Exactly what does this article address? All it does is declare (by fiat) that the quote floating around the internet is wrong, and then link to articles that are completely irrelevant in describing 'inspiration'. To summarize each link:

1) AP - Discussion on the victory (Office Ribbon) that led to Julie Larson-Green being made head of UI Experience

2) WSJ - Fact-less story about how Windows 7 is fixing the failings of Vista. No discussion about UI-inspiration. The closest was a hint to "quieting the system" that is directly addressing the UAC-faults that everyone griped about with Vista.

3) Fast Company - An overview of features that is devoid of anything but marketing information

The only thing 'useful' in this blog post was a link to the Windows 7 Design Blog. And in there, it describes how they highlighted items to improve, Except there's no reasoning behind why they thought these items were necessary, and the requirements they did identify seem to lead directly to their final solution... an indicator that the requirement was actually thought of after the solution.

Debunking, this is not. It's a collection of irrelevant posts and a link to an encyclopedia. It does not address the point it attempts to make and is frankly, a waste of time to read.