OSNews

http://forums.wincustomize.com/318845

The dock comes in many shapes and sizes, but Samsung picked the OS X one as inspiration.

A dock is literally a row of icons. That's it. It was in Windows 1.0. It was in the first Acorn machines. It. Is. A. Row. Of. Icons.

If you ever needed even more proof this industry is completely and utterly ruined, this is it.

Yes, that is true, but who owns the patent to it?

Not according to the dictionary, but as usually you have your own set of definitions. :-p

Let's leave it at that, because it so meaningless that Apple probably won't put any time in it.

I just don't think "a row of icons" defines what people refer to as the/a dock.

If that was the case you'd have a lot of docks and a useless dock process running.

NeXT had a dock. OS/2 had a dock. The Win 95 task bar was (debatably) an ugly version of a dock (ignoring the launching aspect). Nobody is saying that implementing a dock is novel.

There are flat docks, disjointed docks, tile docks, any number of ways to make it look, yet Samsung ends up copying Apple again with a shelf under the icons, including icon reflections on it. Seriously?

Whether it's legal for Samsung to do it, and whether the legal system is screwed up is another issue,... But. It. Is. Just. A. Copy. Again.

Apparently that's what Samsung does. Hopefully you never come up with any product idea that Samsung takes interest in.

Don't forget the Microsoft Office 97 "Shortcut Bar" that you could add icons to...

so apple sect members thinks that what apple have been using can't be used by samsung

Yeah, we better stop this whole "being inspired" thing. Surely that can't be good for innovation

Samsung - Being Inspired

Hum, this does have marketing potential.

Project Looking Glass, an ugly java based desktop by Sun Microsystems, had a dock that looked just like that. It was demoed for the first time in 2003 ie. 4 years before Apple created a similar dock. Contrary to what some people (and apple) think, not every UI feature implemented by Apple is invented by them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Looking_Glass

Interestingly, Apple claimed that PLG infringed on their IP and threatened to sue Sun.

And here I thought the OS X Dock was inspired by (and in early versions, even had legacy code from) the NeXTSTEP Dock as it existed in the late 80s through the mid-late 90s.

But hey, don't let facts get in the way right?

Acorn Computers had a dock before Nextstep

And here I thought I was replying to a post that claimed that Samsung copied the visual style of the OSX dock when in fact another desktop environment used the same visual style way before Apple.

But hey, don't let your lack of actually having read the thread get in the way when you want to reply right?

My point was that the concept of a dock goes much further back than Samsung/Apple. Apple inherited the dock concept and code when they absorbed NeXT, and as Mellin pointed out, it existed before NeXT too.

To put it another way, electric guitars have had magnetic coil pickups since the 1930s, but you don't see Yamaha suing Fender because they both use them. That's because the concept has been around longer than either company has been making them.

And the reason I replied to you in that tone was because you are incorrect in the first place; Apple had a dock in the very first version of OS X, which was a few years before Project Glass.

Edited 2012-08-29 19:14 UTC

Docks there are many, shapes and sizes, but the Samsung one looks like the Apple one, not like the Acorn one.

Apple doesn't own the dock

Well, it's hard to tell who owns what these days.

For company image I don't think it's wise after getting countless accusations of copying Apple and loosing a court case about it to come up with a Windows launcher that looks like the OS X dock.

They're are creating an image that they copy Apple which will cause people to point to Apple on any new Samsung product even when the resemblance is so remote that it should requires a lot if imagination.

http://t.co/8vwbEycd

so it's the apple have used it now no one else can use it!

Edited 2012-08-29 08:40 UTC

Anyone can use it as far as I am concerned. It may not be very original, but people are used to it.

But if you are called Samsung it may be wiser to be a little more creative or base the look on another dock/launcher and not the OS X one.

People with half a brain cell will start making links with Apple product even when there are no (intentional) ones and Samsung's brand name will start to feel like a cheap Asian copy of premium western products.

That is ludicrous. You do realize that Samsung had this in development prior to the verdict? Why would they not continue through on that development choice? Apple did not create the 'dock'.

It may not seem like it but there is a growing backlash coming for Apple in this Pyrrhic victory. I am seeing article after editorial after commentary discussing how this is going to cost both businesses & consumers, stifle global trade, close international markets to Apple, and at least in the short term hamper innovation.

I have used Apple products (and Microsoft & Unix/Linux too) for over 30 years. I won't buy another. I don't even own a current 'smartphone' but if I must get one in the near future it definitely won't be an iPhone. I am not alone.

And I am not just an IT 'fanboy' picking a favorite team. I am a professional in different fields who can and does influence choices of the platforms that we do our work on. Apple's corporate hubris is not good for the market. To trusts such an entity as it is becoming is just asking for trouble in the long-term even if the short-term popularity and 'gee-whiz' seems so tempting and appealing. There are very good reasons why NASA recently chose an Android based Samsung phone for a satellite project and not an iPhone. The hardware & the software are both open.

they could have looked at project looking glass (predates the dock)

Well, probably not, but let's say they have. Nobody will believe them after a whole streak of Apple inspired things and a conviction.

A lot of geeks will have problems remembering Project Glass, let alone the consuming masses.

http://www.dailytech.com/Analysis+Samsung+Copies+Apples+Launcher+A+...

One can only assume they like the look of the court room

it's not clear from the screenshots but it looks like the dock is not on top of other windows, so if you want to access it you have to show the desktop first, kinda pointless imho if it's not something that you can access fast enough since that's the main problem with using metro instead of the the windows 7 start menu for launching programs or search for files

Ballmer has gone mad over the iPhone and has doubled down on an idiot named Sinofsky. I have no doubt that the majority of MS employees would be against Windows 8 in its current state.

But I'm sure a Windows 8 defender will at any moment tell us that we're afraid of change.

That leads to another question: Why are wheels round? We need change and progress. If you are against modern octagon shaped wheel design then you are afraid of change and stuck in the past. Octagon wheels are new and new is evolution. Efficiency is just an excuse used by change haters. I can't wait to drive on modernist octagon wheels and use an ad screen with a horizontal scroll bar to find my applications. I am an awesome tech embracing dude and I don't fear change. My ego depends on embracing this type of idiocy without question.

Edited 2012-08-28 20:41 UTC

Almost impossible to turn off? How about you press CTRL+Alt+Del for once and see what happens

Are you and Nelson going to hang around Best Buy to help people navigate the invisible buttons?

I can see it now:
NO WAIT DONT LEAVE, WINDOWS 8 IS NOT A POS LIKE EVERYONE SAYS. JUST GIMME ANOTHER 10 MINUTES.

Good software doesn't need forum defenders. When Firefox 1.0 came out I didn't see continual explanations of why it doesn't actually suck. It took off with a wide variety of users because it was a clear improvement over IE6. I had non-technical people asking me if I had used it. My annoying clueless neighbor even came over to tell me about how great it was.

Wake the f*** up already. Windows 8 is shitty software. The fact that Samsung is doing this speaks volumes.

I just tried this application on Windows 8 and it really is fantastic, thanks for the tip!

Actually, it's really good for Windows 7 too. Maybe I am morphing into a luddite, but the classic Start Menu really is much nicer (and intuitive) for me to use.

*shrugs*

Tip: Now add "7+ Taskbar Tweaker" to really make it feel like home.

http://rammichael.com/7-taskbar-tweaker