It was just last week that Apple kicked Samsung’s butt in court for software and hardware copyright infringements on their smartphones. Well, it looks like we could see Apple and Samsung duke it out again, but this time for Samsung’s upcoming Windows 8 computers. Yep, Samsung will be including “S-Launcher” with their Windows 8 PCs when they ship in the near future. S-Launcher is a Start Menu replacement for Windows 8 with a few tweaks that are aimed to make Windows 8 an easier transition from Windows 7 and earlier.
Now for the fun part: S-Launcher allows users to drag files and applications into the dock for quick access via the desktop, just like the OS X dock. In fact, Yahoo! provided the best explanation:
And of course, the S Launcher is also a launcher. Simply drag apps or files to it for easy access, tossing them off when you don’t want them anymore. Nothing groundbreaking in that, but it doesn’t hurt, either, and the icons are bigger than in the Windows taskbar.
Now that you know the functionality of S-Launcher, let’s take a look at the GUI. Gizmodo posted the photo above to their blog showing the similarities between both of the docks. Apple’s OS X dock is on the bottom and Samsung’s S-Launcher on the top. The similarities are pretty disgusting if you ask me. Samsung’s S-Launcher copies the translucent dock and icon placement as well as animations from the iconic OS X dock. And to be honest, a novice Mac user probably wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. Samsung’s UI designers are so creative, right?
S-Innovation at its finest, folks.
Image Credit: Gizmodo
