Microsoft to Open Retail Stores

Microsoft last week announced their plan to take a route made successful by Apple and open up their own chain of retail stores. From what I understand, locations haven’t yet been announced, but you could expect that initial stores will be placed in the same cities where Apple’s stores thrive so well, such as New York and San Francisco. Can Microsoft pull off what Apple has succeeded at so well? Only time will tell.

Like their locations, Microsoft hasn’t given specific information regarding what can be found within their retail stores, but you can expect that the vast majority of it will be Microsoft’s own software and products, while the rest will be a accessories for said products. So aside from being able to pick up a copy of Windows 7, you’ll also be able to pick up the latest Xbox 360 title and Visual Studio and probably a new case for your Zune (I’m assuming).

We won’t know how well such a chain of stores will fare in the marketplace until they open, but I’m looking forward to seeing the result. Speculation has already begun though, on blogs all around the web. One in particular at PC World came up with a somewhat humorous top ten list of features that you can expect to see at the new stores, including the ones quoted below.

Credit: Robert Scoble

Instead of a “Genius Bar” (as Apple provides) Microsoft will offer an Excuse Bar. It will be staffed by Microsofties trained in the art of evading questions, directing you to complicated and obscure fixes, and explaining it’s a problem with the hardware — not a software bug. – Fashioned after Microsoft’s User Account Control (UAC) in Vista, sales personnel will ask you whether you’re positive you want to purchase something at least twice.