The Windows 10 UI for Phones and Tablets has led to criticism from various quarters (including here) ranging from the hamburger to the top aligned controls in Project Spartan. Both are changes from the more user friendly options in Windows Phone 8.X. While Microsoft has done nothing on the hamburger menu front so far, a new slide released at WinHec has unveiled possible new UI changes in Windows 10.

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The WinHec slides shows a Spartan that looks more like the current internet explorer in Windows Phone 8.1 with a few UI differences. It eschews the difficult to reach address bar and places it at the bottom of the screen. However it is far too reminiscent of the current IE to be a new app, it is likely that this is an old concept or if not, a response to feedback from users.

Another UI change is the search button. The Windows Tablet version pictured has software buttons just like current Windows Phones like the Lumia 735 and 640, however the search Icon has been replaced by a Cortana button. While this may not exactly be a Windows Phone, Microsoft is using Cortana as it’s search experience on all Windows devices so it would not be surprising to see this come over to Windows 10 mobile as well.

Keeping in mind that the Spartan UI layouts shown may be dynamic and subject to change and we may not know which design concept Microsoft is working towards, what do you think of the new UI shown? Which of the two do you find better?

Let us know in the comments.