“A How-To kit for the ideal PC has been making the rounds of leading design shops. It calls for ‘accelerated curves’ and ‘purposeful contrast.’ The preferred colors include a shade of black called Obsidian and a translucent white dubbed Ice. ‘We want people to fall in love with their PCs, not to simply use them to be productive and successful,’ reads the enclosed booklet. ‘We want PCs to be objects of pure desire,” Jay Greene, Peter Burrows, and Steve Hamm report for BusinessWeek.
“Doesn’t sound much like Microsoft, does it? But it is. BusinessWeek has learned that a team of 20 in-house designers has been working quietly for the past 18 months on an elegant new look for PCs that will run Microsoft’s next operating system, Windows Vista. It’s a major departure for the company, which historically has left design to the likes of Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Gateway. Persuading the hardware guys to embrace the toolkit won’t be easy. They’re already working overtime to build better-looking gear on their own,” Greene, Burrows, and Hamm report.
“But Microsoft feels the PC world needs a major face-lift, and one way to do it is through better integration of software and hardware. No one does that more effectively than Apple Computer , and the folks in Redmond may be worried that their resurgent rival is getting too much traction in the race to dominate the digital home,” Greene, Burrows, and Hamm report.
“From the beginning [Apple] has managed to create a unified design for its products by building everything itself, first with the Mac and then later with the iPod. Although Apple sells one computer for every 20 PCs, the iPod’s success has proved how crucial it is to create a seamless experience for consumers, who are buying much of the gear these days. Says a top PC design executive: You’re going to see more and more of this desire to integrate hardware and software,” Greene, Burrows, and Hamm report.
“Even if it means borrowing from Apple. Microsoft denies doing that, saying it’s simply responding to demand for good design. Yet its approach has more than an echo of the Apple ethos. ‘We’re decomposing the look and feel of Vista and bringing it into a language that hardware designers understand,’ says Steve Kaneko, design director of Windows hardware innovation. And here’s another Apple-esque detail: The Zune player will work only with Microsoft’s planned music service, sources say. In other words, it will be part of a closed system, like iPod and the iTunes Music Store,” Greene, Burrows, and Hamm report.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If they try to make them look like Macs, maybe people will forget that they’re OS-limited and can’t run Mac OS X and iLife? Only Macs can run everything. This is just another sign that Microsoft and their box assemblers see the writing on the wall. They’re nervous and they really don’t know what to do because, when it comes right down to it, why buy a Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Gateway, or any other OS-limited PC — regardless of how it looks — when only Apple Macs can run Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux? That’s the question that Apple needs to repeatedly ask every PC buyer because only Apple has the answer: Get a Mac.
“Design director of Windows hardware innovation” really is too cruel joke for even Microsoft to pull. There’s just so much wrong with that title, we almost feel sorry for Steve Kaneko. Almost.
Related article:
Windows Vista rips-off Mac OS X at great hardware cost (and Apple gains in the end) – June 13, 2006
Computerworld: Microsoft Windows Vista a distant second-best to Apple Mac OS X – June 02, 2006
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
What’s the difference between Mac OS X and Vista? Microsoft employees are excited about Mac OS X – March 22, 2006
Thurrott: Microsoft going to get eaten alive over Windows Vista’s resemblance to Apple’s Mac OS X – March 09, 2006
NY Times’ Pogue on Gates’ CES demo: Most of Vista features unadulterated ripoffs from Apple Mac OS X – January 05, 2006
Thurrott: many of Windows Vista’s upcoming features appeared first in Apple’s Mac OS X – September 26, 2005
Microsoft’s Ballmer: It’s true, some of Windows Vista’s features are ‘kissing cousins’ to Mac OS X – September 18, 2005
AP: Microsoft’s ‘insanely late’ Windows Vista has Apple ‘Mac-like look and feel’ – August 03, 2005
Microsoft’s Windows ‘Vista’ promises similar features to Apple’s already-shipping Mac OS X – July 23, 2005
You can’t help but just laugh…
>SNORK< I think I just spewed something.
They are worried about the CASES??? That’s like curing cancer by applying a good ‘base’ and mascara.
Too little, too late, Microsoft. Xeroxing Apple’s designs won’t save you this time. The 40,000,000+ iPod owners out there already see the faults of your guise.
I wonder what the FTC thinks of this.
Idiots!!! Its not just about the looks, it’s the whole package, they still don’t get it. Microsofts ‘good looks’ PC is equivalent to fake breasts – at best you can make a Frankenhooker, at worst a transsexual, but either way – it ain’t no Dolly Parton.
Come kiss our lipsticked pig. Oh wait, what is that tail doing above the lipstick?
“Borrowing”….I think they meant ripping off Apple once again. I’m sure HP/Dull and the others are going to let a company that doesn’t make hardware tell them how they should build their systems.
This is laughable. MS you can’t copy cool!!!
It’s not the case stupid, it’s the OS!
I actually prefer HP’s cases to the G5 tower. Having built in card readers, extra optical drive space, etc. would be nice. My tower is tucked under a desk where it is not seen… so I don’t care if it’s in a cardboard box.
It’s the OS! Nothing can touch OS X!
Everytime I read a story like this one, I feel like I should shower.
Microsoft is a bunch of scumbags, funny how Apple’s 5-6% Marketshare is so worrysome to all the Boring Box makers out there.
Yes I can see all the box makers pouring money into design when the only (arguable) advantage they have is making em cheap, piling em high and managing to undercut a little. Losing that and still designing horrible looking computers really will play into Apple’s hands, after all if they havn’t been able to do well designed up to this point what can they possiblly do now, stick on some go-faster stripes?
“BusinessWeek has learned that a team of 20 in-house designers has been working quietly for the past 18 months on an elegant new look for PCs that will run Microsoft’s next operating system, Windows Vista.”<i>”
I’m sure it’ll look coincidentally similar to the iMac – fitting, seeing how Vista <I> coincidentally
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> looks similar to Tiger.
Guys who can barely paint by the numbers are asked to paint like Da Vinci.
ROFL
BusinessWeek cribbed this article from “The Onion” right?
Getting people to love their computers? Actually, that would please me. I’m so goddamn sick and tired of trying to interact with people who hate their computers. I say bring it on and hurry up, too.
Redmond is scared sh*tless. Chairs must be flying constantly through Microsoft headquarters.
Oh, and MS are absolutely 100% Apple’s b*tch. Rememeber those “Redmond start your photocopiers” banners? They seem to keep em running all nonstop. Good dog MS, good dog. Now rollover and die
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This is hilarious and doomed to defeat for several reasons.
1) HP, Gateway, Acer, and the rest are not going to let Microsoft tell them how to run their businesses. They’re controlled enough by Microsoft as is. They’re not going to take kindly to this!
2) Microsoft will try to ape Apple, but they won’t be able to get it close enough to be inspiring because the lawsuits would find them. So it will end up a watered-down, typical Microsoft imitation.
3) It reeks of desperation, and desperation is not attractive. Just ask single geeks.
Any guesses on how long until M$ makes their own branded PC? They’ve zuned their music partners, the security companies, and now why not the box assembliers?
My guess is by the end of 2007 M$ will announce their own brand of Vista computer.
Peace.
Perhaps this new focus on good design will drive up the price of PC boxes, thereby further lessening the price gap between Macs and PCs.
That price gap is one of a few reasons why people go for PCs over Macs.
You could argue they are shooting themselves in the foot with this one.
Also, if they come out with an iMac clone, I can’t wait to see what Apple’s new iMac desing would be like. They would probably release it the day before the clone.
They’ve already tried to rip off the Mac Mini design, by the company, Aopen. And even then, with the big ugly CD eject button in the front, it still looks silly.
its amazing how far people will go to fake it out and pretend they have the real thing….
can’t help but think that that MS will reverse engineer apple’s formula for beauty, and produce something metaphorically equivalent to a virus riddled, crack smoking, street-walker.
I cringe everytime I read this.. “…part of a closed system, like iPod and the iTunes Music Store.” It is not ‘closed’, it works on both platforms, there is a mildly clumsy way of re-ripping DRM laced tracks, you can add many different file types to the ipod. I doubt Zune will be multi-platform compliant.
PCs have suffered from bad design mainly because most of the buyers are businesses and don’t care about beauty. That’s changing now that laptops are prevalent, because the appearance of the laptop reflects on the corporate image. A few manufacturers have tried their hand at design; most with comical or hideous results. Sony has come up with some good ones. Alienware’s Area 51 borrows from Art Deco. Dell has come up with new designs for laptops, a few of which are improvements.
Apple should sue any counterfeiters for infringement. It isn’t necessary to copy Apple to have a good design; otherwise Apple itself would only have had one design.
I agree, it’s what’s inside that counts. Apple Computer and Mac users shouldn’t feel threatened or nauseous, but proud that their computers have made everyone else realize the importance of good design and a good OS.
The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. They are beginning to admit they have a problem…
The box makers have cut so many corners, design was one of the first considerations to get the boot. For them, it’s all about making the cheapest box to undercut the competition and get some shelf space at walmart or online. Apple spends money on design and it shows.
If you were a designer, would you rather design the next mac and get paid well, or make the next dell and get paid peanuts?
Apple understands the importance of design. The others haven’t got a clue.
To Davida
What they mean when they say that iPod and iTunes is a closed system is that iPod only talks to iTunes and iTunes only talks to iPod. The question is not whether it’s a closed system, but whether that’s a good thing. It might trigger some legal action against Apple for monopolistic practices because Apple’s market share in the online music business is approaching Microsoft’s market share in the OS business.
Yeah, if I’m Dell I’m going to want all of my products to look like those from HP, Acer, Gateway, et al.
Since these companies don’t have any differentiation on the software side, the ONLY way they can set themselves apart from the competition (asisde from dropping the price, that is), is to make their boxes look AS DIFFERENT from the others as possible. Yet another “project” wasting shareholder money.
This is one of the clearest examples yet of how bad the management is over at MS. They don’t seem to have anyone over there who took a basic marketing class.