Well, I've finally grabbed a copy of the IE7 beta, and I have to admit that I'm impressed... although, I recognize features that are present in almost
every other browser I've used. So far, I'm pleased to see that IE7 doesn't break too many of the sites that I've built, which make extensive use of CSS. I guess this just goes to show that competition DOES foster innovation.
With IE7, I've also got my first look at Windows Live, which of course competes with Google. One of the first things I noted about this site is the background image on the banner at the top of the page. I don't know if anyone else has pointed this out or not, but it has a striking resemblance to the default Mac OS X background (look around here). Though I'm a relatively new Mac user, it seems like I'm seeing more and more things that are "borrowed" from Apple. Now, I've had a brief look at Windows Vista, and I'll admit, there were some things that would seem awfully familiar to any OS X Tiger users... but I'll let someone else make a more extensive comparison.
All in all, I have to commend Microsoft. At least they're paying attention.