That MS dude from the Apple ads?
Those store will be gone in say 8 months.
All About Microsoft
Mary-Jo FoleyMicrosoft to open retail stores near Apple's this fall
Summary
Microsoft is planning to open the first of its planned retail stores next to existing Apple stores this fall. Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer, told partners the news during his Worldwide Partner Conference keynote on July 15.
Topics
Blogger Info
Mary-Jo Foley
Biography
Mary-Jo Foley
Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 20 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.
Got a tip? Send her an email with your rants, rumors, tips and tattles. Confidentiality guaranteed.
Microsoft is planning to open the first of its planned retail stores next to existing Apple stores this fall.
Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer, told partners the news during his Worldwide Partner Conference keynote on July 15. A number of attendees tweeted Turner’s words immediately.
Microsoft officials announced in February that Microsoft was planning to open retail stores but have offered few details since that time as to what the stores would look like or when they’d open. I did hear from some Softies that the stores wouldn’t be clones of Apple’s, and that they’d be more showcases than actual retail outlets.
Turner told Partner show attendees that the knowledge Microsoft gained from running the stores would be “shared with partners.”
According to partners attending the conference, Turner said Microsoft wouldn’t be imitating Apple; it would be innovating with the new stores. Earlier this year, Microsoft officials said the stores would be more about building Microsoft’s consumer brand than distribution.
Microsoft hired David Porter, a former Dreamworks Animation and Wal-mart exec, as Corporate Vice President of Retail Stores earlier this year.
Microsoft is set to make Windows 7 generally available on October 22. No word so far if the Microsoft retail stores will open around that same date. I’ve asked Microsoft for more information — where the stores will be located, how many will open this fall, etc. No response so far.
Update: A Microsoft spokesperson provided the following statement, for what it’s worth:
“As we progress on our retail strategy there will be scenarios where we have stores in proximity to Apple. We are on track to open stores in the Fall timeframe.
“Beyond that we have no additional details to share.”
Mary Jo has covered the tech industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and Web sites, and is a frequent guest on radio, TV and podcasts, speaking about all things Microsoft-related. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).
Disclosure
Mary-Jo Foley
Freelance journalist/blogger Mary Jo Foley has nothing to disclose. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I do not own Microsoft stock or stock in any of its partners or competitors. I have no business ventures that are sponsored by/funded by Microsoft or any of its partners or competitors. I have not accepted any consulting funds from Microsoft, any of its partners or its competitors for any studies/projects.
Biography
Mary-Jo Foley
Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 20 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning "At The Evil Empire" column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.
Got a tip? Send her an email with your rants, rumors, tips and tattles. Confidentiality guaranteed.
More from “All About Microsoft”
Related Discussions on TechRepublic
Did you know you can take part in these discussions with your ZDNet membership?Talkback Most Recent of 299 Talkback(s)
-
nizuse07/15/2009 10:26 AM -
The majority of people who do not
waste their money on Apple products? Or maybe the people who where taken in by the Apple or Linux fanboys FUD?
It would be a nice place to see a Windows Home Server in action, or some new XBox add ons?
alot of things they could showcase.
If Apple has proved anything, it is the power of advertising.
GuidingLight07/15/2009 10:43 AM -
You have so many ...
... questions in your post, it's as if you are clueless of what your employer is doing.
^o^
n0neXn0ne07/15/2009 10:47 AM -
My employer?
Now that is humorous. And and old trick on your part: attempt to paint "your opponent" as something other then they are, in an attempt to garner other's support, not thru "earning" their trust, but instead by misdirecting or scaring it away from your opponent.
Not unlike the tricks that Satan employs.
Oh my! Does that meen your employer is... Satan?!?!?GuidingLight(Edited: 07/15/2009 01:03 PM) -
Same tactics Apple employees
And and old trick on your part: attempt to paint "your opponent" as something other then they are, in an attempt to garner other's support, not thru "earning" their trust, but instead by misdirecting or scaring it away from your opponent.
Sounds like an Apple commercial.
trance2tec07/15/2009 01:35 PM -
TRUE!
So very very true
rjohn0507/15/2009 02:46 PM -
SATAN (Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks)?
Damn, you must be a really old security nerd! And it was a product, not a company or corporation! Or would you be referring to a fallen angel from some popular (though questionable) theologies that borrows from several sources.
B.O.F.H.07/15/2009 01:54 PM -
And here I though he was doing his impersonation
of the "Church Lady" from SNL
John Zern07/16/2009 06:53 PM -
Bruizer07/15/2009 11:14 AM -
Only sheeple when MS is the topic
Apple buyers are not sheeple, only MS supporters
are sheeple. How else can the mactards justify
there hipocracy
davidhite07/16/2009 12:07 PM -
what hypocrisy is that?
"Apple buyers are not sheeple, only MS supporters
are sheeple. How else can the mactards justify
there [sic] hipocracy [sic]"
If you are going to impugn the intelligence of others, you could at least
have the forethought to spell and grammar check your post.
DeusExMachina(Edited: 07/16/2009 01:13 PM) -
why
like it would make the slightest bit of a difference if he did.
"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."
gnesterenko07/16/2009 01:18 PM -
Why
Well, because if you are going to make comments insulting someone's
intelligence, and call them hipocrites [sic] then it hurts your argument
when you make stupid errors, and makes you the hypocrite.
That said, it has also been my experience that, although not a priori
true, people who routinely make spelling and grammar errors (as
opposed to typos) generally also lack the intellectual rigor necessary to
make a cogent, well-thought out argument.DeusExMachina07/16/2009 03:00 PM -
Come now Deus
I wonder how good Einstein's spelling and grammar was?
John Zern07/16/2009 06:56 PM -
Auf Deutsch?
Actually, In german his grammar and spelling were rather good. He
scored top marks. His supposedly poor grades in school are a myth.DeusExMachina07/16/2009 07:22 PM
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