Microsoft: We Did Not Copy Mac's Look and Feel
In an interview with PCR’s Andrew Wooden, Partner Group Manager with Microsoft, Simon Aldous, admitted to the fact that the Redmond-based software giant took its inspiration from Apple when it designed Windows 7’s looks. To be more precise, Simon Aldous said the following:
“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.”
Aldous went on to say that Windows 7 is based on the core infrastructure of Windows Vista, that Windows 7 takes all the best parts Vista had to offer and adds a faster and slimmed down code and a slicker user interface that lets the user interact with the operating system in an intuitive manner.
It seems this statement did not go down well in Redmond. Microsoft is denying that it created “a Mac look and feel” and is saying that Partner Group Manager with Microsoft, Simon Aldous, was not involved in the development process of Windows 7 and as such, he couldn’t know where Microsoft drew inspiration from.
“An inaccurate quote has been floating around the Internet about the design origins of Windows 7 and whether its look and feel was “borrowed” from Mac OS X. Unfortunately this came from a Microsoft employee who was not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7. I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed,” commented Windows Communications Manager on the Windows Client Communications Team, Brandon LeBlanc.
“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.”
Aldous went on to say that Windows 7 is based on the core infrastructure of Windows Vista, that Windows 7 takes all the best parts Vista had to offer and adds a faster and slimmed down code and a slicker user interface that lets the user interact with the operating system in an intuitive manner.
It seems this statement did not go down well in Redmond. Microsoft is denying that it created “a Mac look and feel” and is saying that Partner Group Manager with Microsoft, Simon Aldous, was not involved in the development process of Windows 7 and as such, he couldn’t know where Microsoft drew inspiration from.
“An inaccurate quote has been floating around the Internet about the design origins of Windows 7 and whether its look and feel was “borrowed” from Mac OS X. Unfortunately this came from a Microsoft employee who was not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7. I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed,” commented Windows Communications Manager on the Windows Client Communications Team, Brandon LeBlanc.
