If you can't get special treatment when you're running the biggest software company in the world, when can you get? So it's not exactly surprising that it turns out Bill Gates gets his own special builds of WinXP. Or so it would seem, anyway.

As we all know WinXP beta build 2428 went out last week just a few hours after Bill Gates and Jim Allchin hosted the big presentation. But maybe 2428 was out of date even before Microsoft shipped it, because Gates seems to have been using 2432 for his presentation. This info appears in the small print, bottom right hand corner of the screen, of one of the shots Paul Thurrott took at the event.

But the small increment means there's probably not a lot of difference, and there's no way 2432 is going to get out into the world. Internally we're told Microsoft is on maybe 2436, 7 or 8. More interestingly, we're told build 2428 of Advanced Server is out, which suggests we'll be seeing some twitching at the other end of the food chain.

Reg reader Cheyenne Vermeulen found a URL which points out all the similarities between Mac OS X "Aqua" and Windows XP "Luna". And Microsoft insists they're totally different - HA! The translations from top to bottom are as follow:

-"Also an icon from the Sherlock family"
-"Such a coincidence - Microsoft also refers to flowers when showing the new desktop"
-"The folder in Windows is yellow and the Mac's blue"
-"Look at the position of the recycle-bin"
-"Apple's Sherlock icon"
-"Surely no coincidence"
-"Same shutdown logo"

OK, enough of Windows XP and all the hoo-haa surrounding the UI relation with Mac's "Aqua". Forbes.com takes a look at everything else surrounding Windows XP. Why only one Windows? Should investors continue to invest in Microsoft products? Will it still lead Linux in the market? Why so much acclaim? Why do people always bite Microsoft's head off when they release a new product? Can't we all just get along?!