“In an interview published Tuesday, Simon Aldous, partner group manager at Microsoft, acknowledged that the company had used Mac OS X as its muse,” Computerworld reports. “‘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 told PCR from a partner conference in the U.K. What we’ve tried to do with Windows 7 — whether its traditional format or in a touch format — is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics.'”
MacDailyNews Note: In the same interview, Aldous also said that Windows 7ista was “built on that very stable core Vista technology, which is far more stable than the current Mac platform, for instance.”
Computerworld continues, “Late Wednesday, Microsoft repudiated Aldous. ‘Unfortunately, this came from a Microsoft employee who was not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7,’ said Brandon LeBlanc, a company spokesman who authors most of the Windows 7 blog posts. ‘I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed.'”
Computerworld reports, “Comparisons between Microsoft’s and Apple’s operating systems, common because of the short gap between their releases, have often noted Windows 7’s resemblance to Mac OS X 10.6, particularly the similarities between the revamped task bar of the former and the dock of the latter.”
Full article here.
Microsoft’s official disavowal via “The Windows Blog” is here.
MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft has been banking on ignorance for 30+ years. It’s no wonder they fear the truth, especially when it emanates from inside their own ranks. Calling more attention to it via this lame rebuke only highlights Microsoft’s endemic ineptitude. That said, glasses up, “May Steve Ballmer remain Microsoft’s CEO for as long as it takes!”