August 2015, things have to happen very quickly.
Let’s look at what we know today. Bearing in mind things may change before the release date, certain features aren’t fully operational and as yet undisclosed new functionality might suddenly appear.
Four key features stand out in Edge: the new web page rendering engine, Cortana integration, web page inking and enhanced web page reading. We’ll cover the new rendering engine shortly, but first let’s explore the other three features.
Cortana Integration
Microsoft has already made a big play about Cortana, emphasising the fact that in Windows 10 it’s to become a versatile personal assistant with enhanced capabilities and intelligence (see below). Now it seems Cortana is going to be integrated into Edge.
At this point in time it’s tricky to deduce exactly what sort of Cortana voice-assisted browsing experience we can expect later this year. How Edge interacts with other Cortanaenabled Windows 10 apps is equally unclear.
Even so, it’s an intriguing aspect of Edge and one that’s liable to grow in scope and functionality as Windows 10 matures over the next year or so. And it will be fun to experiment with Cortana to discover just what is and isn’t possible.
Page Inking
Web page inking plays a big part in separating Edge from its IE 11 predecessor. With inking, you can type or write (using a finger, mouse or stylus) directly on the web page, to, say, create a comment about something of interest, add supplementary information or raise a question.
There’s no doubt inking is an extremely powerful productivity feature and bound to be popular with teachers, students, writers and the like – especially when you consider an inked web page can be sent directly to OneNote for future reference or as easy-tofind research material.
Even better, all these comments, thoughts, notes and questions can be shared with friends and colleagues as a ‘Web Note’, sent either via an email or by using one of the social networking options.
For many, Inking could become their favourite feature, especially if they already own a Microsoft Surface 3 hybrid tablet/laptop device or a touch-screen 2-in-1 laptop.
Reading Content
These days, we all spend a considerable amount of time reading web content, yet the typical web page doesn’t offer a particularly comfortable reading experience. Microsoft wants to help, with Edge’s new ‘Reading List’ and ‘Reading View’ features.
Working together, these features allow you to collate a set of web pages you wish to read. Any page in this set can then be saved for an offline, distraction-free reading experience, either in web page format or as a PDF file. And remember, any page could also include ‘inked’ comments, thoughts, notes and questions.
Inside Edge
At one point, it seemed Windows 10 would have a single browser, which supported both the new and old web page rendering engine. But that’s not the way it’s going to be. IE 11 will remain a Microsoft supported product even when Edge is fully available across all Windows 10 platforms.
Under the covers, IE 11 has the ‘Trident’ (MSHTML.dll) rendering engine. Although regularly updated, Trident has been a feature throughout most of Internet Explorer’s long history.
Edge, meanwhile, has the completely re-engineered ‘Edge’ rendering engine, delivered in the new EdgeHTML.dll file. This is a bold move, but so are Windows 10, Office Sway, HoloLens and many other Satya Nadella-led Microsoft initiatives.
A new engine means an opportunity to optimise the browsing experience; to increase web page loading and rendering speed; to enhance the web-based reading, watching, interacting and communicating experience; and to engineer a lightweight, battery-friendly browser that’s more suited to smartphone and tablet platforms.
Of course, compatibility with the modern web and all its subtle intricacies is crucial to Edge’s success. And, with builtin Flash support and much more besides, we can expect it to be superior to IE 11 in this respect.
The Future Is Edge
Microsoft has growing confidence that the Edge engine is the only one you’ll need. Even at this early stage, testing indicates that relatively few websites seem to require the fallback support of the legacy Trident engine.
This boost of confidence means Microsoft is now fully committed to a future with Edge. In a recent blog post, Microsoft said, “Project Spartan is our future: it is the default browser for all Windows 10 customers and will provide unique user experiences, including the ability to annotate on web pages, a distraction-free reading experience, and integration of Cortana for finding and doing things online faster.”
Microsoft was also keen to point out that, “Web developers can expect Project Spartan’s new engine to be interoperable with the modern web and remain ‘evergreen’ with no document modes or compatibility views introduced going forward.”
Developers were encouraged to try out Edge through early-access programmes. In addition, Microsoft’s status.modern.ie website has the current Edge state of play, with related pages containing developer tools, a website testing resource, technology previews, a roadmap and community interaction logs.
Right from the start of this developer collaboration, Microsoft noticed that the new Edge engine achieved substantial support from the web coding community.
IE 11 Support
As we said above, IE 11 will remain a Windows 10 pre-installed app for desktop and laptop environments, possibly some tablet devices too. At present, the Windows Phone platform looks likely to receive only the Edge browser.
This is a key point for Microsoft’s enterprise customers. They need continued IE 11 support, at least for a year or two, so they can deploy their Active X controls, Browser Helper Objects and other legacy code. And this is exactly what they’ll have with IE 11 in Windows 10, as well as Windows 8.1 and Windows 7.
This approach retains a clean separation between the new Edge-centric browser world and legacy IE 11 support.
However, unlike the new Edge browser, by default the IE 11 application won’t be prominently displayed in the Windows 10 Start menu. Instead a user or system administrator will be able to expose this browser as a desktop pinned app.
Try Edge Now
On 30th March, Microsoft announced that Edge (Project Spartan at the time) was included in the Windows 10 Technical Preview build number 10049.
This means for the first time Edge is available to download, run and evaluate by those who have signed up for the Windows Insiders Program (see below).
As we’ve said, this isn’t the final version. It doesn’t have the polish or precision of a production-ready product, and it’s likely to change considerably in terms of feature count and overall functionality. For example, the ability to read saved web content offline is not enabled in build 10049.
However, only weeks after it gave the same product build to its own employees, Microsoft has put Edge out in the wild to gather feedback. This is another remarkable sign of confidence from the reinvigorated, forwardthinking Microsoft organisation.
Community Product
In fact, one of the most striking aspects of this new Microsoft is that it’s bending over backwards to involve the community in almost everything it does. Whether that be Windows 10, holographic technology, fitness bands or Microsoft Garage maker projects.
Edge has now been added to this list. The intention is to ship Edge builds quickly and use feedback from consumers and partners to improve the product before the next build cycle.
The more feedback Microsoft receives, the better it understands what customers really want. That can only mean the final browser product will have the most appropriate features, with a tuned user interface, so it can ultimately gain mass acceptance by the Windows community.
Sending feedback is easy. Simply click on the smiley face located on Edge’s toolbar. Or alternatively submit your comments via the Windows Feedback tool, as found in the Windows 10 Start menu. Using the same Windows feedback tool, you can also view feedback from others and cast your votes.
Cortana
Up to now, Cortana has been used mainly for voice-activated commands on Windows Phone devices.
But Cortana is about to offer much more: a rich, flexible Bing-powered digital assistant. The original technology has now been updated with advanced speech recognition, natural language processing and machine learning capabilities from Microsoft’s Research labs.
This means Cortana can now continually learn about its user’s preferences and so understand their daily routines and habits. Consequently, the assistance on offer becomes increasingly personalised over time.
The perfect personal assistant is always available, anticipates our requests and works unobtrusively. Cortana hopes to become the perfect personal assistant by performing the right tasks at the right time and offering contextsensitive advice.
Windows Insiders Program
Microsoft is keen to involve a wide and diverse community in its Windows 10 project. After all, Windows 10 is the future of Microsoft.
The mechanism to accomplish this goal is the Windows Insiders Program (insider.windows.com). Sign up online, and you’ll have the ability to influence and shape this future.
You’ll have early access to all the Windows 10 releases, across all the desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone and IoT platforms. Releases that include the Cortana personal assistant, the new Edge browser and much more.
And you’ll also have access to all the latest Windows 10 news, including details of future updates and improvements. As part of the large and still growing Windows 10 Insider community, you can post your own feedback, or read and comment on feedback from others.
If you’re a software developer, you can download a preview of Windows 10 developer tools. Included in this toolset is an add-on for Visual Studio to help create Windows 10 universal apps. Or, if you’re more of a maker, there are hardware development kit previews and documentation explaining how to create Windows 10 universal drivers.
Links
Edge home: modern.ie
Current status: status.modern.ie
Website testing: remote.modern.ie
Testing tools: modern.ie/en-us/tools
Tech previews: devchannel.modern.ie