Windows 10 — Internet Explorer 12

I’m talking about .

Or rather, the Internet Explorer 12 that never was. When Microsoft first started leaking details about Windows 10 back in 2014, the plan seemed simple: Keep Internet Explorer for the old guard, and introduce "Project Spartan" for the future.

If you hunt down (leaked to beta collectors), you can find a shortcut for "Internet Explorer 12." Double-clicking it opens a modern, flat browser that looks like a hybrid of Chrome and old IE. It renders most HTML5 sites. It’s fast. internet explorer 12 windows 10

And then it crashes. Hard.

Do you have an old Windows 10 beta lying around? Boot it up and see if you can find the IE12 shortcut. Let us know in the comments! I’m talking about

If I asked you to name the default browser in Windows 10, you’d probably say . And you’d be right. But if I asked you to look deep into your system folders—past the shortcuts, past the flashy new icons—you’d find a ghost.

But here is the rumor that refuses to die: (a late beta of Windows 10) allegedly contained a fully functional "Internet Explorer 12" engine. If you hunt down (leaked to beta collectors),

But look at the User Agent string: