[CommonSense]

I'll let the URL do the talking for me.

Take a look at http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/Plus/Themes.htm.

Tell me where you've seen those desktop backgrounds before.

I just want to know how on earth these morons think they can get away with this, without anyone noticing.

(sigh)

[ edited to correct the URL ]

[ 10-22-2001: Message edited by: CommonSense ]

[ 10-22-2001: Message edited by: CommonSense ]

[Colonel Panic]

Wow, that's really both sad and stunning at the same time. Hard to believe.

[nonhuman]

I don't recall having previously seen the DaVinci ones (at least). And you've got to admit, the DaVinci desktops is a pretty cool idea.

[Nebrie]

Plus they have the privilege to pay $40 for that rip-off, most of which can be found online for free just like every previous version of plus.

[Guy Incognito]

They crossed the line with the Rubber Ducky user login pict. Now they take a few more steps beyond the line. wtf...someone should report this to Apple.

[xi_hyperon]

What I want to know is, with the absurdly immense resources MS has, why do they have such a hard time thinking of something original?

[Kickaha]

Money can't buy talent.

It can hire it, it can contract it out, but it can't give you any.

So, they rip other people off. Simple.

[KellyHogan]

Originally posted by CommonSense:
<STRONG>I'll let the URL do the talking for me.

Take a look at http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/Plus/Themes.htm.

Tell me where you've seen those desktop backgrounds before.

I just want to know how on earth these morons think they can get away with this, without anyone noticing.

(sigh)

[ edited to correct the URL ]

[ 10-22-2001: Message edited by: CommonSense ]

[ 10-22-2001: Message edited by: CommonSense ]</STRONG>

They're not that different from the themes in the original Plus pack that came with Windows 95 in 1996. Even the names are the same. Where was the first XP rip off anyway?

[Henriok]

Honestly.. Do we really care? After several years with Kaleidoscope, do we really use Boilerplate, Ozymandias and schemes like that? None. Hell.. we complained like hell when Apple made the QuickTime Player in brushed metal, 'cause that was too extravagant, and now Aqua.. too flashy! "We want Paltinum!"

Who the hell want a Media Player looking like a treasure chest? Eye candy.. no value added functinality. Harmless.. let the clueless live their own lives.

[RAzaRazor]

So What? You should be pissed at me, because I have taken many pictures of dewdrops on plants.

Damn! I must have stole the idea from Apple!

The simple truth is that the dewdrops picture is a common subject for photographers. Why? It's cool! And, tt makes a nice soothing desktop background.

You know that it IS possible for two people to have the same idea without being influenced by the other.

By no means am I a MS supporter, but the overreactions by so many is getting annoying!

[ratlater]

HA...the space picture is on my desktop right now! I ripped it out of the "cosmos screen saver" a few days ago. I don't care if they use similarly themed pictures, but using identical pictures to what Apple supplies is a bit pathetic.

-ratlater

[KidRed]

Where was the first XP rip off anyway?

Well, for the pics, I belive he's speaking about the strangley familiar nature pic that comes with OSX.

As for the other areas, let's see, the "X" in "XP", the bright colors, the log in, built in firewall, you get the idea right?

[Guy Incognito]

Originally posted by RAzaRazor:
<STRONG>So What? You should be pissed at me, because I have taken many pictures of dewdrops on plants.

Damn! I must have stole the idea from Apple!

The simple truth is that the dewdrops picture is a common subject for photographers. Why? It's cool! And, tt makes a nice soothing desktop background.

You know that it IS possible for two people to have the same idea without being influenced by the other.

By no means am I a MS supporter, but the overreactions by so many is getting annoying!

</STRONG>

Can you send me something you've done on your computer to my e-mail address? I plan on spreading it as my work. Thanks for your cooperation.

Edit: oh, you haven't used OS X yet? The picture of Earth is the *exact* picture in the OS X screensaver.

[ 10-22-2001: Message edited by: Guy Incognito ]

[Oneota]

Folks, with all due respect:

Calm the hell down.


The pictures in question are in the public domain -- Apple doesn't own 'em, they picked them because they wouldn't have to pay royalties on them. Microsoft picked 'em for the same reason.

Granted, MS could have picked *different* pics from the public domain, but still...it's not like MS just copied the pics from the Apple screensaver packages.

[Gerson]

Originally posted by Guy Incognito:
<STRONG>They crossed the line with the Rubber Ducky user login pict. </STRONG>

I'm sorry, but doesn't anyone else think this is funny?
I think that demonstrating that Microsoft imitated Apple's space and nature pictures would require demonstrating that Apple had been the first or among the first to take and use such pictures! Surely pictures of planets and space and dew drops are stock images (literally).

I'm afraid I really don't see any important aspect of XP that is copied from OS X or OS 9. True, they used the rubber ducky image in some screenshots...but I think that's pretty trivial. Yes, they have a built-in firewall, but haven't other operating systems had that for years before Microsoft and Apple? As far as bright colors go, Apple has arguably been borrowing from Microsoft by making heavy use of blue, which has always been the main Windows color since Win95. Even that, however, seems quite trivial.

I think debating the features of OS X and WinXP is valuable; but I simply don't see either Microsoft OR Apple borrowing from each other that much...

[Guy Incognito]

Originally posted by Gerson:
[QB]

I'm sorry, but doesn't anyone else think this is funny?

I don't think it's funny at all...you've got a twisted sense of humor son. MS could have used any other picture of space (any one of the 2 million pictures of space that exist on the web) but they decided to take the exact same picture of Earth as Apple did.

While the picture may be public domain, it's still a cheap shot at Apple. It may be trivial, but it still shows how MS's lack of originality.

I'm sorry but doesn't anyone else think Gerson is funny?

[Oneota]

Originally posted by Guy Incognito:
<STRONG>

I'm sorry but doesn't anyone else think Gerson is funny?</STRONG>

See, now, your post made sense and had some credibility right up until that gratuitous flamebait. Then ya went and insulted someone who had a differing view than you, and everything you said just lost all respectability.

Let's try not to make this discussion personal, shall we?

[Gerson]

I think I should have used a smiley in my message...I didn't mean to come off as sounding that serious.
But is it really exactly the same photo??? My roommate this summer had OS X, but I haven't used it recently enough to remember. That would be in poor taste, I agree. But I still hesitate to say that it indicates any very significant copying from Apple--are there other aspects of OS X being copied in WinXP?

[theolein]

All those themes are in my plus directory on my win98 machine. Personally I dislike Windows for other reasons, not for the way it looks. I just spent an evening over at a guy's house trying to get his win98 modem to work and after fighting my way through god knows how many why-the-f*ck-is-this-sodding-dialog-in-this-f*cking-location hours I gave up, depressed. That is why I like the Mac. You can take Aqua and shove it, I don't care. I like it but it's not why I like the Mac. WinXP looks good enough for me for that matter. I like the Mac because the sodding designers actually took some time between the lines of coke to think about what went where and why. The dicksh*t weenie nerd a$$holes over microdick did their programming design in microsoft notepad and tacked on almost every mothersucking option , radio button, checkbox and text entryfield whereever they happened to be at a specific point in time. Simply in the fashion "Oh, sh*t, I need to place a text entry field here in the screen resolution panel so that the user can enter his ISP telephone number". Along comes Microjerk user support and asks, "Uh, why did you place that dialog there? Shouldn't it be over in the Modem panel or perhaps even in the Network panel". Microdick programmer responds,"Oh my gosh, you're right. Ok, I'll place the same text entry field in the Network panel and the Modem panel and I'll make a link option from the one in the Modem panel to the screen resolution panel for our advanced customers, because that's where we have the help file button" . Apple may be many things and make many dumb decisions and be overpriced etc, but they do put some thought into how the computer and the GUI should be designed and used.

That's why I like the Mac. &lt;/end of mindless rage rant and reaching over to wipe the spit off my lips and take another swig of beer&gt;

[Spliffdaddy]

Originally posted by CommonSense:
<STRONG>I'll let the URL do the talking for me.

Take a look at http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/Plus/Themes.htm.

Tell me where you've seen those desktop backgrounds before.

I just want to know how on earth these morons think they can get away with this, without anyone noticing.

(sigh) </STRONG>

DaVinci and Space themes have been around since 1998 - they were included in 98SE and the original 98 PlusPack.

Apple copied Microsoft, actually.

[michaelb]

I knew Microsoft must have made XP look like a grenade went off in a paint factory for a reason.

They just want to sell copies of their Plus pack to make it look a bit better.

Apple is stupid for making an aesthetically pleasing system out of the box. They should have made it butt-ugly like Windows and then sell CDs of royalty-free art to make it look better.

Sack the bozo who didn't think of that one, Steve!

[CommonSense]

I've seen the DaVinci and Space themes before; I know they were there in 1998. The DaVinci thing is all M$ Plus -- I'll give them that. But the Space theme didn't use that desktop picture at the time.

I pretty much assumed, once I saw this page on the M$ site, that the pictures must be stock photos, or public domain -- after all, they wouldn't just out-and-out STEAL a copyrighted photo belonging to Apple. But my point was . . . there's billions of photos out there. Why Microsoft had to take TWO that Apple also has "just happened" to use also -- that's what I have problems with.

Also, I was referring to just the first two backgrounds (the underwater one and the earth-from-space images). The dewdrop photo is debatable; I couldn't tell for sure if that's a closeup of the one Apple uses, or something different. And yes, I know the DaVinci thing is Microsoft's whole deal.

I was only talking about the background images (the first two, specifically) -- screw the corny-ass media skins with the preposterous shapes. (Oh, and incidentally -- Henriok is right; I thought Kaleidoscope and Boilerplate were amazing when I first saw them, but I got over it eventually and ended up back with Platinum.)

God, Microsoft OWNS a couple of stock photo agencies, don't they? This is what makes this "coincidental" use of the same images (twice? riiiiiiight) so damn annoying.

[michaelb]

Originally posted by CommonSense:
<STRONG>God, Microsoft OWNS a couple of stock photo agencies, don't they? This is what makes this "coincidental" use of the same images (twice? riiiiiiight) so damn annoying.</STRONG>

Not only that, Bill Gates personally owns Leonardo da Vinci's notebook!!!!

Which means, they have the plans to a Time Machine!

Which means, they can go back in time and alter the course of computer history...

Which means, they can change the development of the personal computer from one with a friendlier, more efficient way of working to one which leaves the user in mind-numbing pain, and in the process relegate the company that made the better computer to niche status while they themselves become a $300,000,000,000 industry giant dominating millions and millions of lives for all eternity.

"Earth, 2001. Population 6 billion. All Microsoft."



(Er, have I gone off-topic a bit?)

[Kickaha]

You know, that's the only reason *I* can think of for MS's dominance...

[- - e r i k - -]

"You've never seen anything quite like this before."

Well, Microsoft in fact I have...

Your aquarium desktop is in fact Beach09.jpg from the Beach-screensaver.

Your space desktop is Cosmos04.jpg from the Cosmos-screensaver.

[Gee4orce]

This is stunning. Are Microsoft really that low ? Well, obviously, yes.

The thing is this - 99% of people will forever associate those (fantastic) images with Windows, not Mac OS X where they first appeared. Not only do MS rip off Aqua to a tee, they even steal our desktop/screensaver images. B*stards !!

Mail this to every mac news site.

[dsheetz]

Well I have to assume this is possible because the images are purchased from some kind of stock image shop. MS actually owns Corbis, I believe. Maybe these are corbis images that Apple licensed for X.

It is just not very likely that some designer at MS opened up their OS X screen saver images and made a MS product out of them. Possible, but not likely.

The messed up part isn't that the images are similar. It's the fact that they are literally the SAME images: the dew drop, the starfish.

It's really more sad than anything. I pity MS. The world is so unbelievably full of imagery, and they can't even select their own photos for a simple desktop theme. XP looks so amateurish compared to X. Even the untrained eye can tell.

[Mafoo]

whats funny is that M$ is charging people for these pictures.

--Mafoo

[digdog]

It's not that hard to believe, cause IconFactory involved.

http://design.iconfactory.com/pages/icon/windowsxp.html

Our most important project to date was our collaboration with the team at Microsoft to develop a professional design solution for the Windows XP operating system. The initial look and feel of the suite was developed over 4 months during intense design and revision sessions. The final production phase took another 4 months and produced over 300 icons for the XP desktop. The end result is a system of icons that have visually "evolved" from their Windows 95, 98 & NT counterparts.

So, we should be proud, cause "We (Mac) made XP."

(Okie, maybe not THAT proud... )

[ 10-23-2001: Message edited by: digdog ]

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally posted by digdog:
<STRONG>It's not that hard to believe, cause IconFactory involved.

http://design.iconfactory.com/pages/icon/windowsxp.html</STRONG>

I'm sorry IconFactory, but these are the worst icons you've done to date. Are you deliberatly dumbing them down for Microsoft or what?

[digdog]

Originally posted by - - e r i k - -:
<STRONG>I'm sorry IconFactory, but these are the worst icons you've done to date. Are you deliberatly dumbing them down for Microsoft or what?</STRONG>

No, it's M$' taste problem, and IconFactory just made things they want.

(If M$ didn't like it, it will change, but it didn't.)

[ 10-23-2001: Message edited by: digdog ]

[iCartman]

Money can't buy talent.

Sure it can. Look at Apple. They couldn't make thier own OS, so they had to go out and buy some talent to make it for them.

I'm sorry IconFactory, but these are the worst icons you've done to date. Are you deliberatly dumbing them down for Microsoft or what?

Just look at the rest of thier icons they did for companies. One things rings true, they all suck! Talk about no talent hacks.

[ 10-23-2001: Message edited by: iCartman ]

[xi_hyperon]

Back when using OS 8 and 9, I held iconfactory in higher regard. Now that I am used to OS X, the iconfactory icons always have a cheap one dimensional look to them, even though many are supposed to look 3-D.

If you look at it this way, MS is often a step behind Apple in some way or another. That they are a step behind in icon design too should be no real surprise.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally posted by xi_hyperon:
<STRONG>Back when using OS 8 and 9, I held iconfactory in higher regard. Now that I am used to OS X, the iconfactory icons always have a cheap one dimensional look to them, even though many are supposed to look 3-D.

If you look at it this way, MS is often a step behind Apple in some way or another. That they are a step behind in icon design too should be no real surprise. </STRONG>

Yeah, they were better at pixel-designs. 128x128 became too much for them to keep up the "iconic"-appearance and still look good.

[kidtexas]

In regards to the space picture, being in science research (fusion) I see a lot of science pictures and astro pictures. I also follow astronomy as a hobby. And let me tell you, in almost every presentation I have ever seen on magnetic reconnection (don't worry about it), it's got the same picture of a solar flare. **** , my thesis has the same picture. Why? Not because it was easy to steal it, but because it is a damn good picture of the phenomenon. And I can't tell you how many times I have seen certain Hubble pictures recycled everywhere. Just go to the Hubble page and check out their "best of" page; you will be sure to recognize a lot, whether you actually follow astronomy, or you see the random pic in Time. Anyway, the point being that they wanted a space picture, and sure, there are millions of them out there, but there is a small number of really good pictures that look more like art. I happen to think this is one of them. Nobody stole anything from anyone. Apple didn't steal the color blue from Microsoft (even if they got the idea from them, the last time I checked, nobody had rights to using the color blue as a theme). MS didn't steal the idea of a login or firewall from Apple. Win has had logins for a while, and anybody who has a broadband connection without a firewall is crazy. They are both just offering what the customer wants/needs in regards to this stuff.

All that being said, MS still sucks

[Sine]

It's no secret that MS tried to copy the look and feel of the Mac OS. They have been doing it since 84. Ho wis this shocking?

[dogzilla]

Does anyone else just find this whole thing amusing? I find it funny that Microsoft is publicly acknowledging that they have absolutely zero inhouse design capability and from now on will simply follow Apple's lead in every aspect of the user experience, even down to the incredibly trivial things such as desktop pictures.

Thanks for posting this URL. It's something else for me to laugh about when my PC-using buddies start in on the whole silly "XP vs. OSX" argument. That, and licensing, and Passport "security", and hardware requirements, and MS wanting to know what brand underwear you wear, and the XBox (soon-to-be) fiasco, and Steve Ballmer - Hooting Monkey Boy On Crack, and a million other things.

If MS wants to give Apple creative control, hey - that's OK by me. The world will be a better place if MS stops trying to design user experiences (Bob, anyone? How about the annoying Paper Clip?).

[Gee4orce]

The 'World of Aqua' icons at Iconfactory are absolutely gorgeous.

[kidtexas]

Holy **** ! I had forgotten completely about Bob! WTF were they thinking on that one?? Thanks for reminding me - gave me a good laugh!