A lengthy analysis over at AppleInsider suggests that Microsoft's Windows 7 is not actually competing with Apple's Snow Leopard. Apple would do anything to grow its OS at Microsoft's expense, while Microsoft's only focus is to stop the crying among disappointed Windows users, the report says.

However, this isn't stopping Microsoft from borrowing some elements / ideas from Apple / OS X Leopard, the author says. For instance, Leopard is known to include Web Clippings, which Microsoft liked, included in its OS, and dubbed them "Web Slices." Apple Data Detectors, which Microsoft calls "Accelerators," are also related, according to the report, as are Leopard's Smart Folders and Windows 7's “Libraries." On the Windows side, though, users will lack Leopard's smart query functions. Lastly, Apple's Bonjour-style simplified local networking and file and device sharing has its Windows counterpart in a component called HomeGroup. This last one is pictured above, courtesy of the Apple-focused site.

Of course, one can't help but wonder when exactly a company crosses the line between a universally accepted recipe, and a gruesome imitation of an element making up an OS. But we'll leave you, the readers, to draw that line.

While there are similarities between the OSes, AppleInsider sees some differences between the two companies’ approaches in developing and marketing the OSes. However, both Apple and Microsoft are building on top of their older OS versions to provide the best possible experience for the end user. How else could Microsoft work around compatibility issues, and why would Apple throw in extra stuff just for the sake of it?

At the moment, it is known that Apple hasn't made any major changes with Snow Leopard. Downloadable developer builds have showed that Apple has, this far, been sticking to the plan of adding enhancements. Rumor has it that the company will eventually change / replace the Aqua interface in Snow Leopard.

Curious about Snow Leopard's appearance? How about Windows 7? Do you think Microsoft managed to get the job done properly this time around?