One of the things that people say an awful lot about the Apple Mac is that the OS is fantastic, that it’s very graphical and easy to use. What we’ve tried to do with Windows 7 – whether it’s traditional format or in a touch format – is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics.

Interesting to see Microasoft's Simon Aldous admit this so explicitly in black and white. Yet while Windows 7 is a big step forward, I'm not sure they yet understand the relationship of "easy to use" and "graphical". Pretty doesn't automatically mean easy to use, Apple try (often successfully, though not always) to make their software meet both criteria. I often wonder if Microsoft think that making something pretty makes it easier to use.

(Also, don't get me started on him claiming that Vista is "far more stable than the current Mac platform". You're telling me Vista, the most derided OS in history, is more stable than a modern UNIX OS? I think both Mac fans and users of various other UNIX/Linux operating systems would love to challenge you on that.)