'Windows 7 copied Mac' claim crushed by Microsoft

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 13 November 2009 14:17

Opinion and Analysis

It’s all over the news – a Microsoft employee saying the graphics of Windows 7 were inspired by the Mac, then quickly corrected by the official Windows Team Blog saying it was nothing of the sort!

It’s the stuff of corporate nightmares – one of your very own employees quoted publicly saying something potentially very embarrassing, and then needing to come out with a quick statement to deny the previous claims and correct the record.

Well, it has just happened to Microsoft, with a Microsoft UK Partner Group Manager by the name of Simon Aldous saying to IT trade publication PCR that “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.”

That’s the money quote in an interview where Aldous is otherwise on message promoting all the benefits of Windows 7 for consumers and retail partners, along with some Office 2010 tidbits, too.

The new taskbar in Windows 7 is most often compared to the Mac OS X dock, which it certainly does resemble in its default configuration. However, changing the dock settings to “never combine” on “combine when taskbar is full” presents a more traditional Windows 95 to Vista taskbar experience while still retaining the improved Aero taskbar preview experience.

Aldous’ public assertion that Microsoft was inspired by Apple seems to ultimately have been a careless mistake which Aldous is presumably regretting, while simultaneously wondering if he’ll soon be thrust into a brave new world of unemployment.

One of Microsoft’s über-bloggers Brandon LeBlanc was quick to come out with a corrective statement noting that: “An inaccurate quote has been floating around the Internet today 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.”

LeBlanc then goes on to point to news articles and an Engineering Windows 7 blog entry that all go into more detail on the Windows 7 design process.

A defender and colleague of Aldous’ with the username “I-dont-do-tat” commented in the Windows Team Blog that: “I know Simon Aldous, having worked in the same UK subsidiar (sic) as him for a few years.  He's a good guy who, for me, is telling it like it is.  He's paying testament to the common view that a Mac is cool and a great template to copy.

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