But whatever the legal and ethical considerations, I have more respect for Segoe as a design than Arial. Perhaps it’s a hair-splitting rebuttal, but Segoe is not a Microsoft design or commission – it was an existing Monotype typeface that Microsoft licensed. Some (including the European Union) say Segoe is too similar to Frutiger, earning it the same derision that Arial gets for its similarity to Helvetica: Microsoft’s poor replication of a typeface they didn’t want to pay for.
Segoe is a typeface that is clearly inspired by Adrian Frutiger’s landmark 1975 design for the Charles de Gaulle Airport signage. It’s built around a simple layout of “tiles” and the Segoe WP typeface. Microsoft Windows 8 represents a dramatic change from previous Windows versions.
