Linked by snydeq on Mon 12th Oct 2009 15:24 UTC
InfoWorld's John Rizzo chronicles the 20 most significant ideas and features Microsoft and Apple have stolen from each other in the lead up to Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. 'Some features were stolen so long ago that they've become part of the computing landscape, and it's difficult to remember who invented what.' Windows 7's Task Bar and Aero Peek come to mind as clear appropriations of Mac OS X's Dock and Expose. Apple's cloning of the Windows address bar in 2007's Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard as the path bar is another obvious 'inspiration.' But the borrowing goes deeper, Rizzo writes, providing a screenshot tour of Microsoft's biggest grabs from Mac OS X and Apple's most significant appropriations of Windows OS ideas and functionality.
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Member since:
1997-10-01
It's only stealing if by taking it you're depriving the owner of its use. We have a word for being inspired by someone else's idea and creating something derivative: invention. There's nothing morally wrong with copying a user interface element that works, or improving on it slightly. It's not even illegal in most circumstances. Without "stealing" we would have no civilization and no technology.