Windows 7 copied from Mac? Not so, says Microsoft.

It was the stuff of Mac fanboys' dreams: A Microsoftie openly admitting that elements of the new Windows 7 operating system were inspired by (if not cribbed from) Mac OS X's look and feel.

Not exactly the message Ballmer et al. want getting out about their new baby.

Asked about Windows 7's agility in an interview with computing site PCR, Microsoft Partner Group Manager Simon Aldous had this to say:

One of the things that people say an awful lot about the Apple Mac is that the OS is fantastic, that it’s very graphical and easy to use. What we’ve tried to do with Windows 7 – whether it’s traditional format or in a touch format – is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics.

Yowza.

Aldous quickly backtracked when pressed about the Mac reference, saying that Microsoft took "everything that’s good about Vista, along with the core infrastructure of the operating system, and we’ve made it faster and slimmed down the code to make it more effective."

Microsoft, springing into swift damage control, refuted the claims, releasing a statement that flatly discounted the words of one of its own:

In an interview with PCR at the Microsoft Partner Network event last month, Simon Aldous, Microsoft Partner Group Manager, made reference to creating a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics with Windows 7.  Simon was incorrect in describing Windows 7 in this way and subsequent headlines claiming that the Mac OS inspired Windows 7 are totally inaccurate.

Windows 7 champion Brandon LeBlanc offered a public rebuke of Aldous, on the Windows 7 blog and pointing readers to the real story behind Windows 7's design:

Unfortunately this came from a Microsoft employee who was not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7. I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed.

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See also:

Only in Japan: The Burger King Windows 7 Whopper

Windows 7 parade dampened by new Apple ads

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