Haven't played U6 yet since I want to work my way up from U4 (which I have almost finished now). I think its interesting how much the Addict loves the interface considering how much Spoony hated it, which got me a little 'scared' of U6. So who is right on this?
Well, it depends. I would say that Spoony is right, but CRPGAddict's impressions are colored by the fact that he's been playing very old RPGs. He's seeing things in the historical context, you could say. U6's interface is unwieldy, but the things that it allowed you to do were revolutionary at the time it was released.
You've been playing old RPGs too, so maybe you'll agree with him, or maybe not.
I've been playing only old games myself for the past three years. Of all the games I've tried, along with emulated old ZX Spectrum games, Ultima 6 and 7 are the only ones I gave up on due to the UI (including the view area). So I have to agree with Spoony and disagree with Addict. The view area of U6 is claustrophobic and the UI for item management was unwieldy compared to U5. Opening a chest a dozen items would pop out making a smudgy pile on the floor with individual items hard to make out. Only good thing about it was the paperdolls.