It's Official, Microsoft Copied Mac's Looks and Feel
A few days ago I went out with some friends and, as a Windows user, I could not stop talking about the latest and so far best Windows version to come out of Redmond – Windows 7. I was excited because I had recently left my trusty XP behind and switched to Windows 7; and the move was a step up. And as I talked about how the OS looks, one of my friends could not stop but utter the following: “sounds a lot like Mac OS X.” Bollocks, I said. But it turns out I was wrong.
It turns out that Redmond-based software giant Microsoft could not stand all the talk about how good Mac OS X looks. So it decided to do something about it – copy Mac’s look and feel. This fact came to light when Partner Group Manager with Microsoft, Simon Aldous was interviewed by PCR’s Andrew Wooden. Here’s what he said.
“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. 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. We’ve significantly improved the graphical user interface, but it’s built on that very stable core Vista technology, which is far more stable than the current Mac platform, for instance.”
Naturally, Andrew Wooden was intrigued and asked Simon Aldous if Windows 7 was built on top the foundations of Vista, by using the style of the Mac platform. Here’s what Aldous replied:
“We’ve taken everything that’s good about Vista, along with the core infrastructure of the operating system, and we’ve made it faster and slimmed down the code to make it more effective. We’ve also tried to listen to what customers want in terms of a much slicker user interface and the ability to engage with it far more intuitively. That’s the product that we’re delivering.”
The winners here are the users; me, you and every other Windows 7 user out there. Microsoft saw something that works, that is popular, and found a way to implement it in its products. Isn’t that what we all want? Better software applications to play with?
UPDATE Friday 11.13.2009: Microsoft denied it copied Mac's look and feel - details here .
It turns out that Redmond-based software giant Microsoft could not stand all the talk about how good Mac OS X looks. So it decided to do something about it – copy Mac’s look and feel. This fact came to light when Partner Group Manager with Microsoft, Simon Aldous was interviewed by PCR’s Andrew Wooden. Here’s what he said.
“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. 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. We’ve significantly improved the graphical user interface, but it’s built on that very stable core Vista technology, which is far more stable than the current Mac platform, for instance.”
Naturally, Andrew Wooden was intrigued and asked Simon Aldous if Windows 7 was built on top the foundations of Vista, by using the style of the Mac platform. Here’s what Aldous replied:
“We’ve taken everything that’s good about Vista, along with the core infrastructure of the operating system, and we’ve made it faster and slimmed down the code to make it more effective. We’ve also tried to listen to what customers want in terms of a much slicker user interface and the ability to engage with it far more intuitively. That’s the product that we’re delivering.”
The winners here are the users; me, you and every other Windows 7 user out there. Microsoft saw something that works, that is popular, and found a way to implement it in its products. Isn’t that what we all want? Better software applications to play with?
UPDATE Friday 11.13.2009: Microsoft denied it copied Mac's look and feel - details here .
