Apple has a much stronger brand following than Microsoft. They won't do any better than CompUSA did.

well i think they may do well

but it opens up hundreds of jobs!

So.... Microsoft is going to sell... copies of their Windows Updates and Service Packs?

Oh, and I guess they could sell all the XBOX 360 Consoles, accessories, and "Games for Windows" software. I doubt I'll see a Microsoft store in my town any time soon. Not a big enough population.

Those "I'm a Mac" commercials must have really ticked someone off at MSoft.

Whatever.

This is a good idea.



They could pretty much sell what ever the hell they want. The majority of computer devices have some sort of microsoft windows tie-in.

They could sell computer systems (interesting to see what oem will be carried), operating systems, peripherals (both msoft branded and abroad), video games(this move could benefit msoft and developers quite a bit as Best Buy is doing a half assed job selling PC games and hardware.), accessories and they can demo new operating systems and other technologies as well.

I'm all for it! These stores sound like they could have much potential. I avoid the Mac stores like the plague because of the dumb college students dressing like smug hippies. It's a social hangout place. The MS store would be a more practical intelligent approach to a software outlet. Let's hope Mac stores take a major hit and plummit to their deaths. I hate Apple and stupid Jobs. Let's hope the cancer eats his soul. =] I'm halfway kidding just really hate Apple.

That is awesome!

Do you think they enjoy them smell of their own farts?

I can't see this working at all. They can't undercut the other retailers, like Fry's and Best Buy, and they aren't going to carry other brands (are they??). Unlike Apple, they don't even make their own PCs or laptops. Their keyboards and mice pale in comparison to Logitec.

So, who is going to the MS store to buy Windows and a mouse???

Are you kidding me? I enjoy the smell of their farts while I'm sipping a mocha latte.

I have to disagree with you there. MS makes great hardware. The keyboards in particular a the best you can buy for < $200.

buts, dumb, waste of money. microsoft doesn't need a store, everyone sells their stuff, what do they expect people are going to go to their stores and pay list price for what they can get anywhere else discounted. if they want to be more like apple they could just buy apple for little more than interest income on the cash they are hoarding and be apple. if they want to educate customers they can put a microsoft representative in bestbuy, ect, cheaper.

I honestly believe this might be a successful idea. Microsoft usually half asses their products or makes them run terribly, so having a store based around their products would give you people you could talk to that would have the know how of the products, hopefully.

I do not see much gains from this, but it WILL make jobs and it WILL give them a place to promote Xbox, Games for Windows as well as other Windows powered devices(Dell, HP, ect).

i personally think this a brilliant idea, it'll bring competition and more jobs to the table, they'll sell OS's, console's, they're mp3 players, peripherals[their sidewinder mice have awesome reviews]... etc..

mac might have their own computers, but they def can't play games, which is where the 360 comes in... they both have their strengths in their categories, but I honestly think microsoft>apple... and best of all, I DONT HAVE TO SHIP MY RED RING TO TEXAS!! W000000TTT [lol]

< $40 more like it

Well, we know from Mythbusters that hitting the ground running is the worst thing you can ever do and to wish that to Microsoft? I don't think they would fair any better because the Apple Store.

They have teamed up with companies like RAZER to make peripherals that are very competitive in the past.

Perhaps they will have a section for GFW that contains gamer parts in a wider selection than best buy. What better way to push your software then to provide both low end and high end PC's to run it and the games that are big on your OS. Perhaps they'll use the Vista/Windows 7 performance ratings on their pre-built PC's to show what games and programs can run on it to promote the sales of that software... Just an Idea but I could see that working to some degree.

This is a magnificent day. Zunes, Nice Windows Pc's, Xbox 360's and Windows 7 all in one small store. This is going to be great. Being someone who likes MS almost 75% of the time, this sounds good to me.
By the way, CompUSA was the greatest tech retailer out there, if MS can do the same, and be successful, good luck to them.

Whats with the 'it will create jobs' comments. They just layed off 5000 people.

As far as the stores go, dumb idea. Unless they sell other brands, which they probably wont they dont have much hope of surviving.

I foresee a bunch of angry windows users bringing thier laptops in demanding that the store fix them.

Go ask 50 people off the street who makes Windows.

10 of them might know...and 2 of them might know that Windows is not the same thing as Office. The other 8 only told you who they think makes Office because they aren't aware of any difference.

For the size of their market...the vast majority of their customers are clueless who they are or what they do.

Many, many bad retailers have made money in the past regardless of how much they suck. If MS just does a decent job it will be profitable; cutting out OEMs on some sales and selling the OEM's wares in another part of the store. The customer interaction will be huge though. This is a good deal for them.

Microsoft has always been a strong backer of H1B programs and foreign outsourcing. In retail I'd imagine they'd be worse than Wall Mart.

The Apple Store brings in more revenue per square foot ($4,700) than any other retailer in the United States.

I don't see this as a winning proposition for Microsoft. Then again, being Microsoft, they don't need to turn a profit in their stores in order to be a success.

revenue per square foot (not equal to) Profit/Margin per square foot.

they don't make $4700 in all the stores and many of them just lose money, but the retail outlets are a must for Apple to promo their products. so why not others to do in a similar way?

Zune zucked realy zoon.
MS Ztores will zuffer zame fate.

I don't what they are zmoking in Zeattle or Ritzmond, but it has weird effektz

You are right to the fact that, what are they going to sell? Their own products. Now they can make more money on their own product. The most successful business control more aspects of operations. From material, to production, to the actual selling. Plus this is a way for MS to be even more visible and now they can put whatever they want in their stores. Everyone thinks of MS as a software company, and they don't think of an actual location. The will however undercut the people they supply product to. That is said but in today's economy a company has to look out for itself first sometimes.

If they pay attention to the market and create their "retail image" with care they'll be able to compete with Apple's retail store. A lot of potential with an MS Store... it could own, or go down in flames, depends on how they execute it.

I wonder if they'll have a "Genius" area like the Apple stores. Can you imagine the nightmares with that area? Half the time, they'll just tell the customer to call the computer maker. It'd be kind of funny if there was a Dell kiosk outside of the MS store. You could see people running back and forth as tech support says it's the other company's fault.

Yeah, the geniuses at the Microsoft stores will be called "Jar-heads." David Porter is not a lucky man, he will be responsible for opening Microsoft up to an extremely large amount of risk. It may prove profitable. It may fail horribly. (Exxon, the largest company in the world, is selling all of it's retail outlets [gas stations] and delivery trucks due to a lack of profitability) Microsoft will be in direct competition with Best Buy (well it would have been in competition with Circuit City) so you see the risk. The mac stores are in a completely different situation as it relates to competition. I hate Best Buy and I would rather deal with the devil directly than having to deal with the devil by proxy. If the geniuses are pompous and condescending, then the Jar-heads will be bumbling idiots. It should be fun to pass by the trendy MS stores at the mall with their OVERSIZED ZUNE SIGNS!!! and blue-screen-of-death fans with their hip blue-screen-of-death t-shirts standing in line for tech support. This is going to be great. Bring it on!

I just miss their optical trackball explorer. It was the absolute best trackball I've ever used and I've not found another brand or model that even compares. Ever since having problems with my wrists, I've had to switch to a trackball for everything and the one which comes closest is the Logitech Marble Mouse, but it still pales in comparison.

MS bring back the trackball explorer!! There is a reason they sell for $200 on Ebay!

I don't understand the reasoning behind this move. It simply seems reactionary. Most people only own one MS product and it is usually the OS that came with their computer. Additionally, most MS customers have little MS brand loyalty. The reason Apple retail stores are so successful is that they are able to leverage Apple's brand loyalty by bringing customers in the store for the iPod and selling their PCs/Laptops/AppleTV/etc. while the customer is there.

MS doesn't have the product line, the brand loyalty or the consistency of product that Apple has. Their model isn't suited well to the retain paradigm IMO. I will be very interested in how they attempt to overcome this problem.