Leaked: Windows 10 Dark Theme and Spartan Browser

An interesting leak on a China-based tech blog shows off two features coming in the Windows 10 consumer preview: a dark theme—really background color—that appears to mimic a similar UI in Windows Phone and the Spartan web browser.

You can see the original leak at CNBeta. But while this post focuses only on Spartan, I think the more interesting aspect here is the dark interface theme.

You may recall that when Windows 10 build 9901 leaked a month ago, we saw newly-black (or at least dark) taskbar and windows titlebar elements.

But in the wake of this CNBeta leak, the Verge is reporting Microsoft plans to build "light and dark themes with color accents" in Windows 10 that are similar to that of the existing user interface for Windows Phone. That's a neat idea, actually, and would support an accent color as well.

Here's how the windows look in whatever leaked build they're depicting.

There are some other things going on there, of course, including newly simplified taskbar button icons and tray icons, but you get the idea.

The depicted leaked build also includes the Spartan web browser that Microsoft will apparently include in Windows 10 alongside Internet Explorer. As I noted in Microsoft's Missed Opportunity with Internet Explorer in Windows 10, I don't think this second browser is necessarily a great idea, but whatever. Recent reports suggest it will include a simple, Chrome-like UI, support for extensions, Cortana integration and even digital inking support for sharing and annotating web pages.

These shots corroborate previous reports on Neowin, which doesn't surprise me in the slightest given what I've heard about their sources.