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Apple's Jobs swipes at Longhorn

Ina Fried Former Staff writer, CNET News
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley.
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Ina Fried
As an avid softball player, I know that when you get a nice flat pitch, you swing for the fences.

Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs clearly knows that too. He didn't miss a beat when a shareholder asked him if he had any thoughts on Longhorn, the next version of Windows.

"They are shamelessly copying us," he said during Thursday's annual meeting.

Most telling, Jobs said is that Tiger, the next version of Mac OS X, will go on sale later this month, while Longhorn is still more than a year away.

"They can't even copy fast," he said.

Some of Apple's advances can be protected by patents, he said, but not all.

"Innovation is the only way to win," he said. "You just have to stay ahead of people."

There has been a fair amount of finger-pointing of late, with Windows chief Jim Allchin recently suggesting it was Apple doing the copying.