I don't really see how this is different than any other business copying an idea from another business that works. I think a grocery store is a good example because they have changed too. Grocery stores didn't have use to have Starbucks, a place that makes fresh sandwiches, a sushi bar and other stuff like that. But now lots of different grocery stores have them. Is it is as drastic as an Apple store? No, but the the copying is still happening. If someone plunked me down in a Linens and Things, Home Outfitters or a Bed Bath & Beyond I could not tell the difference. Those stores are exactly the same. I'm sure one of them came up with that look (I don't know which) and the others copied.
Is it lame that Microsoft copied? Sure. Could they have come up with something different? Of course. But this copying happens all the time. This is no different.
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