Microsoft .ft had a secret Windows XP theme that made it look like a Mac

Microsoft has created a secret Windows XP theme that will make the operating system look like a Mac. Recent Windows XP source code leaks have revealed some of the company’s unofficial themes created during the initial work on Microsoft’s operating system and during previous XP developments in 2000.

One is called “Candy” and includes a design that comes with Apple’s Aqua interface, which was first unveiled at the 2000 World Conference and Expo. Although the theme is incomplete, the Windows XP Start button and various buttons and UI elements are clearly themed. Match with Apple’s Aqua.

Microsoft never released its Aqua theme for Windows XP, and we understand that it was used in the initial source code for the OS. Windows developers seem to have used the theme as a placeholder to create a theme engine for Windows XP. The theme itself is described as “eye candy whistling skin”, and is marked as “for internal use only”. Whistler was the codename for Windows XP.

Microsoft moved to the popular Blue and Green Luna theme for the final version of XP, which many called Fisher Price-Esc when the OS was originally released in 2001. The theme engine in Windows XP was a big update for the OS, allowing for third party themes and a lot of customizability.

Microsoft .ft was developing Windows XP during an era when desktop Microsoft operating operating systems competed with Apple. In the ’00s, Apple Play, at its annual developers’ conference, made fun of microsoft with the banner ‘Redmond, start your photocopiers’. Apple Play also launched a GetMac ad campaign focusing on Windows faults and Windows Vista in particular.

During the ’90s and’ 00s, Windows was heavily influenced by the classic Mac OS and later became OS X. Apple has also borrowed some of the features of Windows, especially around Windows, navigation, control panels and browsing files and folders.

Leaks are a rare insight into the early development of the operating system used by millions of people. We’ve reached out to Micros .ft to comment on the Unliland Windows XP theme, and we’ll update you accordingly.