A recent leak of Windows XP revealed that Microsoft had a secret Windows XP issue that made the operating system look like a Mac.
Η Windows XP source code leak revealed Microsoft's early work on the operating system system and some unreleased themes that the company built during the first development of XP in 2000.
One is called "Candy" and includes a design that is very similar to Apple's Aqua interface, first introduced at the Macworld Conference & Expo in 2000. Although the theme is not complete, the Windows XP Start Button and various buttons and UI elements are clearly thematically compatible with Apple's Aqua.
Microsoft never released the Aqua theme for Windows XP and we understand that it was used in the original source code for the operating system. Windows developers seem to have used the theme as a base to build the theme engine for Windows XP. The theme itself is described as “Whistler skin with eye candy” and marked as “internal use only”. Whistler was the code name for Windows XP.
Microsoft released the final version of Windows XP in a blue and green theme, which they called Fisher Price-esque. The theme engine in Windows XP was a major one information of the operating system, as it allowed for third-party themes and great customization.
Microsoft developed Windows XP at a time when there was fierce competition from Apple for desktop operating systems. In the 2000s, Apple mocked Microsoft at its annual developer conference by raising a banner reading "Redmond, start your photocopiers." Apple also ran the "Get a Mac" ad campaign focusing on the flaws of Windows, especially Windows Vista.
During the 90s and 00s, Windows was heavily influenced by the classic Mac OS, which later became OS X. The Apple has also borrowed some features Windows, in particular on windows, navigation, control panels, and browsing files and folders.
The Windows XP leak is essentially a rare image from the early development of an operating system, used by millions users.
