Here's how to enable the Spartan Edge rendering engine for IE11 in Windows 10

When it comes to web browsers, Windows 10 gets a little complicated. Internet Explorer 11 is the default browser for now, but later Spartan takes over as it has the new Edge rendering engine (but it can fall back to IE11 for legacy sites).

The Preview 9926 build has Internet Explorer 11 for the browser, however it does have some bits of the new Spartan one coming later this year. Specifically, you can enable the new rendering engine in 

IE11, the same one that is found in Spartan.

Enable Experimental Web Platform Features

1. Open IE11
2. Type about:flags in the address bar
3. Set 'Experimental Web Platform Features' to enabled
4. Restart browser

According to AnandTech, who outlined how to enable this feature, a small number of testers already have this enabled by default. For the rest of you, you can force it to work all the time. However, keep in mind this is literally why it says experimental. As such, you are getting the new rendering engine (that can be fast) but you may also experience some other performance issues.

If you want to live on the edge, try enabling this feature to see the performance difference. Worse comes to worse you can set it back to Automatic or even Disabled, in which case you just use the old IE11 rendering engine.

Additionally, you can also enable the 'Set Custom User-Agent String' function, which may also help circumvent old IE-only content.

Image & News Courtesy Windows Central

Spartan browser looks to crush old Internet Explorer 11 in benchmarks

Windows 10 is shaping up to be a big OS shift for many reasons, including the addition of a new web browser codenamed Spartan. Spartan is still very experimental and as such, it is not included in the current Preview for Windows 10. However, bits of the rendering engine can be engaged in the older Internet Explorer 11.

AnandTech forced the new Edge document mode in IE11 through a simple trick using about:flags. They then compared the new rendering engine to legacy IE11, Chrome 40, and Firefox 35. The results are very impressive so far, demonstrating that even in these early stages, what powers Spartan could be quite powerful.

AnandTech says the following about the changes so far:

"The performance increase of the new Javascript engine is massive, and brings Internet Explorer basically up to par with Google Chome for Javascript performance… IE was well optimized for Sunspider already, so there is not much of a change there. Google Octane 2.0 however has always been terrible in IE, and now it comes in roughly the same as Chrome, for a massive 81.8% increase over the old rendering engine. Kraken continues this with a 45% jump in performance. It is a big change, and a welcome one too."

There are still many months before we see Spartan under ideal conditions and a more finalized form, but so far, Microsoft appears to be nailing a lot of the performance issues. Even better, since Spartan is a Universal app, it gets updates through the Store instead of OS refreshes. This change means Microsoft can dynamically update and tweak the browser at a much faster clip than in the past.

Head to AnandTech to read the full write-up including more technical details about Spartan!

Image & News Courtesy Windows Central

Internet Explorer Edge? Possible names for Spartan browser reportedly being considered

The Spartan browser, or more accurately understood as 'Project Spartan' is a next-generation web browser for Windows 10. Its main features include being a Store app for dynamic updates, using the older IE11 rendering engine for legacy websites, Cortana integration, and the ability to annotate right on the web page for document sharing.

However, Spartan is not the final name, just the internal codename that Microsoft is currently using for the project. The question is, what will Microsoft call the browser upon its final release? A new report suggests a few names are being kicked around and we have the list.

The information comes from a person who participated in an online survey from a company acting on behalf of Microsoft. Although 'Spartan' was not named specifically, it was referred to in the description including "Writing on webpages", "A built-in digital assistant" and the fact that it is a browser from Microsoft launching later this year. No doubt that the survey is referring to Project Spartan.

Potential names for Spartan browser being surveyed

• Entourage
• Elixa
• Evo
• Evex
• Endeavor
• Edge

Some of the names surveyed all have a common feature as they begin with the letter 'e'.

Edge makes sense since it is the name of the new rendering engine found in Spartan. Even more interestingly, Microsoft is considering pairing each of the suggested names with:

• Microsoft
• IE
• Internet Explorer

This list would create possible combinations such as 'IE Evex' or 'Microsoft Elixa' or 'Internet Explorer Edge'. Those possible combinations are interesting because, if accurate, it demonstrates that Microsoft is considering dropping IE or Internet Explorer from the new name. That is something that has been brought up before due the heavy baggage associated with the browser.

Of course, we do not know if these are the only names that Microsoft is considering, but it is worth pondering.

From the above selection, does any combination jump out as a suitable name for Spartan?

News & Image Courtesy Windows Central