Skip to main content

Project Spartan will be called Microsoft Edge, support Chrome and Firefox extensions

We’ve come to know the new browser set for Windows 10 as Project Spartan over the past few months, but that moniker always seemed likely to be dropped ahead of release. Now we know the software’s real name: Microsoft Edge.

Joe Belfiore took to the stage at BUILD 2015 to reveal the news, joking that Microsoft’s PR wing were pressuring the Spartan team to start publicizing the software’s final branding rather than the temporary codename. Belfiore went on to explain that the name came from the idea of the browser being on the cutting edge of technology, as well as a desire to offer software that allows for doing rather than just browsing.

Recommended Videos

Core to that ethos is some of the new functionality demonstrated as part of the keynote. We saw some of the extensions being prepped for Edge, including the crowd-pleasing appearance of elements of the Reddit Enhancement Suite. According to Belfiore, RES implementation in Edge was ported from an existing extension for Google Chrome, and was easy to get up and running.

And it’s no one-off. The Edge browser will apparently support extensions from both Chrome and Firefox at release. The details of how this works, such as how users download and install extensions, are uncertain. We’ll no doubt learn more as Windows 10 edges closer to release.

Like much of Microsoft’s BUILD keynote, the company spared no opportunity to address the developers present directly. Edge is designed to give end users new ways to interact with the code behind websites, offering new and more nuanced avenues for interactivity.

One of the most marketable methods of doing so, if not the most complex, is the ability to doodle and make notes over websites — functionality that dominated a compilation of footage that was shown to introduce Edge. This is certainly a feature that pairs well with Microsoft’s desire to offer the experience of desktop on a tablet, but it remains to be seen whether it turns out to be more than a gimmick.

Aside from the note-taking, it’s clear that Edge is a clean-looking Spartan browser. No word was given on plans to release the software, so it seems likely it will debut alongside Windows 10.

Brad Jones
Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…
Microsoft Edge just got a secret weapon against scareware
Microsoft Defender and Edge Security settings are open on a PC monitor.

Microsoft announced its new scareware blocker at the 2024 Ignite conference a few months ago and now it's ready for users to try out. This preview is open to everyone who uses Edge; you just need to make sure you have previews enabled and that your browser is up to date.

Everyone knows about malware nowadays, which means people can get anxious very quickly if they have reason to think their PC has been infected. Scareware scams take advantage of this, using underhanded tactics to make users feel like they're not in control of their PCs and need to call the "tech support" number provided onscreen. The scammer then gains access to the computer by guiding the user over the phone.

Read more
Microsoft is axing support for its own apps on Windows 10
The Surface Laptop 7 on a table in front of a window.

Microsoft has announced that support for Microsoft 365 apps on Windows 10 will end this year on October 14, as reported by The Verge. This is also the end-of-support date for Windows 10 as a whole, but the move is still a little surprising considering that Microsoft is now offering the Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) Program.

Anyone who joins this program for $30 can continue to safely use Windows 10 for a whole extra year -- so you might think that Microsoft would let them continue to use the Office apps too. That said, it's not like the apps will disappear, they just won't receive any more updates. According to Microsoft, this could cause "performance and reliability issues over time" but whether these issues will pop up within the ESU program's duration or not is anyone's guess.

Read more
Microsoft calls Recall one of ‘the most secure experiences’ it’s ever built
Recall promotional image.

As part of its Ignite 2024 announcements, Microsoft has provided an update on how its AI-powered Recall feature will work in the context of an IT department. Noting that the company has "heard your feedback," specifically in terms of it needing it to be more "secure and controllable," Microsoft claims to have gotten its ducks in a row for the launch of its controversial new Windows 11 feature.

Microsoft says that Recall "will ship with meaningful security enhancements, including additional layers of data encryption and Windows Hello protection, making it one of the most secure experiences we have ever built." Whether or not this will be enough to satisfy the security community, however, is still to be determined.

Read more