14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has already announced its decision to replace Internet Explorer with a new browser called Spartan in Windows 10, so it’s no surprise that everyone has been eager to give it a try on both PCs and phones.
While the PC version made its debut in Technical Preview build 10049 last week, the phone version got to see daylight only a few hours ago in preview build 10051, which is now available to all insiders except those with a Lumia 930 or Icon phone.
Spartan browser is offered together with Internet Explorer on Windows 10 for phones, and Microsoft is likely to keep this duo in the stable version of the operating system in order to tackle any compatibility issues that might arise because of the new browser engine.
Slower and basic features
Spartan is still in development on both PCs and phones, and in the latest build 10051, you can feel that from the very beginning.
The app just seems to be slower than expected on most devices, including on the flagship 1520, and some of the features that were supposed to make it special, such as the share tool, are not yet available in this build.
On the other hand, Spartan does come with the address bar at the top of the screen, which might disappoint many people out there who hoped to see this at the bottom, and offers a new tab switching screen that looks good and works really well.
Spartan doesn’t have too many settings right now, so it all seems just an effort to keep things simple and basic, but you do get a reading list and the possibility to clear browsing data and choose exactly what you want to remove.
In this build, Spartan comes with Do Not Track turned off by default, just like it’s the case with the PC version, but Microsoft might be offering additional guidance on how to enable it once the operating system becomes available.
All in all, Spartan doesn’t seem to be a more powerful successor to Internet Explorer, but at least it’s a sign that Microsoft too needs a change in this regard. More features for Spartan are expected in the next builds.
