However, Gnome takes a large part of its interface layout directly from Windows. The taskbar and the window layout always seemed to be direct copies of that system. Instead of crating something new and more functional, Gnome and KDE (though I haven't tried 4) seem to just lift Windows' ideas wholesale at times, and merge them with the Linux ideas of app and system management.
For one, GNOME is usually compared with Mac OS X. I find your comparison with Windows pretty funny. Secondly, look at the gnome-shell discussion on planet.gnome.org. Further, just because Windows has things looking like GNOME doesn't mean one copied from the other. Especially not that GNOME copied from Windows. Click e.g. on the clock in GNOME. IIRC that is now in Vista.
