After 20 long years, Microsoft may finally be putting Internet Explorer out to pasture.

The techie rumour mill is ablaze with talk of the Redmond based software giant is replacing IE with a new browser, codenamed Spartan (which some say is a not so subtle nod to Halo).

The new browser is also rumoured to be being released with Windows 10. Screen shots of the new OS have leaked showing SpartanZ as a start menu app.

Information about the look and feel of Spartan is scant. This said, it sounds like it'll be a lot more like Chrome or Firefox. Spartan will support browser extensions and a much smaller footprint than its venerable stablemate.

Killing off Internet Explorer is a bold move for Microsoft. The little blue E has a long legacy going all the way back to 1995. As the tech industry works in dog years, Internet Explorer is almost ancient in tech industry terms. The standing joke that IE is useful as a means of downloading either Chrome or Firefox could also become a thing of the past.

Initial rumours had talked up Spartan as being re-branded to IE12 at a later date. Other sources say Spartan is a completely new build from the ground up. It is believed that Spartan will use Microsoft's Chakra JavaScript engine and Trident rendering engine.

If the latest rumours prove to be correct, Windows 10 could ship with both Internet Explorer 11 as well as Spartan, which will be available on both PCs and mobile hardware running Windows 10. Let round two of the browser wars commence!