While Microsoft has dropped hints that the Internet Explorer brand is going away, the software maker has now confirmed that it will use a new name for its upcoming browser successor, codenamed Project Spartan. Speaking at Microsoft Convergence yesterday, Microsoft's marketing chief Chris Capossela revealed that the company is currently working on a new name and brand. "We’re right now researching what the new brand, or the new name, for our browser should be in Windows 10," said Capossela. "We’ll continue to have Internet Explorer, but we’ll also have a new browser called Project Spartan, which is codenamed Project Spartan. We have to name the thing." 
 
 Internet Explorer will still exist in some versions of Windows 10 mainly for enterprise compatibility, but the new Project Spartan will be named separately and will be the primary way for Windows 10 users to access the web. Microsoft has tried, unsuccessfully, to shake off the negative image of Internet Explorer over the past several years with a series of amusing campaigns mocking Internet Explorer 6. The ads didn't improve the situation, and Microsoft's former Internet Explorer chief left the company in December, signalling a new era for the browser. 
 
 Verge Video: The introduction of Project Spartan at the Windows 10 Event in January 
 
 The Internet Explorer will likely have Microsoft in the name 
 
 Capossela also detailed the power of using the Microsoft brand over just Windows or Internet Explorer, and showed off some research data on a new name for the company’s browser vs. Internet Explorer. Putting Microsoft in front of the new secret name increased the appeal to some Chrome users in the UK. "Just by putting the Microsoft name in front of it, the delta for Chrome users on appeal is incredibly high," says Capossela. 
 
 Microsoft is clearly testing names with market research, but it’s unclear when the company plans to unveil the final name for its Internet Explorer successor. Judging by Microsoft’s own research, it’s obvious the company will move as far away from Internet Explorer as possible, and it’s likely Project Spartan will have the Microsoft name attached to it. 
 
 Elsewhere in Capossela’s talk, the Microsoft executive also discussed the ways the company will make money in future, and clever ways the company is making use of social media. Microsoft has started to use artists to respond to Twitter users with personalised images, and at least one from the Xbox team was successful at creating attention with an impressive 35,000 retweets. It’s all part of improving Microsoft’s brand perception, and a general admission from the company that it’s ready to be loved again. ||||| When we started building Windows 10, the team spent a lot of time and energy thinking about how to make computing more personal. We want your devices to recognize you, to understand what you’re saying… we want the experience to go wherever you do and we want you to feel a great sense of TRUST as you go. We talked a bunch about these ideas on January 21, and today we’ve got another cool new “personal computing” feature to announce for Windows 10. 
 
 I’d like to introduce you to Windows Hello – biometric authentication which can provide instant access to your Windows 10 devices.* With Windows Hello, you’ll be able to just show your face, or touch your finger, to new devices running Windows 10 and be immediately recognized. And not only is Windows Hello more convenient than typing a password—it’s more secure! Our system enables you to authenticate applications, enterprise content, and even certain online experiences without a password being stored on your device or in a network server at all. 
 
 So how does it all work? 
 
 Windows Hello introduces system support for biometric authentication – using your face, iris, or fingerprint to unlock your devices – with technology that is much safer than traditional passwords. You– uniquely you– plus your device are the keys to your Windows experience, apps, data and even websites and services – not a random assortment of letters and numbers that are easily forgotten, hacked, or written down and pinned to a bulletin board. Modern sensors recognize your unique personal characteristics to sign-you-in on a supporting Windows 10 device. 
 
 Which devices, you ask? Well, there will be plenty of exciting new Windows 10 devices to choose from which will support Windows Hello. And, if your device already has a fingerprint reader, you’ll be able to use Windows Hello to unlock that device. For facial or iris detection, Windows Hello uses a combination of special hardware and software to accurately verify it is you – not a picture of you or someone trying to impersonate you. The cameras use infrared technology to identify your face or iris and can recognize you in a variety of lighting conditions. 
 
 Of course, convenience and simplicity should never sacrifice security and privacy. Windows Hello offers enterprise-grade security that will meet the requirements of organizations with some of the strictest requirements and regulations. It’s a solution that government, defense, financial, health care and other related organizations will use to enhance their overall security, with a simple experience designed to delight. 
 
 Authenticating Applications, Enterprise Content and Online Experiences – Without Passwords 
 
 Today, passwords are the primary method most of us use to protect our personal information, but they are inconvenient and insecure. They are easily hackable and even when complex they are not effective, but most of us want something easy to remember, so we either choose a simple password or end up noting it down somewhere making it less secure. And, to be truly secure, you need to remember dozens of passwords to login to your many devices and services. 
 
 You may have seen recent press coverage about a single group collecting 1.2 billion user names and passwords from websites they hacked. This creates lousy odds in the hacker roulette for all of us – there are only about 2 billion people online today! 
 
 “Passport” is a code name for a programming system that IT managers, software developers and website authors can use to provide a more secure way of letting you sign-in to their sites or apps. Instead of using a shared or shareable secret like a password, Windows 10 helps to securely authenticate to applications, websites and networks on your behalf—without sending up a password. Thus, there is no shared password stored on their servers for a hacker to potentially compromise. 
 
 Windows 10 will ask you to verify that you have possession of your device before it authenticates on your behalf, with a PIN or Windows Hello on devices with biometric sensors. Once authenticated with “Passport”, you will be able to instantly access a growing set of websites and services across a range of industries – favorite commerce sites, email and social networking services, financial institutions, business networks and more. 
 
 “Passport” also will work with thousands of enterprise Azure Active Directory services at launch, and Microsoft has joined the FIDO alliance to support replacing passwords with a growing set of financial, consumer, and other security services over time. Windows 10 will also have industry-leading security and identity protection for enterprises, so they can deploy new Windows 10 devices with hardware necessary to use Windows Hello, enabling enterprise-grade protection of the device and more secure password-free authentication to enterprise line of business applications. 
 
 Using Windows Hello and “Passport” is your choice and you control whether to opt-in to use it. We understand how critical it is to protect your biometric data from theft, and for this reason your ‘biometric signature’ is secured locally on the device and shared with no one but you. It is only used to unlock your device and “Passport”, it is never used to authenticate you over the network. 
 
 We’re working closely with our hardware partners to deliver Windows Hello capable devices that will ship with Windows 10 and we are excited to announce that all OEM systems incorporating the Intel® RealSense™ 3D Camera (F200) will support the facial unlock features of Windows Hello, including automatic sign-in to Windows, and support to unlock “Passport” without the need for a PIN. 
 
 We’re really excited about taking another step with Windows 10 to make computing more personal, and more secure, with Windows Hello and “Passport”. 
 
 *Windows Hello requires specialized hardware, including fingerprint reader, illuminated IR sensor or other biometric sensors. 
 
 Updated March 19, 2015 10:20 am
– A day after confirming it would be relegating Internet Explorer to PC purgatory and swapping in a new browser (code name: "Project Spartan"), Microsoft announced a new way of unlocking your laptop: sticking your face in front of it. In its blog post, the company introduced Windows Hello, a security feature that uses "biometric authentication" (either a face, iris, or fingerprint scan) to allow users access to devices running Windows 10. The feature—which Microsoft incorporated to make for a harder hack into devices in government, corporate, and other sensitive industries—has a 1 in 100,000 "false accept rate," meaning that it's safer than any password, CNN Money reports. Although the feature isn't being marketed to average consumers, Microsoft says anyone can use it, especially if you already have a fingerprint reader on your device. But Microsoft wanted to make it a little trickier to log in using facial or iris detection, so it doesn't rely on your device's webcam for those methods: You'll have to acquire special equipment for your smartphone, computer, or tablet to work with the feature. "Windows Hello uses a combination of special hardware and software to accurately verify it is you—not a picture of you or someone trying to impersonate you," the blog post notes. (While the Windows folks were working on that, this Microsoft co-founder was searching for sunken treasure).