  We investigate which of the exotic Doppler peak features found for textures
and cosmic strings are generic novelties pertaining to defects. We find that
the ``out of phase'' texture signature is an accident. Generic defects, when
they generate a secondary peak structure similar to inflation, apply to it an
additive shift. It is not necessary for this shift to be ``out of phase''. We
also show which factors are responsible for the absence of secondary
oscillations found for cosmic strings. Within this general analysis we finally
consider the conditions under which topological defects and inflation can be
confused. It is argued that only $\Omega=1$ inflation and a defect with a
horizon size coherence length have a chance to be confused. Any other
inflationary or defect model always differ distinctly. (To appear in the
proceedings of the XXXIth Moriond meeting, ``Microwave Background
Anisotropies'')
