Windows 7 Team: How we really designed the look and feel of Windows 7
An inaccurate quote has been floating around the Internet today about the design origins of Windows 7 and whether its look and feel was “borrowed” from Mac OS X. 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. If you’re interested in learning more about the design of Windows 7, I suggest reading this AP story with Julie Larson-Green as well as these WSJ (membership required) and Fast Company articles.
http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/11/11/how-we-really-designed-the-look-and-feel-of-windows-7.aspx
I personally (as end-user) don't look at the design of the OS but how it works, it shuts and boot itself, compatibility of my fave third party software on the OS and whether it's worth to use/upgrade. "Designed by" is not my taste. It's like what I wear. I don't care if it's from cheap or expensive market as long as it's comfy to wear! So far, I'm happy with 7. I was Windows 98SE user.. happy when I moved to Windows 2000 Pro. More happy when I moved to XP Pro. Quite excited and happy with Vista and now satisfied and again, happy to use Windows 7. There's advantage and disadvantages on each OS. Designed by whoever as long it makes me happy!