Microsoft outlines upcoming Windows 10 phone interface, teases September release

Microsoft's first day keynote concluded, leaving us with details on the cross-platform realities of the upcoming Windows 10, which will allow one app to run across phones, tablets, laptops, PCs and even the Xbox. The company also revealed that Project Spartan will be officially known as Microsoft Edge, and made demonstrations of assorted HoloLens gear for its futuristic Windows Holographic undertaking. 

Besides the opening of the Windows platform for easy porting of Android and iOS apps, Microsoft demonstrated Continuum, or how one and the same app, like Outlook, can start off on the phone, then move to a tablet, then to a laptop or even a much larger screen. The app itself will seamlessly transitions between these devices, keeping york work intact, and morphing to adapt for the different input methods on all of these devices. While Windows Phone chief Joe Belfiore didn't show much of during the keynote, was the actual interface that will grace your handset when the new Windows phones hit the market later this year, the official Windows blog has shared more, along with a number of pictures demonstrating it, using the Outlook app.

The "hamburger" menu is making an appearing on Windows 10 for phones, unfortunately placed at the same uncomfortable left-hand side, while most of us are holding the phones with the right. Microsoft recently made this choice, in order to keep Windows Phone more consistent with its competitor platforms. However, Microsoft will only be using it where it is required, and not in the Gallery app interface on phones, for instance.

Moreover, the "three dots" context menu we are accustomed to from you know which mobile OS, is present, too, but thankfully situated in the lower right corner, reachable with your thumb only. Microsoft is still mulling over the tiniest details, like whether the recent apps in the task switcher should be arranged left-to-right, or vice versa. Another very welcome novelty, and something that stock Android and iOS still don't have (other than the iPhone 6 Plus interface), is the landscape mode, which quickly redraws content and navigation imagery to fit a wider, shorter aspect narrative. Check out the images of Windows 10 for phones below, and tell us what you think - judging from the September 2015 heading in the Calendar example, that might be the timeframe when Windows 10 for phones will hit the market.