Did Microsoft want Windows XP to look like Apple’s Aqua? Windows that looks like MacOS: Microsoft had created an interface for its Windows XP that was very similar to that of its competitor Apple. The Apple-like design became popular after the source code of Windows XP was published on the net.
Some unpublished user interfaces were also found in the source code. Among them was one that looks a lot like Apple’s surface, Aqua. Some buttons and elements are based on Aqua, reports the US online news service The Verge. Apple introduced Aqua at the Macworld Expo in early 2000.
The aqua-like surface was not used. Microsoft used the Luna interface for Windows XP. According to the source code, the other was only intended for internal use and marked as an “eye-catcher for Whistler”, writes The Verge. Whistler was the internal alias for Windows XP. The surface is also not complete.
The source code of Windows XP was published on the imageboard 4Chan these days. It is unclear whether the source code is really genuine, but a lot of facts act as evidence that it is in fact the genuine source code of Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system.