Microsoft Bans Coder From Making Vista Emulator Theme For iPhone

Amit Chowdhry | Tuesday July 29, 2008 | 1,763 Views |
Categorized under Microsoft Corporation


Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) sent their legal eagles after an iPhone application developer.  ModMyiFone user, ebl4287 wrote a post saying “DUE TO A BIG FAT LEGAL LETTER THAT WAS SENT FROM MICROSOFT, I WILL NO LONGER BE MAKING/DISTRIBUTING VISTA THEMES.”  ebl4287 created a Windows Vista emulator theme for the iPhone called VistaPerfection.  ebl4287 was planning on releasing version 3.0.

The emulator’s Windows Gadgets, start menu, task bar, and all the icons matched up with the Microsoft operating system.  The emulator is very impressive.  If I was Microsoft, I’d attempt to hire the developer rather than sending him a cease and desist letter.

On the other side of the table, there have been iPhone OS emulators created for some Windows Mobile powered phones.  I haven’t heard any cases where Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) sent cease and desist letters on those developers.  One of the most popular posts I’ve written on Pulse 2.0 is the ability for an HTC Mogul 6800 to look and act like an iPhone.

Related Links:
1. Guardian UK
2. 9to5Mac



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Comments

  1. J
    July 29th, 2008 at 2:21 pm

    This is not an emulator. An emulator implies that it would allow Vista (aka, Win32) applications to run on the iPhone. That is clearly not its intention. It is a THEME, meaning a simple “skin” that changes the graphical interface without modifying the underlying functionality.

  2. Amit Chowdhry
    July 29th, 2008 at 2:30 pm

    Updated the story title and the text body. Thanks for the clarification, J!

  3. t
    July 29th, 2008 at 3:30 pm

    Actually, this theme predated the IPhone launch by about a month. And before it did launch, Apple had threats of a lawsuit sent to the creators, SPB if I remember correctly.

  4. James Reynolds
    July 29th, 2008 at 3:59 pm

    I wonder why he let Micro$oft bully him. Who cares what they say, just upload your tarball and let the world mirror it, the corporations have to bow the knee in todays world.

  5. Amit Chowdhry
    July 29th, 2008 at 4:11 pm

    Now that you mention it t, here is an example of where Apple did sue a fan of their own too:

    http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=505326

  6. john mitas
    July 30th, 2008 at 5:29 am

    why don’t you just remove all references to microsoft and logo’s. Then you should be good to go! That will show them!

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