The much gung-ho about the Windows Vista aka Longhorn unleashes quite a few copied interfaces
- 3d app switching inspired from Sun's project "Going 3D with Project Looking Glass"- http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/J2SE/Desktop/lookingglass/. http://webcast-east.sun.com/archives/GSN-1312/GSN-1312_forjds.mov. Yessss Its Java...
- Gadgets- look at konfabulator
- L&F- No need to tell from where ;), Aqua..
- RSS Feed display on browser - I can count many of applications like pluck browser
- Tabs in browser - IE wakes up late to this requirement when opera introduced it in 2000 and many others including firefox adopted it lately
- File Open and zoom functionality in the browser - check out picasa interface (free download at http://picasa.google.com/download/) This product is a killer app
- Most importantly search & other features: have come from the tiger OS of MAC
All the new features have been around for quite a while in many products but now that the "Most popular" OS is adopting it... that’s becoming a "de Facto" to most of us...