Microsoft Ripping Off KDE 4.2 For Windows 7

[izizzle]

I was tooking at screenies of KDE 4.2 and Windows 7, and found a very (un)discreet surprise. They look (more or less) exactly the same. Microsoft has copied off of KDE 4.2 for the desktop. Take a look at the attatched thumbnails.

[kavon89]

The side bar containing little "widget" style things was already in Vista. If anything, Microsoft ripped off Apple's widgets a long time ago. KDE 4 might have done the same, depending on when Apple got the idea of widgets. Other than a blue colored background, I can't see any more similarities.

[cardinals_fan]

http://www.about-seattlewa.com/wp-content/uploads/OH_NOES.jpg

[izizzle]

True, but the Panel/Taskbar in Windows 7 looks like a complete transplant of KDE's new Panel.

Hey nice pic!

[TBOL3]

A. Who cares.

B. Agreed, it is the other way around, if anything KDE is ripping off of Windows.

[pwnst*r]

yeah, looks just like it.

[dodle]

I have Windows 7 installed and it doesn't seem like KDE to me. It looks and feels just like Vista (with a somewhat modified panel/taskbar). I think it is going to be a big step up from Vista. Not that I'll buy it when it's released (I don't think), I'm happy with XP and Ubuntu.

[z.s.tar.gz]

Well duh! What do you expect? Microsoft to have their own ideas?

Seriously though, it's not copying, it's like dolphins and sharks. The dolphins didn't say "Those fins look like they work well!"

It works, and therefor the sharks and dolphins came to it seperately.
(And there was probably some 'inspiration')

[swoll1980]

I said this a hundred times over the last 2 years, but here I go again.Almost every single feature(99.9%) in a Linux operating system was borrowed from Unix, Minix, Mac os, Windows, or some other os. Way to many to list. It's silly to say anyone ripped off Linux. What did they rip off the task bar that Linux ripped off of Windows, or Mac, or whatever? Silliness!

[bashveank]

True, but the Panel/Taskbar in Windows 7 looks like a complete transplant of KDE's new Panel.

Hey nice pic!

Which looks pretty similar to the taskbar in Windows 1.0

[speedwell68]

I said this a hundred times over the last 2 years, but here I go again.Almost every single feature(99.9%) in a Linux operating system was borrowed from Unix, Minix, Mac os, Windows, or some other os. Way to many to list. It's silly to say anyone ripped off Linux. What did they rip off the task bar that Linux ripped off of Windows, or Mac, or whatever? Silliness!

It is just a rip off of Xerox New Wave really.:D

[chucky chuckaluck]

they're both blue, i guess...

[jimi_hendrix]

isnt KDE supposed to give a windows feel to linux...

[Twitch6000]

I said this a hundred times over the last 2 years, but here I go again.Almost every single feature(99.9%) in a Linux operating system was borrowed from Unix, Minix, Mac os, Windows, or some other os. Way to many to list. It's silly to say anyone ripped off Linux. What did they rip off the task bar that Linux ripped off of Windows, or Mac, or whatever? Silliness!

For once I agree with you...

Hell I think Microsoft gets more ideas from Apple then anyone else...

[Rokurosv]

Well does it matter, I think KDE copies stuff from Windows and viceversa, and Windows copies stuff from Apple. What it matters is who pulls it off better.

[cardinals_fan]

isnt KDE supposed to give a windows feel to linux...
Not in the slightest. Default panel arrangement does not make a desktop.

[Giant Speck]

Hmm... Let's look at the similarities:

1. They're both blue. ZOMG! Microsoft stole the color blue from Linux! Give it back, Microsoft!

2. There are transparent elements. ZOMG! There's no way that could have been borrowed from Vista! Microsoft stole transparency from Linux! Give it back, Microsoft!

3. There are useful widgets. ZOMG! Microsoft stole the concept of widgets from Linux! There's no possible way they got inspiration from anyone else! Give the widgets back, Microsoft!

4. The taskbar is larger and is transparent. ZOMG! At first, you'd swear that Microsoft borrowed the transparent glass look from Aero, but no, you're wrong. You obviously don't see that Microsoft stole large, transparent taskbars from Linux! Give them back, Microsoft!

[entr3p]

Done.

[Twitch6000]

Hmm... Let's look at the similarities:

1. They're both blue. ZOMG! Microsoft stole the color blue from Linux! Give it back, Microsoft!

2. There are transparent elements. ZOMG! There's no way that could have been borrowed from Vista! Microsoft stole transparency from Linux! Give it back, Microsoft!

3. There are useful widgets. ZOMG! Microsoft stole the concept of widgets from Linux! There's no possible way they got inspiration from anyone else! Give the widgets back, Microsoft!

4. The taskbar is larger and is transparent. ZOMG! At first, you'd swear that Microsoft borrowed the transparent glass look from Aero, but no, you're wrong. You obviously don't see that Microsoft stole large, transparent taskbars from Linux! Give them back, Microsoft!

That fourth one made me bust a gut lol....

[Rokurosv]

Hmm... Let's look at the similarities:

1. They're both blue. ZOMG! Microsoft stole the color blue from Linux! Give it back, Microsoft!

2. There are transparent elements. ZOMG! There's no way that could have been borrowed from Vista! Microsoft stole transparency from Linux! Give it back, Microsoft!

3. There are useful widgets. ZOMG! Microsoft stole the concept of widgets from Linux! There's no possible way they got inspiration from anyone else! Give the widgets back, Microsoft!

4. The taskbar is larger and is transparent. ZOMG! At first, you'd swear that Microsoft borrowed the transparent glass look from Aero, but no, you're wrong. You obviously don't see that Microsoft stole large, transparent taskbars from Linux! Give them back, Microsoft!

LOL. Bad Microsoft give those ideas back! :P

[Ozor Mox]

Hmm... Let's look at the similarities:

1. They're both blue. ZOMG! Microsoft stole the color blue from Linux! Give it back, Microsoft!

2. There are transparent elements. ZOMG! There's no way that could have been borrowed from Vista! Microsoft stole transparency from Linux! Give it back, Microsoft!

3. There are useful widgets. ZOMG! Microsoft stole the concept of widgets from Linux! There's no possible way they got inspiration from anyone else! Give the widgets back, Microsoft!

4. The taskbar is larger and is transparent. ZOMG! At first, you'd swear that Microsoft borrowed the transparent glass look from Aero, but no, you're wrong. You obviously don't see that Microsoft stole large, transparent taskbars from Linux! Give them back, Microsoft!

Ahahaha, this killed me! Thanks for the laugh.

Short of the long is that everyone borrows from everyone, and people should really stop getting so worked up about things being "ripped off".

[justsomedude]

When Vista was released, people whined about how Microsoft ripped off OS X.

When KDE 4 was released, people whined about how KDE devellopers ripped off Vista and OS X.

Now Windos 7 will be released, and people whine about how Microsoft ripped off KDE 4.


Now, guess what will happen when Gnome 3.0 and KDE 5 will be released.

[lisati]

Well does it matter, I think KDE copies stuff from Windows and viceversa, and Windows copies stuff from Apple. What it matters is who pulls it off better.

I vaguely recall some talk back in the 80s (citation needed) about Windows being a rip-off of GEM or something of that nature, and some similar battle between MS and Xerox (again, citation needed)

[JackieChan]

This is bad why? I think it's a good thing that Microsoft is taking good things from other OSes and using them to make an operating system, it's a lot like what Google did with Chrome.

[pwnst*r]

exactly. it's not like FF came up with the idea of tabs, ffs.

[lisati]

exactly. it's not like FF came up with the idea of tabs, ffs.

This probably doesn't mean much, but I first saw tabs on FF, before I saw them on IE.

[pwnst*r]

i wasn't relating it to MS. FF was not the first to incorporate tabs by default. Netcaptor i believe came up with the implementation, then FF had "mods" for it, then along came Opera to incorporate it into their default browser a short time after.

IE was way late to that game, but i welcome it anyway.

[Skripka]

This probably doesn't mean much, but I first saw tabs on FF, before I saw them on IE.

Opera had them first in a full release, as I recall-not that it matters too much of course. These threads on ____________'s "ripping off" ______________ are nice Recurring Discussions threads.

[forrestcupp]

I said this a hundred times over the last 2 years, but here I go again.Almost every single feature(99.9%) in a Linux operating system was borrowed from Unix, Minix, Mac os, Windows, or some other os. Way to many to list. It's silly to say anyone ripped off Linux. What did they rip off the task bar that Linux ripped off of Windows, or Mac, or whatever? Silliness!
Exactly! That's what I've been saying forever, too. Everything about the desktop in Linux is a copy of something else.

Also, they're not really as similar as what your screen shots make them seem. You can't get the full effect from still screen shots. The way the taskbar acts in Windows 7 is way more intuitive than in KDE 4.2.

[Dekkon]

For once I think the linux one looks better, something must be wrong here.

Also, STFU, If it's a good feature, I applaud you if you add it.

[Eisenwinter]

[oh noes image]
+1.

[wineman]

it only proves the point that microsoft are on the way out and ubuntu will take over the world!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA (evil laugh)

seriously though, the great MS people have this nack of copying great Linux happenings. Think Windows XP's GUI vs. KDE's Plastic view, or GNome's Autumn theme (i think).

Also, if anyone hasn't noticed yet, Vista uses Wine to run legacy applications, so if that hasn't proved my point nothing will!!!

[Eisenwinter]

Sigh.

Microsoft didn't "copy" open source, it simply took inspiration from it.

Copying something means creating an exact, identical clone, of the copied thing.

And since the Windows 7 environment isn't KDE itself, nor does it look completely identical to KDE, it is NOT copying.

[oasmar1]

Windows 7 is so far the best looking OS from Microsoft so far, it looks fantastic, if only they could remove that silly silver bit from the "File Edit ..." bar which just doesn't go with the rest of the OS.
KDE4 is a great improvement but I just don't think that the current design is the one which should be the view of Linux.
OS X has the metal look.
Windows has the glass look (which looks a lot better without the old black taskbar).

I wonder what Linux should go for, the KDE look is way too Web2.0 - nice to look at in a photo but gets old really quick.

Anyway, I forgot to say that I don't even think that it is copying at all. There is no similarity between the taskbars other than the increased height. If we live in a world where even a few pixels cause people to turn against Microsoft then I think the whole point of Linux is being lost.

[Eisenwinter]

If we live in a world where even a few pixels cause people to turn against Microsoft then I think the whole point of Linux is being lost.
Total respect to you.

Thank you.

:KS

[Tom Mann]

And here I was thinking of making a AmigaOS style taskbar and window theme for KDE4...

[zakany]

Actually, KDE 4 looks more like Vista than Windows 7. Who's "ripping off" whom?

[GepettoBR]

I said this a hundred times over the last 2 years, but here I go again.Almost every single feature(99.9%) in a Linux operating system was borrowed from Unix, Minix, Mac os, Windows, or some other os. Way to many to list. It's silly to say anyone ripped off Linux. What did they rip off the task bar that Linux ripped off of Windows, or Mac, or whatever? Silliness!

Likewise, everything in Windows and in OSX was ripped off of each other, and Linux, and Unix and whatnot.

It's called convergent evolution. Ideas that work are copied and improved upon, ideas that don't work are put to death on the next release.

[Dekkon]

it only proves the point that microsoft are on the way out and ubuntu will take over the world!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA (evil laugh)

seriously though, the great MS people have this nack of copying great Linux happenings. Think Windows XP's GUI vs. KDE's Plastic view, or GNome's Autumn theme (i think).

Also, if anyone hasn't noticed yet, Vista uses Wine to run legacy applications, so if that hasn't proved my point nothing will!!!

Seriously, Wine for legacy apps?

Source, or don't spread this FUD, and if you have a source, feel free to knock at me for saying this.

[wineman]

Seriously, Wine for legacy apps?

Source, or don't spread this FUD, and if you have a source, feel free to knock at me for saying this.

ok i THOUGHT it loaded similarily to wine, plus it crashed in the same way that unstable wine versions crash. i apologize if i have misled anyone but it seriously looked like Vista used Wine for it's legacy apps.
Dumprep reports? I haven't checked them out, but i think we'll see something similar to the wine crash dumps.

Just a theory. Not yet proven. YET.

[forrestcupp]

Seriously, Wine for legacy apps?

Source, or don't spread this FUD, and if you have a source, feel free to knock at me for saying this.
Ha, ha. I seriously thought it was just a joke.

Wine is a Windows compatibility layer made to run in POSIX style operating systems. Of course Vista does not use Wine; it's not anything like a POSIX style OS.

They do have their own methods of running things in compatibility mode, though. But it's definitely not Wine.

[armageddon08]

This is called feature-sharing.....a basic principle of OSS.

[platinumlolita]

I'm personally offended. Let's all storm out of South Africa and whatnot, and start a revolt with the aid of all Cupertino residents!!! We'll have Gates burned at the stake!

[toupeiro]

Who cares. They borrow from eachother because its subtle and it works. If you want something innovative, drop the bucks for a perceptive pixel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqxnyHRx7Ug).

[CJ Master]

I'm personally offended. Let's all storm out of South Africa and whatnot, and start a revolt with the aid of all Cupertino residents!!! We'll have Gates burned at the stake!

Wow, your post not only made absolutely no sense at all, it bumped an old post! Congratulations! :)

[lespaul_rentals]

Lol. I'm running Windows 7 right now. I found little similarities. And yes, I was looking for them.

Not to flame Linux, but I assure you, the Aero interface in Windows 7 is much smoother and better integrated than KDE.


http://www.about-seattlewa.com/wp-content/uploads/OH_NOES.jpg

Stop! My family's in bed and you almost made me wake them from my laughter.

[Tipped OuT]

they're both blue, i guess...

Not really. In Windows 7, that's just the Beta wallpaper. The task bar, and windows are transparent, which makes them look like they're blue too.

[Pogeymanz]

Yeah, KDE 4 came out after Vista. I'm pretty sure they stole from Vista.

It's true that each piece of the desktop is a little different and that "just having widgets" doesn't mean it copied, and "just having one panel" doesn't mean it copied... but once you have all those different elements the overall look and effect is VERY similar.

When I use KDE 4, I feel like I'm using Windows. Every other DE I've used in Linux feels less like Windows to me than KDE4. And I love KDE 3, which was not Windows-like at all, despite having blue backgrounds and one panel.