Microsoft denies Apple had influence on Windows 7 design

***AppleInsider*** · 11-12-2009, 07:55 AM

After a Microsoft official was quoted as saying that the "look and feel" of Windows 7 was inspired by Mac OS X, Apple's rival to the north has officially retracted the statement.

On the official Windows Blog, Brandon LeBlanc said that the widely circulated quote was "inaccurate." He flatly stated that the style of Windows 7 was not inspired by Mac OS X.

"Unfortunately this came from a Microsoft employee who was not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7," LeBlanc said. "I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed."

The retraction came in response to an interview that Simon Aldous, partner group manager with Microsoft, gave to PCR, in which he said the graphical style of Windows 7 was inspired by Apple's Mac OS X.

"One of the things that people say an awful lot about the Apple Mac is that the OS is fantastic, that it's very graphical and easy to use," Aldous said. "What we’ve tried to do with Windows 7 -- whether it's traditional format or in a touch format -- is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics."

Despite Microsoft's official retraction of the comments, many, prior to Aldous' statement, had noted similarities between Microsoft's latest operating system and Mac OS X. In particular, the Windows 7 taskbar and the Mac OS X dock act very much alike, by combining program icons for both launching an accessing open windows.

The similarities between the two were acknowledged by The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg in his review of Windows 7.

monstrosity · 11-12-2009, 08:03 AM

Shame, I much preferred the honest approach .

JPDLVMH · 11-12-2009, 08:06 AM

Microsoft can deny all they want - for years they have been copying and imitating the Mac OS. To help you believe which statement is right, just look at both OS's and the proof is there that Windooz is imitating MAC.

teckstud · 11-12-2009, 08:08 AM

OOOhh- a retraction.

MS knows how to keep Windows 7 alive in the news a month later. Pretty smart I think- this is obviously all planned PR.

All that anger, all that rage on here yesterday for what? NADA.

Just as I said yesterday , OSX has no touch features yet. So who's copying who? When does the Touch come out with SL Touch?

lilgto64 · 11-12-2009, 08:10 AM

When I first read the original article I was thinking it was some kink of joke or hoax - of course then I realized that Windows is some kind of joke or hoax so it fits.

In fairness though I have used many operating systems for many years and I don't think any of them are as good or as bad as the some folks would have you believe - and overall each has improved over the years - my personal preference in Mac OS for overall ease of use, for it just works (except when it doesn't), and for the most part a lack of the pain and frustration of getting things to work in the first place and to keep them running well over time, Mac OS is far superior, especially for those who do not have an IT support staff.

digitalclips · 11-12-2009, 08:10 AM

Considering the original Windows was a reverse engineering job of the Mac's first OS in the first place and it hasn't got much further since the the 80's it seems a disingenuous discussion at best ....

teckstud · 11-12-2009, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPDLVMH

Microsoft can deny all they want - for years they have been copying and imitating the Mac OS. To help you believe which statement is right, just look at both OS's and the proof is there that Windooz is imitating MAC.

Copying ? I thought they stole it?

iphonedeveloperthailand · 11-12-2009, 08:27 AM

Makes MS look even worst.

neondiet · 11-12-2009, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teckstud

Just as I said yesterday , OSX has no touch features yet. So who's copying who? When does the Touch come out with SL Touch?

OS X has no touch features? What do you think the iPhone is running: OS X Lite! Why would I want a laptop or desktop with a touch screen anyway? I hate that. Anyone attempting to touch my screen gets slapped for leaving smudgy fingerprint marks behind. It's not as quick and easy to clean as an iPhone.

Dlux · 11-12-2009, 08:33 AM

Quote:

"I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed."

And we can all be assured that was the one and only time it has ever happened.

hiimamac · 11-12-2009, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teckstud

OOOhh- a retraction.

MS knows how to keep Windows 7 alive in the news a month later. Pretty smart I think- this is obviously all planned PR.

All that anger, all that rage on here yesterday for what? NADA.

Just as I said yesterday , OSX has no touch features yet. So who's copying who? When does the Touch come out with SL Touch?

You know with This talk of copy cop copy.
Want to
see where a lot of leopard features came from?
And I do mean a lot.

This video is 7 years or older. After the 3rd slide it goes live to an audience.
Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXv8V...=youtube_gdata

So who's copying who? This should quiet a lot of people from both sides.

sticknick · 11-12-2009, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teckstud

Just as I said yesterday , OSX has no touch features yet. So who's copying who? When does the Touch come out with SL Touch?

Here is a right handed Windows 7 touch user:

Rot'nApple · 11-12-2009, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teckstud

Just as I said yesterday , OSX has no touch features yet. So who's copying who? When does the Touch come out with SL Touch?

Whose to say Apple doesn't have a SL Touch? Didn't Apple have Intel "capable" software in PPC equipped Mac OS for a year before Intel was rolled out?

VeloRandy · 11-12-2009, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

After a Microsoft official was quoted as saying that the "look and feel" of Windows 7 was inspired by Mac OS X, Apple's rival to the north has officially retracted the statement.

Copy, copy, copy, deny, deny, deny.

DaveGee · 11-12-2009, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

"I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed."

YES!

What say we throw him into the pit of despair? That'll teach em!

Egocentric · 11-12-2009, 08:49 AM

You can't really retract a statement. Once it's said, it's said. And besides, who didn't already know this? Microshaft doesn't have to come out and say it in the first place.
-360

sheff · 11-12-2009, 08:53 AM

Next up: Microsoft store is not imitating the Apple store. Sure Microsoft, sure...

meeksdigital · 11-12-2009, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teckstud

Just as I said yesterday , OSX has no touch features yet. So who's copying who? When does the Touch come out with SL Touch?

No touch features eh? That's funny, I just used four fingers to swipe my way through open apps, selected firefox, used three fingers to swipe my way over to this tab, then used two fingers to scroll down to your post on my macbook pro.

I regularly zoom through google maps, zoom in and out on images and documents, and access tons of other features on my mac with multi touch controls. Granted, they aren't on the screen, but I think anyone in their right mind understands that touching the screen of a laptop or desktop is just ridiculous and unnecessary.

The iPhone runs a fully multi-touch environment adapted directly from OSX.

Get your facts straight, PC fanboy

krreagan · 11-12-2009, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

"I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed."

Just when I think someone at MS is being truly honest...

ghostface147 · 11-12-2009, 09:12 AM

What's wrong with a little "inspiration" from the competition? Every industry does it. Retracting that statement is dumb however.

extremeskater · 11-12-2009, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meeksdigital

No touch features eh? That's funny, I just used four fingers to swipe my way through open apps, selected firefox, used three fingers to swipe my way over to this tab, then used two fingers to scroll down to your post on my macbook pro.

I regularly zoom through google maps, zoom in and out on images and documents, and access tons of other features on my mac with multi touch controls. Granted, they aren't on the screen, but I think anyone in their right mind understands that touching the screen of a laptop or desktop is just ridiculous and unnecessary.

The iPhone runs a fully multi-touch environment adapted directly from OSX.

Get your facts straight, PC fanboy

Microsoft has a touch feature built into their desktop OS that works with the current HP TouchSmart desktops. I assume he was talking about this feature an the fact Apple doesn't have it at this point. However if the Tablet rumors are true that should change fairly soon.

Ricardo Dawkins · 11-12-2009, 09:18 AM

hey the dock looks like my double height Windows 95 taskbar back in the day

Gazoobee · 11-12-2009, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hiimamac

You know with This talk of copy cop copy.
Want to see where a lot of leopard features came from?
And I do mean a lot.
This video is 7 years or older. After the 3rd slide it goes live to an audience.
Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXv8V...=youtube_gdata
So who's copying who? This should quiet a lot of people from both sides.

Everybody has R&D stuff like this. The difference is Apple doesn't show theirs off at conferences.

"Looking Glass" is also far from the first project to look at these kinds of things. To say that Leopard got "a lot" of it's features from Looking Glass is a wild exaggeration even based on what is in the video.

benice · 11-12-2009, 09:28 AM

I went into a shop the other day to look at some of the PCs with Win7 on them, and I couldn't see anything that even comes close to OSX.

I found myself looking at the Win7 laptop and thinking this is just like XP with a little bit more polish too, and it was nothing like the (re)volution that I'd expected. It just wasn't at all what I thought, even from the odd Win7 screenshot I've seen.

On the desktop were a few things on the side saying stuff like "Click here for" excitement' or something like that and I thought that it was a joke. A few other trivial links on the desktop seemed to be the kind of things that would never slip through the Apple HQ.

I was shocked to be honest and thoughts of getting a Win7 machine for the house quickly evaporated. Can anyone tell me, or put up some screenies, that show where OSX and Win7 are similar and where it looks as good as OSX?

doyourownthing · 11-12-2009, 09:31 AM

i'm glad they took back that statement, now i'm 100% sure that windows 7 has only original ideas, none of which were borrowed from os x

thanks for being the beacon of innovation, microsoft

Povilas · 11-12-2009, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teckstud

Just as I said yesterday , OSX has no touch features yet. So who's copying who? When does the Touch come out with SL Touch?

I believe OS X has had those features for over 2 years now, just not in desktop and notebook computers, because it doesn't make alot of sense right now. Market agrees.

zunx · 11-12-2009, 09:33 AM

STEALING FROM DOS TO WINDOWS:

http://www.mackido.com/History/index.html

teckstud · 11-12-2009, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meeksdigital

No touch features eh? That's funny, I just used four fingers to swipe my way through open apps, selected firefox, used three fingers to swipe my way over to this tab, then used two fingers to scroll down to your post on my macbook pro.

I regularly zoom through google maps, zoom in and out on images and documents, and access tons of other features on my mac with multi touch controls. Granted, they aren't on the screen, but I think anyone in their right mind understands that touching the screen of a laptop or desktop is just ridiculous and unnecessary.

The iPhone runs a fully multi-touch environment adapted directly from OSX.

Get your facts straight, PC fanboy

Right- let me know when that Swipe runs two apps (Windows) at once in that MiniME OS. Kay?

teckstud · 11-12-2009, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benice

I went into a shop the other day to look at some of the PCs with Win7 on them, and I couldn't see anything that even comes close to OSX.

I found myself looking at the Win7 laptop and thinking this is just like XP with a little bit more polish too, and it was nothing like the (re)volution that I'd expected. It just wasn't at all what I thought, even from the odd Win7 screenshot I've seen.

On the desktop were a few things on the side saying stuff like "Click here for" excitement' or something like that and I thought that it was a joke. A few other trivial links on the desktop seemed to be the kind of things that would never slip through the Apple HQ.

I was shocked to be honest and thoughts of getting a Win7 machine for the house quickly evaporated. Can anyone tell me, or put up some screenies, that show where OSX and Win7 are similar and where it looks as good as OSX?

Exactly. You hit the nail on the head. OSX rules and 7 looks nothing like it. A direct descendant of XP- I thought so too.
7 does have touch though.

Zoolook · 11-12-2009, 09:38 AM

Whatever history might suggest, the Windows 7 GUI is an evolution of what was on Windows Vista and XP before that. There is no real visible shift towards the OS X GUI going from Vista to Win7...

I am on Win7 right now, and have used OS X since Jaguar.

christopher126 · 11-12-2009, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iphonedeveloperthailand

Makes MS look even worst.

Exactly my thought, too! The last time MS went in their own direction trying to differentiate themselves from Apple as far the OS 'look' was the 'Fischer-Price' look of XP. Very ugly!

Why can't they just admit OSX has a very elegant 'look' to it. It's so bloody obvious MS is copying OSX!

iGod 2.0 · 11-12-2009, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monstrosity

Shame, I much preferred the honest approach .

That's a lie from the Pit of Hell. Microsoft at the very least could have been honest about it...then again, they did the same thing with Vista and the past couple of Windows releases. Some things just never change I guess...

teckstud · 11-12-2009, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by extremeskater

Microsoft has a touch feature built into their desktop OS that works with the current HP TouchSmart desktops. I assume he was talking about this feature an the fact Apple doesn't have it at this point. However if the Tablet rumors are true that should change fairly soon.

Exactly - and then who's zoomin' who?

knightlie · 11-12-2009, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teckstud

Right- let me know when that Sw*snip*

Oh do be quiet.

So, this Microsoft UK guy just made that statement up, did he? It's completely wrong, has no basis in fact, so he must have invented it, or, to use the proper term, "lied."

teckstud · 11-12-2009, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iGod 2.0

That's a lie from the Pit of Hell. Microsoft at the very least could have been honest about it...then again, they did the same thing with Vista and the past couple of Windows releases. Some things just never change I guess...

...... and Steve Ballmer is a replicant of Steve Jobs!

iGod 2.0 · 11-12-2009, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teckstud

...... and Steve Balmer is a replicant of Steve Jobs!

LMAO

Yeah! He SURE is!

success · 11-12-2009, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neondiet

Why would I want a laptop or desktop with a touch screen anyway? I hate that.

You hate that? Soo you have a secret future desktop prototype Mac with touch on it and you hate it? Or you're imagining hating it if you had it on your desktop? lol Either way it's odd.

walshbj · 11-12-2009, 09:52 AM

Looking forward to a denial that the Microsoft stores and Guru Bar copied anything from Apple.

iGod 2.0 · 11-12-2009, 09:52 AM

[QUOTE=teckstud;1519433]

At first, there were subtle changes that the casual user didn't notice, now its just f***ing obvious. "Instant Search" "Windows Calender" "Windows Contacts"? Come on Microsoft, you mean to tell us that when you were writing this Mac OS had no influence whatsoever?! At all?! My ass!!

Shameless

iGod 2.0 · 11-12-2009, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walshbj

Looking forward to a denial that the Microsoft stores and Guru Bar copied anything from Apple.

DITTO

11-12-2009, 07:55 AM	#1
*AppleInsider* Kasper's Automated Slave Join Date: Nov 1997 Posts: 6,151	Microsoft denies Apple had influence on Windows 7 design After a Microsoft official was quoted as saying that the "look and feel" of Windows 7 was inspired by Mac OS X, Apple's rival to the north has officially retracted the statement. On the official Windows Blog, Brandon LeBlanc said that the widely circulated quote was "inaccurate." He flatly stated that the style of Windows 7 was not inspired by Mac OS X. "Unfortunately this came from a Microsoft employee who was not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7," LeBlanc said. "I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed." The retraction came in response to an interview that Simon Aldous, partner group manager with Microsoft, gave to PCR, in which he said the graphical style of Windows 7 was inspired by Apple's Mac OS X. "One of the things that people say an awful lot about the Apple Mac is that the OS is fantastic, that it's very graphical and easy to use," Aldous said. "What we’ve tried to do with Windows 7 -- whether it's traditional format or in a touch format -- is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics." Despite Microsoft's official retraction of the comments, many, prior to Aldous' statement, had noted similarities between Microsoft's latest operating system and Mac OS X. In particular, the Windows 7 taskbar and the Mac OS X dock act very much alike, by combining program icons for both launching an accessing open windows. The similarities between the two were acknowledged by The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg in his review of Windows 7.

11-12-2009, 08:08 AM	#4
teckstud Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 6,115	OOOhh- a retraction. MS knows how to keep Windows 7 alive in the news a month later. Pretty smart I think- this is obviously all planned PR. All that anger, all that rage on here yesterday for what? NADA. Just as I said yesterday , OSX has no touch features yet. So who's copying who? When does the Touch come out with SL Touch? Once you go Mac, you never go back!

11-12-2009, 08:10 AM	#5
lilgto64 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: The Northcoast Posts: 127	my thoughts When I first read the original article I was thinking it was some kink of joke or hoax - of course then I realized that Windows is some kind of joke or hoax so it fits. In fairness though I have used many operating systems for many years and I don't think any of them are as good or as bad as the some folks would have you believe - and overall each has improved over the years - my personal preference in Mac OS for overall ease of use, for it just works (except when it doesn't), and for the most part a lack of the pain and frustration of getting things to work in the first place and to keep them running well over time, Mac OS is far superior, especially for those who do not have an IT support staff.

11-12-2009, 08:10 AM	#6
digitalclips Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: South West Florida Posts: 1,584	Considering the original Windows was a reverse engineering job of the Mac's first OS in the first place and it hasn't got much further since the the 80's it seems a disingenuous discussion at best .... Used all Apples from Apple][ through 8 Core Mac Pro http://www.digitalclips.com

11-12-2009, 08:27 AM	#8
iphonedeveloperthailand Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Bangkok, Thailand Posts: 42	Makes MS look even worst. 80 million iPhones by 2012. That's only 15% of the market. http://www.iphonethailand.net

11-12-2009, 08:03 AM	#2
monstrosity Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: England Posts: 557	Shame, I much preferred the honest approach .

11-12-2009, 08:06 AM	#3
JPDLVMH Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: London Posts: 2	Microsoft can deny all they want - for years they have been copying and imitating the Mac OS. To help you believe which statement is right, just look at both OS's and the proof is there that Windooz is imitating MAC.

11-12-2009, 08:49 AM	#16
Egocentric Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 4	Um... You can't really retract a statement. Once it's said, it's said. And besides, who didn't already know this? Microshaft doesn't have to come out and say it in the first place. -360

11-12-2009, 08:53 AM	#17
sheff Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 121	Next up: Microsoft store is not imitating the Apple store. Sure Microsoft, sure... --SHEFFmachine out

11-12-2009, 09:12 AM	#20
ghostface147 Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 235	What's wrong with a little "inspiration" from the competition? Every industry does it. Retracting that statement is dumb however.

11-12-2009, 09:18 AM	#22
Ricardo Dawkins Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 6	hey the dock looks like my double height Windows 95 taskbar back in the day

11-12-2009, 09:28 AM	#24
benice Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 25	I went into a shop the other day to look at some of the PCs with Win7 on them, and I couldn't see anything that even comes close to OSX. I found myself looking at the Win7 laptop and thinking this is just like XP with a little bit more polish too, and it was nothing like the (re)volution that I'd expected. It just wasn't at all what I thought, even from the odd Win7 screenshot I've seen. On the desktop were a few things on the side saying stuff like "Click here for" excitement' or something like that and I thought that it was a joke. A few other trivial links on the desktop seemed to be the kind of things that would never slip through the Apple HQ. I was shocked to be honest and thoughts of getting a Win7 machine for the house quickly evaporated. Can anyone tell me, or put up some screenies, that show where OSX and Win7 are similar and where it looks as good as OSX?

11-12-2009, 09:31 AM	#25
doyourownthing Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 142	i'm glad they took back that statement, now i'm 100% sure that windows 7 has only original ideas, none of which were borrowed from os x thanks for being the beacon of innovation, microsoft

11-12-2009, 09:33 AM	#27
zunx Registered User Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 373	STEALING FROM DOS TO WINDOWS: http://www.mackido.com/History/index.html

11-12-2009, 09:38 AM	#30
Zoolook Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 222	Whatever history might suggest, the Windows 7 GUI is an evolution of what was on Windows Vista and XP before that. There is no real visible shift towards the OS X GUI going from Vista to Win7... I am on Win7 right now, and have used OS X since Jaguar. Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others.

11-12-2009, 09:52 AM	#38
walshbj Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 502	Looking forward to a denial that the Microsoft stores and Guru Bar copied anything from Apple. File Encryption Tools Built Into Your Mac

11-12-2009, 09:52 AM	#39
iGod 2.0 Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 35	Teckstud its getting more blatant at Microsoft [QUOTE=teckstud;1519433] At first, there were subtle changes that the casual user didn't notice, now its just f***ing obvious. "Instant Search" "Windows Calender" "Windows Contacts"? Come on Microsoft, you mean to tell us that when you were writing this Mac OS had no influence whatsoever?! At all?! My ass!! Shameless

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