Windows 10 just released the Build 10049 of their Pro Technical Preview. And alongside it comes a brand new, faster browser from Microsoft – The Project Spartan. Microsoft has also released a preview of Project Spartan, the company’s new browser, that will be replacing Internet Explorer when Windows 10 arrives this year.
Project Spartan is being placed front and center in Microsoft’s Windows 10, and this new browser will be pinned to both the Windows task bar and the Start menu, You will still be able to find Internet Explorer though, and if you have already pinned it, it cannot be removed.
Project Spartan will run on a new rendering engine that concentrates on a high-speed performance, and will be providing new and sharing-centric functions.
One of the most significant changes is having support for inking: You will now be able to write or type straight to the webpage, and even share your annotations through email, social networks, or by attaching them directly to OneNote.
This feature works well with a mouse, a keyboard, and a desktop computer. It’s also effective with just the tap of a finger or stylus on your tablets or phones that have touchscreen capabilities.
If you’re curious about Project Spartan and want to give it a go, then you have to have the latest version of Build 10049, the newest Technical Preview for Windows.
But always remember that this is an early build, so expect some missing features and a couple of glitches. It is also only available through the desktop version of Windows 10, and not the one available on some Windows Phones.
When you find a Web page that you feel like ‘inkning’, just click on the small pen and paper icon found on the upper right corner of the browser’s window. There are only five icons so far, so this particular icon shouldn’t be hard to locate.
The Web page will refresh itself, and the inking toolbar will show up over the regular toolbar. On the toolbar’s left side, you will find five icons – Highlighter, eraser, pen, text, and clip.
The pen icon is chosen by default, so you can just begin by scribbling away if you want to. If you want to change the color of your pen (the default color is light blue ink, in medium-sized thickness), click on the pen icon to select from three sizes, and twelve colors.
To use a highlighter, which will allow you to highlight text and pictures instead of having to draw over them, just click on the highlighter button. Then click on it a second time to choose your preferred highlighter shape and color (there are three shapes and six colors in total).
And if you’re the person who prefers typing to drawing or writing, you can just use the text tool to write down comments on the Web page.
The text tool is slightly different from the highlighter and pen tools, because instead of allowing you to place text wherever you want on the page, this tool will let you place a comment pin and then type in a corresponding text box found on the right side of the page. The text can be minimized or maximized for a cleaner look. The pin will still be visible.
If you choose the text tool, the pointer will become a cross hair. Click inside the text box to place your comment. To reduce the size of the box, you can either click on the minus sign found on the box’s upper right corner, or you can also click the comment pin itself.
And to remove both the text box and the pin, click on the trashcan icon found on the text box’s lower right corner.
The clipping tool will also convert your curser into a cross hair, so you will be able to clip out a part of the page. This works similarly to the Snipping Tool – Click on the clipping tool icon, and the page will fade out until you choose a section.
Once you have chosen this particular section, you will find a small copy icon in the lower right corner. Click on this to copy the clip, which you can paste into another program to save it, such as Microsoft Paint.
So far, the eraser tool serves no purpose. Nothing happens once you click on it. And if you click on it once more, a Clear All box will appear.
You can click on this box to obviously clear out the Web page of annotations. When you’re done, click on the Share button. A list of apps and service that can share the note will appear.
On the inking toolbar’s right side, you will find a share icon and a save icon. To save your annotated page, click on the save icon.
As of now, Project Spartan will let you save an annotated page as an HTML file – But this is only possible if you include it in your Favorites, or your reading list. In future updates, you will be able to save your pages in OneNote. To share your work, click on the Share icon to open up Windows 10’s sharing sidebar.
Microsoft will offer Windows 10 as an extra free upgrade for Windows users. Just like the newer version of the Internet Explorer browser for Windows 8.1, as well as the Reading Mode that Apple introduced in iOS5 back in 2011, Project Spartan now contains a Reading view to unclutter and clean up your list of Web pages.
This feature can be toggled on and off with just the click on a button found on the top right corner of the browser.
This will delete all of the annotations, but the images and article text will make for better and far more comfortable reading, especially when you’re about to read a longer article. Remember that the inking and Web Notes feature can also be used in Reading Mode as well.
The Settings menu will appear on the browser’s right side, from where you can control various features. This includes privacy options, setting up a homepage, and having a default search provider.
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