"Edge" vs "Spartan" →

Tom Warren isn't pleased with the final name or logo of Microsoft's new browser:

Microsoft announced the name of its Windows 10 browser last week. While the code name, Project Spartan, was exciting and invoked visions of dominance and strength, the final name Microsoft picked is totally dull and mundane. Microsoft Edge is the successor to Internet Explorer, but the software giant had a huge opportunity to bury the bad image of IE, and it has blown it.

I don't think they blew it.

Choosing "Edge" allowed them to continue using a blue "e" for their logo in the taskbar. In the minds of IE users, that little blue "e" is the internet, and replacing it with a fancy "S" for Spartan would make them frustrated enough to start digging into the Start Menu and eventually find the old Internet Explorer.

With this name and logo, Microsoft has a prayer of converting IE die-hards to Edge without them even knowing, and that's something web developers everywhere should be thankful for. Fancy whiz-bang codenames be darned.

The "bad image of IE" that Tom refers to is only known by people like you or I who actually read about this stuff, and because we read about this stuff, we already know that Edge is supposed to be a clean break from the terribleness of IE.

"Edge" is a smart move.

Update:

Tom notes, via Twitter:

Tom: People justify Microsoft Edge using the E icon because of normals. Most people aren't using IE anymore! pic.twitter.com/qRydjPzSJB

Frank: There is still a significant number of IE users though, and they will be looking for the e icon on Win10.

Tom: @fpbecker so they hit a different icon and then realize it's a browser. Big deal. People aren't THAT stupid.

Not really stupid, just apathetic, and there are enough apathetic IE users out there to force web developers of high-traffic websites to continue supporting IE 8. That's the problem.