While
Microsoft has dropped hints that the Internet Explorer brand is going
away, the software maker has now confirmed that it will use a new name
for its upcoming browser successor, codenamed Project Spartan. Speaking
at Microsoft Convergence yesterday, Microsoft’s marketing chief Chris
Capossela revealed that the company is currently working on a new name
and brand. “We’re now researching what the new brand, or the new name,
for our browser should be in Windows 10,” said Capossela. “We’ll
continue to have Internet Explorer, but we’ll also have a new browser called Project Spartan, which is codenamed Project Spartan. We have to name the thing.”
Internet Explorer will still exist in some versions
of Windows 10 mainly for enterprise compatibility, but the new Project
Spartan will be named separately and will be the primary way for Windows
10 users to access the web. Microsoft has tried,
unsuccessfully, to shake off the negative image of Internet Explorer
over the past several years with a series of amusing campaigns mocking
Internet Explorer 6. The ads didn’t improve the situation, and Microsoft’s former Internet Explorer chief left the company in December, signalling a new era for the browser.
Related: RIP Internet Explorer (1995 - 2015). We Knew Ye Too Well.
Capossela
also detailed the power of using the Microsoft brand over just Windows
or Internet Explorer, and showed off some research data on a new name
for the company’s browser vs. Internet Explorer. Putting Microsoft in
front of the new secret name increased the appeal to some Chrome users
in the UK. “Just by putting the Microsoft name in front of it, the delta
for Chrome users on appeal is incredibly high,” says Capossela.
Microsoft
is clearly testing names with market research, but it’s unclear when
the company plans to unveil the final name for its Internet Explorer
successor. Judging by Microsoft’s own research, it’s obvious the company
will move as far away from Internet Explorer as possible, and it’s
likely Project Spartan will have the Microsoft name attached to it.
Elsewhere in Capossela’s talk, the Microsoft executive also discussed the ways the company will make money in future,
and clever ways the company is making use of social media. Microsoft
has started to use artists to respond to Twitter users with personalised
images, and at least one from the Xbox team was successful at creating
attention with an impressive 35,000 retweets. It’s all part of improving
Microsoft’s brand perception, and a general admission from the company
that it’s ready to be loved again.
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