Did Microsoft really steal from Apple?

did Ford steal from Dymler?

Well, technically, they didn't really steal. They just "got inspired by what they saw", I guess.

Then again, I use Linux, and it copies a lot of the good stuff from both Mac OS and Windows, and then adds some more. That just makes the product better. However, in Microsoft's case, they have copied a lot of Mac OS without adding a lot of their own, innovative, features, while preserving all Windows' downsides, that Mac OS just is a better product now ;-)

However, you need to buy new hardware for that, if you have a PC, so most people probably won't switch from Windows. And since they also consider installing an operating system too scary, they won't switch to Linux either ;-)

Both borrowed a lot fo ideas from Xerox PARC, some from AmigaOS, BeOS and other now marginalized/specialized systems.

Maybe you should've specifically asked about the similarity of Vista Aero and OSX ?

@glosski: Who's Dymler? Do you mean Daimler?

I'd say microsoft did this:

They noticed that a lot of people were switching to apple, so they took a look at what apple had to offer, then decided to try to update their programs to include some of those features.

steve jobs got the idea for the GUI from XEROX PARC but xerox recieved huge sums of money for letting apple copy. technically microsoft did steal because bill gates got to see the original mac os while he was working for apple before any1 else saw the first graphiccal user interface and added it to windows. Also apple was never paid any compensation by microsft for stealing their ideas. And today, mircosoft is too big of a company to copy ideas from a company thats 1/10th their size and its a shame that they stole anything from MAC OS X.
"The trouble with Microsoft is that they have no taste"

Eh the way I see it, if they copied stuff from mac, they failed. The new windows stuff is even more unusable than ever now.

yes, big time ! Can't you tell how windows vista now has widgets and tries to copy the apple mac book.

Daimler it is - point is that there comes a time when evolution takes place and some folks market (gates/ford) while others create (jobs/Daimler) but either way,the time has come for the product - case in point is this thing I'm typing on! I don't care for 1st generation but I want to support and see this grow!

http://flickr.com/photos/47714080@N00/309724870/

@Vincentt I was hoping that wouldn't come up. That is not a strong argument, as most of the comments on that image suggest. The yin and yang represent interconnectedness. Just because Apple and MS used variations of the yin and yang, does not mean one copied the other. The colors are similar, but as a couple of the users on flickr point out, the dark blue in the windows icon is the same blue from the vista start button. If I had designed that logo I would have also used a light blue for the white side of the yin yang. The colors are supposed to be opposites (white and black), therefore when using dark blue, you should use a light blue to oppose it.

I don't think MS stealing from Apple is the conspiracy that people want to make it. Both companies might look at the other's products to see where they need to improve their own products. Some things will inevitably look like each other, but that doesn't mean they were stolen. But if you expect to see a conspiracy, you'll find stuff to suggest it, just because you want to see it. I doubt the average user looks at a windows page and says "Wow they blatantly stole this from apple"

@Perchik - you're right, but I thought it was funny enough to post it. If I were to be designing a Yin and Yang logo with those colour schemes I would've come up with something similar too. You can clearly see that they started from scratch on the Microsoft one. Still, it's a bit coincidental ;)

This one's a bit more suspicious though: http://linuxlookup.com/2007/jun/26/did_microsoft_copy_the_ubuntu_logo ;-)

@vincent: are you a DIGGer?

@mirza: well, I use Digg. I hate LOLcats though. And a lot of the fanboys on Digg. Plus, I have already read most of the interesting stories on Digg through my feedreader. But still, you know, sometimes there's this one interesting story...

Gates worked for Apple?

yes he did - mircosoft was one of the only three companies to make apps for the apple II

I think the layout of the Windows 95 desktop was basically a rip off of the Mac OS "look and feel". Vista is even more blatant, though.

Obviously Microsoft doesn't copy *everything* from Apple (stability for instance), but does anyone know of a case where Apple copied Microsoft? I can't think of any.

There are a few cases of Apple releasing a feature in OS X after it has been released in Windows (though I can’t think of any off the top of my head). But, usually, they end up being less elegantly executed.

how about the dock that was stolen from linux, the stacks feature in leopard actually originates from a windows program called ObjectDock and they have had it for over 2 years, image previews in finder, (not really theft) but leopard new theme looks a lot like vista’s aeroglass

The dock stolen from Linux? Wasn’t it the other way around? And even if it was, then Avant Window Navigator (running it now ;-) owes a lot to Apples dock.

By the way, you should see my desktop now, it’s a mixture from anything good Mac OS X and Vista have to offer :)

@Vincentt, care to post a screenshot?

segdeha, see for example this one and this one which I coincidentally made last week.

Daniel Eran Dilger at RoughlyDrafted has interesting insights about Microsoft’s rise to prominence on the desktop… and the unfair competitive practices they used to get there.

Sometimes it’s not simply about copying… but what’s done with trust.

I don’t really care if Microsoft or any company copies concepts, the problem for me is that with Microsoft, the steal an idea and manage to make it far worse and bloated than the original concept they took it from in a Linux or Mac OS.
The claim that Apple stole dashboard from Konfabulator is often given for the argument that both steal from everyone, but Apple had a form of Dashboard right back in it’s earliest systems and Dashboard doesn’t resemble Konfabulator under the hood at all. I have found the look fo leopard to be similar to the reflective look of Vista, which I hate because I think Vista looks like a poorly designed 13 year old’s website.

Recently, I think Apple aren’t taking as much care as they used to with their products because they are specifically competing with Microsoft and not just releasing great products that do what they should 100% of the time for those who care to use them.

@Mirza: the Dock was “stolen” from NeXT, which predates Linux.

@cwilbur: NeXT was made by Steve Jobs’ company, which was bought by Apple, so technically that wouldn’t be stealing… unless buying something now counts as stealing. Anyway, everyone in the automotive industry has stolen something from Citroen at some point…

@bluemukaki: consider the punctuation I put around the word stolen, and the perceptiveness of your last comment.