Apple Launches Liquid Design, but Microsoft Nailed It 18 Years Ago - Here's How
Memes are also taking the jab at Apple's "new design"
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June 10, 2025 – Apple has a new look for every device, and it feels a lot like 2007 all over again.
At WWDC in Cupertino, the company introduced Liquid Design, a translucent interface rolling out across iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, and tvOS 26 later this year.
Senior-VP Alan Dye called it Apple’s “broadest design update” as menus, buttons, docks, and even the lock screen pick up a frosted-glass sheen that brightens or darkens in real time. Fluid highlights track finger movement, while depth cues give panels a sense of floating above wallpaper. Apple will ship new APIs so third-party apps can match the effect on day one.
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But isn’t this too familiar?
Eighteen years ago, Microsoft shipped Windows Vista with Aero Glass, a GPU-accelerated theme that introduced blurred transparency, glossy chrome, and animated window flips. Vista’s look drew praise, even if the OS stumbled elsewhere, and Microsoft kept many of its tricks in Windows 7 before flattening the UI for Windows 8.
What’s Not Copied in Liquid Design
Instead of static opacity settings, Liquid panels adjust tint and blur according to on-screen content and ambient light. The camera app shows live controls that drift over the viewfinder, while the Mac dock now fades until a cursor hovers. Apple says the effect relies on Metal-driven shaders and runs smoothly on A17, M3, and newer chips.
What the Fans Have to Say
Some praise the fresh energy after a decade of flat white panels; others warn that heavy translucency can hurt readability on bright wallpapers. A few point out that Apple’s own Aqua interface flirted with glass back in 2001, so the company is looping through ideas rather than breaking ground. Tech blogs wasted no time teasing Apple for “finally inventing Windows Vista” and pushing gloss as innovation.
Apple promises migration guides, sample code, and new SF Symbols tuned for glass. Consumers will meet the overhaul this fall alongside the iPhone 17 and a refreshed Mac lineup. Until then, the debate over style versus originality rolls on, with Microsoft quietly nodding from the sidelines.
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