Why Microsoft needs 'Spartan' to succeed in browser war

Reports of Microsoft likely to debut a new browser codenamed 'Spartan', along with Windows 10, might seem a little surprising at first. After all, Internet Explorer (IE), Microsoft's current offering, is the market leader, if third party numbers are to be believed, with a share of nearly 60 per cent. Why would Microsoft need a new browser, if IE, indeed, leads the pack?

First, a little bit of history is in order. After vanquishing upstart Netscape in mid-1990s, IE had acquired such dominance that the European Union's competition commission had forced Microsoft to offer competing browsers along with its Windows bundle. But that was in a different era where the desktop ruled and Microsoft was the monarch of all it surveyed.

In the mobile era, Android is the dominant operating system (OS) on smartphones and Chrome is the default browser from Google. Apple uses its own Safari browser. Then there is Firefox and Opera, apart from a number of other smaller players. Each of them claim to have some additional feature or say they offer a greater level of privacy. While overall, IE continues to reign supreme, it faces several challenges.

IE's critics pan it as sluggish, crash prone, overladen with little used features and offering lesser support for HTML5 standards. In its attempt to ensure backward compatibility, IE has also become bloated. However, with privacy concerns surrounding Chrome and Safari being used mostly on Apple products alone, there is an opportunity. While Firefox is the perennial number three in the race, the rest are seen as too small or clones of the dominant players.

Spartan could be Microsoft's answer. As its name suggests, it is supposed to be lightweight apart from being user friendly, stable and more compliant with standards. In the mobile ecosystem, apps play a greater role, but the browser continues to remain the gateway to the web. With Microsoft aspiring to offer a seamless experience across screen sizes (mobiles, tablets, notebooks and desktops), Spartan could be an useful weapon in its armour.

While it is not yet to clear whether Spartan is a mere fork to the existing IE with some features tweaked or a complete new offering, there is talk of both browsers being offered along with Windows 10. Spartan is also said to continue to use Microsoft's Trident rendering engine and not the more popular WebKit used by the likes of Chrome and Safari.  

While IE 11, the latest avatar, has improved tremendously over the years, Spartan could provide a clean break for Microsoft to showcase its ability to reinvent the browser and also port it to Android, iOS and other non-Windows OS. Microsoft needs Spartan to succeed to level the playground with Apple, Google and its other adversaries.