Microsoft Bites Apple, Apple Bites Back

hype7 writes "The NYT (free reg reqd etc) is running an interesting article on where MS seems to be getting all the ideas for its next big OS release, Longhorn. It's only a quickie, but they look at MS's big news from WinHEC, and their possible sources for inspiration. They also pull out that fantastic Bill Gates quote: 'The one thing Apple's providing now is leadership in colors'; and that Apple execs are now having a laugh of their own over how Longhorn, 'Microsoft's 2005 version of its Windows operating system, apes features that have been in Apple's OS X operating system since 2001.'"

Hey...Microsoft is catching up

[btakita]

Used to be Apple had a great GUI since the early 1980's when Microsoft came out with Windows 3.1. around 1990.

Re:The both copy each other...

[BJZQ8]

Jobs and Gates are two immovable objects that are colliding with irresistable force...and these are the results. They just sort of merge together. Apple becomes DRM-loving Microsoft, and Microsoft becomes touchy-feely-hippie-interfaced Apple. No surprise to me.

Fact or Fiction

[telstar]

Remind me again ... do we consider New York Times articles to be fact or fiction these days?
I hear they're creeping towards the top of their own Fiction Best Sellers list these days.

Re:Flattery and Imitation

[Jedi Alec]

but I do wonder whether there's an agreement where Microsoft pays Apple for some of this

Apple gets to ship IE with their computers ;-)

"laughed the apple execs"

[Loosewire]

Then they sued M$ and we all laughed a bit more :)

Who's the bad guy today?

[YetAnotherName]

Not only has Apple been selling cinema-style flat panel displays for several years, but last year it filed patent application 20030002246, titled "active enclosure for computing device," ...

Help, I'm conflicted.

one of the features they haven't told us about yet

[rock_climbing_guy]

The mandatory registration will automatically register you for the New York Times. Then, Internet Explorer will automatically remember your registration ID and password. Oh yeah, maybe mandatory registration will automatically sign you up for MS Passport as well.

Heck, it reminds me of the Dilbert cartoon where an "InstalSHIELD" type program displays the message "Install Wizard is now placing orders for products you will probably need... Found your credit card number..."

Re:Yawn

[HarveyBirdman]

Everyone here is a Microphobe.

Uuummm.... fear of microphones?

Fear of germs?

Fear of tiny gay men?

Here's a summary...

[Dthoma]

...of the responses this story will no doubt get when more people start commenting, for the benefit of those lacking time to read them all:

• Apple copies Microsoft
• Microsoft copies Apple
• Everyone copies the hell out of everyone else
• All of these features were in BSD/Linux/AIX/VMS/SysV since 1995/1990/1985/1930
• Fuck you all, Apple rulez
• I know I'm going to get modded down for saying this, but Microsoft has innovated
• Give one example where Microsoft has innovated
• An example of Microsoft innovation
• Five examples of Apple's innovation
• Somebody screaming that all of these features were copied from an obscure OS from thirty years ago
• I use Multics! I love it, and you should too!
• Fuck Linux
• Fuck Microsoft
• Shaddap all of you, copying is part of innovation
• Imagine a Beowulf cluster of iMacs!
• The latest Microsoft PCs are copies of iMacs
• Here's a reg-free link to the article
• Steve Jobs hasn't had an original idea since 1990
• Bill Gates hasn't had an original idea since 1970
• ...plus the standard trolls

More to come.........uhhhhhh...yeah

[curtisk]

"We only showed glimpses of the future of Longhorn,Wait until the fall when we'll go into more detail at the Professional Developers Conference."

Yeah, after they check out Apple's latest OSX version "Panther" [apple.com] in July :)
They only need a few months to emulate what they see there, right?!

Did anybody notice the photo (of the MS/HP Athens)

[rgoer]

I mean, sure, we can go back and forth with the same old MS vs Apple BS... but there is something new and humorous to point out here:

Did anybody notice the desktop image used in the promo photo of the MS/HP Athens (top right of atricle page)? It's as if MS said: "you're damned right we're copying Apple. Fuck them! We'll copy their default desktop image, too, pompous bastards that they are!"

What's so funny?

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

Apple do lead in colors! I just started using XP for the first time in my life. It took me a few minutes to recognize the color scheme. It's just like the stuff in the 0-6 months section of the toy shop. The pastoral background scene and the primary colors are from the same school of design as mom decorating for her new baby.

Still, XP does boot and shut down fast. That's something worth paying for and I wish Apple would follow.

Re:google loves you

[sharkey]

Wish i was an editor

Well, your grasp of capitalization is loose, puntuation is nonexistant and your grammar is subpar. You meet the minimum requirements for Slashdot editorship. The problem is, you were able to locate the free article, read it and subsequently create a functional link to it using HTML tags. This disqualifies you from consideration for the job.

Microsoft is speeding up...

[TFloore]

Really... Windows 2005 will have things that have been in MacOSX since 2001, huh?

Windows 95 copied things that had been in MacOS since... 1986 or so?

The way I count things, MS is getting better, right? They went from 9 years behind to 4 years behind, in only 10 years.

Re:What's so funny?

[bbc22405]

Yeah, but MS didn't steal the "Bliss Screen" and color scheme from Apple. They stole it from Teletubbies.

"Time for Tubby Bye-bye"!

Re:BSD

[Mikey-San]

Do you know who they both steal from? BSD.

Stealing from a dead man is called scavenging.

Re:The both copy each other...

[SoupIsGoodFood_42]

Microsoft becomes touchy-feely-hippie-interfaced Apple

If you mean that, like, in the way of a bad acid trip, then I guess you're right.

Have you seen Longhorn?

T-shirt

[Anonymous Coward]

I still have a T-shirt that says:

"Macintosh
The power of Windows 95... since 1984"

Re:Correct me if I'm wrong but,

[Tumbleweed]

In the _seventies_?!

Wow, that _would_ have been impressive! :)

Re:The both copy each other...

[SoupIsGoodFood_42]

If MS had come up with the Microsoft Music Store with the same restrictions, the press would be tearing them apart.

Correction: Slashdot would be tearing them apart.

News from WinHEC...

[Slime-dogg]

Microsoft now announces:

The arrival of the nExT generation desktop! This desktop will include all-new technology, such as scalable icons and a specialized bar at the bottom that we like to call "the port." You can now land programs in the port, and ship programs from the port.

At the windows developers meeting, we will be unvailing the UCAPI, or universal component API. This API will be a C++/C# centric API, where MS nExT developers can place descendant classes of current coponents in a directory, and they will be automatically "turned on" for use in all programs that used the original component! Imagine the possibilities, such as a multi-threaded spell-checking text box!

We at MS are very excited to be the frontrunners in this brand-new nExT-generation technology!

Re:Here's a summary...

[Dinosaur Jr.]

Don't forget BSD is dying, in Soviet Russia.

Re:The both copy each other...

[suwain_2]

And UNIX copied su from SCO? ;)

Re:Flattery and Imitation

[mbowles]

I am glad they ship IE with their systems otherwise how could I have had the pleasure of dragging the IE icon to the trashcan.

Re:The both copy each other...

[Hard_Code]

Wow, that is like 2 burns in one.

Burn #1: Slashdot is anti-MS!

Burn #2: Slashdot is not really the press!

Congratulations.

Re:Here's a summary...

[amanpatelhotmail.com]

You forgot one,

• For the benefit of those lacking time heres the summary

Re:Flattery and Imitation

[B3ryllium]

Xerox. In fact, it's rather ironic that everyone copies Xerox.

perpetuate the myths

[simpl3x]

how dare you! next, you'll be telling us that al gore didn't say he invented the internet! or, that iraq doesn't have any wmd! it's /. not the new york times... er...

Re:Arrogance is Dangerous

[thatguywhoiam]

I remember when IBM announced their first personal computer. Of course, Apple said something like "Welcome. Serioiusly."

Ah, but you forgot the most hubristic - and funniest - ad that Apple ran.

At the launch of Windows 95, Apple ran a full-page ad (NYT?) that said:

C:/NGRDLTNS.W95

Priceless.

Your point is taken, though. Let's see if Apple is awake this time. Something tells me they are.

And to misquote

[Anonymous Coward]

"... I don't think." -- Bill Gates

monopoly

[twitter]

Apple gets to ship IE with their computers ;-)

It's more like "forced to ship". Oh wait, that's a joke. OK, that's funny.

Re:Flattery and Imitation and Apes

[neildiamond]

"Apple executives took obvious glee last week in ... Microsoft's 2005 version of its Windows operating system, apes features that have been in Apple's OS X operating system since 2001."

Apple Innovates Again and Patents Apes in an Operating System.

Steve Jobs sued Microsoft yesterday over use of clothed chimps to code Longhorn in a blatant attempt to get around the Apple "ape patent."

Jobs, "Even if they are successful in fighting off the lawsuit, everyone knows that apes are stronger than chimps. This details why Microsoft has been plagued by security problems. Don't send in a chimp to do an ape's work!"

Jobs added that the next version of the iMac will also utilize a design patent related to apes.

"Microsoft may have decided to copy our flat panel design, but we still have another patent related to computers that change color. Our designers included this after observing the multiple colors on the back sides of some primates. We call them rainbow butt monkeys internally and the next iMacs will have coloring simlar to that. Most chimps have plain hairy butts, but ours don't. So that's another reason that people will find our computers more pleasing to look at and easier to use."

While Apple has been known for rounded edges on computer cases, Jobs declined comment on whether the behinds of "rainbow butt monkeys" or plain chimps were more pleasing to the touch.

Re:su

[Megs]

>Copying is the sincerest form of plagurism.

Copying from the dictionary is the surest-fire way of spelling "plagiarism" correctly.

MS really is a steaming pile of... (OT)

[stuntpope]

This is way off-topic, but in my search on google news to find a no-registration copy of the NYT story, I went to sci/tech news, and right below the headline "Did Microsoft "borrow" the iLoo concept?" is the next headline "MSN Messenger to Offer Steaming Video, Voice". That's not my typo, it really says "steaming" on the link, but then the story it links to says "streaming"

So while on your iLoo, feel free to serve up a steaming pile of video and voice ;)

Microsoft stole big chinks

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean BillG stole Yao Ming?

Longhorn, huh?

[Aaron Denney]

I always figured Microsoft would come up with a new name for the same old bull.

Headline Correction

[g_bit]

Apple Bites

For you modder's who don't know what a joke is, this is it. You may not think it's funny, but somebody else does, so have a heart!

Re:Flattery and Imitation and Apes

[Glytch]

I'm sorry to inform you that Microsoft has prior art regarding this patent. Specifically, Steve Ballmer's "DEVELOPERS! DEVELOPERS!" performance.

Gospel

[elmusafir]

Everybody has copied from the Bible. All the answers to every OS out there can be found in the Old Testament (for applications go to the New Testament). You only need to search for the answers following a plain cabalistic algorithm too simplistic to be mentioned here without insulting people's intelligence. elmusafir Who cares!

Apple is safe: MS even ships its jokes late. . .

[dasboy]

The iLoo (portable toilet with Internet access) thing that has been floating around the media for the last week (CNN, CNET, etc, all had articles) turns out to be a "April Fools joke" according to MS representatives (CNET [com.com]). The only problem: they released it on May 2nd. Damn! They can't even release their jokes on time.

Re:The both copy each other...

[sql*kitten]

C:\Documents and Settings\Dave>su
'su' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

That's funny, because on my Windows machine it says:

Microsoft Windows 2000 [Version 5.00.2195]
(C) Copyright 1985-2000 Microsoft Corp.

H:\>su
su: user root does not exist

H:\>

An argument about what is or isn't installed by default is not the same as arguing about the merits of who copied who! After all, Cygwin predates MacOS X... could you say that Apple copied NT+Cygwin by creating a GUI with a Unix-style command line?

If only...

[mav[LAG]]

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Dave>su
"I'm sorry Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."

C:\Documents and Settings\Dave>