Windows 10's Spartan browser will offer unique features to fend off the competition

Microsoft this year is launching a new version of Windows, which will be so important that Redmond decided to call it Windows 10, skipping the Windows 9 name altogether.

As reported last month, Windows 10 will come with a brand new browser codenamed Spartan (though Internet Explorer will still be included - for backward compatibility reasons). The Verge today has some interesting details about Spartan: the browser will offer features that competitors (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc) don’t have.

It’s said that one of the unique features of Spartan is “inking support” - this will enable users to make annotations on web pages with a stylus, and share the respective annotations with friends or colleagues. Another thing that Microsoft’s been working on is a new method of grouping tabs together: users will be able to separate, for example, work tabs from personal tabs.

Cortana, the personal digital assistant that's available on Windows Phone, will also be integrated with Spartan. Moreover, Microsoft pondered the idea of supporting custom themes in the new browser, and it might do it in future versions.

Spartan should be released as an app in Windows Store, having a similar look and feel on phones, tablets, and PCs. More about Windows 10 and Spartan (which, by the way, will most likely have a different moniker at launch) will be unveiled by Microsoft later this month, on January 21. Well, we're waiting!