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Vista is actually built on the Windows Server 2003 code base, which was re-written completely, not a hack off WinXP. I think you'll find if you do a bit of proper research that MS is finally beginning to get things right. No more profanities in the comments as was found in Win2000 code, focus on security, consistency across different applications/platforms, user interface studies to optimize user experience, etc. The presentation and communication layers of the OS are completely re-hauled. In any case, I agree that the UI gives the impression that they're only upgrading on surface level -- feels kinda like plastic to me. Anyway, MS is still just copying a lot of competitors (and while your reference to MS copying icons, you're kind of correct, but you'd also do well to note that many of these icons, specifically RSS, are being adopted as industry standards because people recognize them), but they ARE one-upping them in some cases. For example, IE7 printing is at least on par with, if not better than, Firefox printing. The visual tab feature is great, and is something I've never seen before in a browser. Anti-phishing tools are actually built into the browser (no need to research and insteall plugins). The entire page zooming feature is also incredibly useful. Does Firefox offer all these things? Yes, in the form of extensions in most cases. Am I going to switch to IE7 upon release? Well, I'll certainly upgrade my IE6 to IE7, but I'll stick with Firefox as my default browser because I like the UI and all the developer extensions I have that will never be available for IE.