I've used a Windows machine for the past 14 years so i wouldn't know what Helvetica looked like but this article is very interesting.
While it is true that Arial was intended to be a competitor to Helvetica – as Helvetica was to Akzidenz Grotesk – the intention was not to copy it. In fact, Arial is based on the Monotype Grotesque® typeface, a design first drawn at the turn of the last century.
