Two different Questions, japhwil. Broadly, "similar to" and "like" are interchangeable (and MS should leave your style choices to you). Quite separately, I think you'll have a hard time explaining the difference you suggest between " A is similar to B" indicating objects are quite distinct, and "A is like B" suggesting they are practically the ...
word choice - Identical Meaning of "similar to" and "like" - English ...
Using the example "to obtain similar to or similarly to," the latter sounds very strange even though similarly is definitely being used as an adverb. The sentence: "The fragments were obtained simi...
similar to or similarly to - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
For me, rephrasing to "A is constructed in a way similar to B ('s way of construction)" makes it clearer that the second statement is correct.
word choice - "in a similar way as" or "in a similar way to"? - English ...
Similar to spaghetti, linguini noodles are long and thin and adaptable to a variety of dishes. Now, try interchanging 'similarly' and 'similar to' in the examples.
Similar and identical have different meaning to be precise. But if you have noticed people using it, that could be because many times people start using the first word that comes to their mind and they don't evaluate that word to be precisely what they are trying to say. Alternatively - it is also true that you can use similar for identical anyway because anythings which are identical are ...
15 "In the same vein as" is the most common idiom by a long shot. The other options "in a similar vein to" and "along the same vein" sound a little odd to my ear. I guess you'd be better off using "in a similar way to" and "along the same lines" instead.