Microsoft has confirmed it is effectively ditching the Internet Explorer browser and brand. It will be kept on in Windows 10 for compatibility purposes only.

It’s been known for some time that Microsoft was working on a new browser project, codenamed Spartan. Now the company has confirmed this will be the primary browser in Windows 10. The system will also have Internet Explorer 11 installed, but this will be intended as a back-up for accessing any incompatible sites.

Spartan — which appears unlikely to be the final name — hasn’t been included in any of the Windows 10 previews yet. However, leaks suggest it will have a bare-bones interface and run a new rendering engine, named Edge. It will also likely be available for all types of devices, from full PCs to tablets and smartphones, probably with an option for automatic syncing of bookmarks and browsing history. If you’re thinking this sounds a lot like Chrome, you may well be right.

Microsoft could simply have published Spartan as Internet Explorer 12, but appears to have made the decision to downplay (and eventually ditch) the brand together. Whatever the arguments that it’s been improved in recent editions, it had certainly earned a reputation for sluggish performance and excessive security bugs — perhaps not among the general public as a whole, but certainly among the type of people who’d consider choosing between different browsers.

Perhaps surprisingly, Microsoft says it surveyed current Chrome users and ground that although “Internet Explorer” was a big turn off, they were consistently more likely to react favorably to a potential browser name if it had “Microsoft” attached to the beginning. Again, it’s likely no coincidence that Microsoft seems most interested in the views of Chrome users as this seems to be the main target audience for winning back users.