Hard to believe that a company the size and stature of Microsoft hasn't had an online store to call its home -- not even a quirky collection of "Bill Gates is my homeboy" CafePress t-shirts and mousepads. The newly launched Microsoft Store solves that, however, with its many store-like properties. Therein you can find all sorts of Microsoft products, like software, peripherals, games and professionally-printed "Bill Gates is my homeboy" t-shirts.* What's particularly notable is that Microsoft is jumping into electronic software distribution here, meaning in addition to traditional physical purchases you can buy a bit of software and download it right there on the spot. Downloaded software can be re-downloaded for as long as Microsoft provides mainstream support -- about 5 years in most cases. We'd prefer forever and always, but we suppose that will have to do. The store is live now, and we'd suggest you head on over before we make some drastically ill-advised enterprise software impulse buys.
*This isn't true.
[Via
ZDnet]
posted November 14th 2008 9:04AM
Yes I did, Alex! I think last week was better, but this week was still awesome, and any second of the show involving Kenneth is a second well spent in my opinion.
Can they please stop with ALL THESE STORES!! Make 1 freakin store. You got Windows Marketplace, Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft Store, Zune Marketplace....
Just call it MS Mall for crying out loud.
Nice idea.... I'll get the domain: microsoftmall.com and make a search tool that searches all the MS sites and shows the result....
What an underwhelming selection of low quality high priced hardware! Only 60 bucks for the carpel tunnel mouse? Sign me up!
Very cool. Same prices whether you download or order the nmedia (so the company saves packaging and burning and you save nothing). Also same price as local stores.....So what is my incentive to shop there?????
1. you can keep downloading it if you lose your copy.
2. you dont have to get up and go to the store and get it.
3. you can store the images on your personal storage without needing some quasi-legal software to create the image in the first place and then wonder if you are really legal for having it.
4. when your computer dies, you have a software vault already in place.
5. If you need to download again later, you get the latest version with all service packs in place instead of needing to start from your Windows XP/Vista original version discs and install all the service packs.
Pretty much all the same reasons why people use Steam instead of physically purchasing discs at BB, GS, and other retailers.
So I was reading the "compare vista" page and I saw this bullet point:
"Better protect your theft with Windows BitLocker™ Drive Encryption"
Sounds like they're encouraging piracy. I like it.
That is one store I will NEVER purchase from!!!!!! EVER!!!!!!
WE REALLY CARE
The website looks much better than expected, simple and easy to use. I am pleasantly surprised.
I don't understand the colour scheme. One page is completely black and the other is is completely white !!
I'm guessing Engadget never heard of the Windows Marketplace (http://windowsmarketplace.com/). Microsoft has been selling stuff on that site for YEARS now, including digital downloads of their software.
Yep,
And we who has OVS agrements (Value Select) can buy MS hardware at nice reduced prices thx to our corporate agreements :-) Been doing that for years.
It's... really not surprising at all that Engadget didn't know about Windows Marketplace.
All those "button with arrow (and gradient)" buttons look classy. Who designed that shop? Steve Ballmer?
Nice looking store - funny thing I did a view source on th epaage to see what prograam it was written in and found this code:
Opps it won't let me inter gt lt symbols... here is whaat is in the code
LINK rel=apple-touch-icon href="apple-touch-icon.png"
LOL, is so damn true, in the source code of the webpage ( http://store.microsoft.com/home.aspx ) you can see apple-touch-icon.png
Apple touch is referring to a really ugly shopping cart icon.
http://store.microsoft.com//apple-touch-icon.png
Hi, I'm a the Lead Program Manager for Microsoft Store.
The Apple touch icon you're referring to is for supporting the Apple iPhone and Touch if you decide to add a shortcut. Instead of using a screenshot of the webpage, the iPhone/Touch will use this icon instead.
interesting looking mouse they have there...
You can find displays of them in Best Buy. They're really nice and light. I guess really good for laptop users who hate touchpads.
snap
snap
Oops, sorry about that.
crackle
crackle
pop
pop
MS have been offering software downloads direct from their site for bulk license owners for a good long while now; so it was only really a matter of time before they offered them to the general public.
Still, it's taken a pretty long time to wean MS off physical media.
But then that's probably because Bill didn't think the Internet would be 'big', and that CD/DVD was the future for software. Hmmmmm.
As usual with MS, US should be served as first: almost nothing in the few EU stores.
The Microsoft Store site did launch in the UK 1/2 a year ago, so the US wasn't actually served first...
http://blogs.technet.com/james/archive/2008/06/02/introducing-the-microsoft-store.aspx
They don't sell any of their mac software on there? Or is this the UK site only?
Microsoft Store requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher.
Click here to download Microsoft Internet Explorer.
What?
How come I can get there in Safari 3.2 ?
Microsoft Store isn't restricted to only Internet Explorer. We have done a lot of work around browser compatibility and you'll be pleasantly surprised to find that it works in other browsers like Firefox and Safari.
Trevin Chow
Lead Program Manager, Microsoft Store
Hello, I'm an Apple Store,
AND I'M A MICROSOFT STORE!
Microsoft opens a store is not breaking news but new iPhone firmware is out is? O_o
I'm surprised nobody said anything about "Steve Ballmer is my homeboy" t-shirts yet...