Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Slowly Killing Internet Explorer

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is keeping its old web browser, Internet Explorer, alive despite developing a brand-spanking-new browser codenamed Spartan for Windows 10. It’s not pulling the plug suddenly on the old browser, at least, but it is moving it to a lesser role.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has revealed in a blog post on the official Internet Explorer blog that Windows 10 will ship with both Internet Explorer and Spartan.

“We recognize some enterprises have legacy web sites that use older technologies designed only for Internet Explorer, such as custom ActiveX controls and Browser Helper Objects. For these users, Internet Explorer will also be available on Windows 10,” Jason Weber, Group Program Manager for Internet Explorer wrote.

According to Weber, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Internet Explorer will utilize the same dual rendering engines as Spartan which guarantees developers can consistently comply with modern web standards while supporting legacy sites.

Nonetheless, it’s important to note that based on the wording from the blog post, Internet Explorer is now relegated to the task of legacy supporting software.

It’s also possible, given that Weber identifies “enterprises” as those having the need to support “legacy web sites,” that Internet Explorer will also be bundled only for the enterprise edition of Windows 10. Further supporting this theory is the fact that with screenshots for Internet Explorer on Windows 10 on the blog post, the label “Windows 10 Enterprise Technical Preview with Internet Explorer” can be seen.

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Furthermore, Weber noted that their new rendering engine will be the default engine for Windows 10, Spartan and Internet Explorer. He points out that public sites will be rendered using this new engine. Incidentally, this new rendering engine does not support “legacy Internet Explorer behaviors”.

“If your web sites depends on legacy Internet Explorer behaviors we encourage you to update to modern standards,” he writes.

This points to Internet Explorer eventually being phased out by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Thus, maybe it’s safe to assume that Internet Explorer, while still alive, will be tucked away inside Windows 10 for just those times it is needed. For all other regular browser needs, Spartan may be the tech giant’s choice.

Jonathon Jacobson’s Highfields Capital Management owned about 7.95 million Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares by the end of the third quarter of 2014.