How to enable the Spartan browser's Edge engine in Windows 10
Although the full Spartan browser replacement to Internet Explorer 11 has not been implemented yet in the public builds of Windows 10 Technical Preview, it is still possible to enable to EDGE engine that underlies it and get a speed boost within Internet Explorer 11.
It is possible to toggle a hidden setting deep within Internet Explorer 11 to enable EDGE rendering engine to experience considerable speed improvements with HTML pages, Javascript and other types of web page content. The feature is usually utilized by developers to ensure their web code will function with the EDGE engine, but it can actually be turned on by anyone who knows how to do so.
To enable the EDGE rendering engine:
- Open Internet Explorer 11
- Type about:flags in the Internet Explorer 11 address bar
- Choose Enabled under the Enable Experimental Web Platform Features section
- Now close down the browser
- Restart the browser once again
Also take the following steps on the same screen:
- Locate the Custom User Agent section
- Turn on the User Agent String
Benchmark Testing Results
AnandTech performed some comparison benchmark tests against Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox to see how the new EDGE engine performed. In two tests (Octane and Sunspider) the Internet Explorer Experimental Engine was faster, and with the others (HTML5Test, Kraken, WebXPRT, and Oort Online) it lagged some way behind. However, it was significantly faster than Internet Explorer 11 when using its regular rending engine.
Project Spartan Features
The full Project Spartan will add web page annotation which will be great for touchscreen enabled devices, Cortana voice assistant integration, a web clippings saving feature to OneNote that sounds similar to Evernote's web clipping bookmarklet, and an offline reading mode too. The interface has been overhauled too and the tabs are re-positioned at the top using a flat design. Learn more about the Spartan browser features in our write-up on it.
