Is that right? How exactly did business get to be exempt from morality? Who decided that was appropriate, and when? And why do people accept this destructive nonsense?

This is going to backfire big time. Walk into a Microsoft store and then walk into an Apple store will be like going to Wal Mart and then going to Rodeo Drive. Most people will notice the difference.

MS is sliding downhill fast. The Xbox loses money. The Zune has no apps (it is not just a digital music player Microsoft, Steve Balmer)! Windows 7 MUST sell or it will be the last OS to come from Redmond.

Apple just needs to be Apple. I doubt that Steve Jobs is worried at all.

The Xbox 360 is one of the most popular gaming systems on the market, and with things like a Netflix partnership and the revolutionary Project Natal coming out soon, it doesn’t show any signs of losing its popularity or appeal. So, how do you create an environment to bring consumers into what’s going on with your company? By highlighting their most successful product, they can then appeal to consumers who wouldn’t see any benefit in actually going to a Microsoft Store. This type of setup couldn’t be considered a carbon copy, because Apple doesn’t have anything to compete with it. And with Xbox 360 pushing Windows Media Center, it wouldn’t be hard to include all of the Windows platform offerings and other Microsoft products. Thus creating innovation of its own.

Consider that the first Apple Store opened back in 2001. Consider Apple’s position in 2001. Most people, when confronted with Apple, either said “They’re still in business?” or “Didn’t they get bought out by Microsoft?” Apple had these weird computers that didn’t run any software.

So one of the tasks of the stores was to re-introduce people to Apple. Let them see a Mac. Sit down in front of one. Use it. See the software that’s available for it. Answer any questions that they might have, rather than hearing an answer from some PC guy who’ll tell you all the myths about Macintosh.

Now, contrast this with Microsoft. Microsoft recently did their “Mojave Experiment” where they took people and showed them what they claimed was a new operating system. People had lots of praise for it. Then it was revealed that what they were looking at was Vista and everybody was shocked. They’d all heard such bad things about Vista that nobody wanted to go near it.

What does this tell Microsoft? That they’re having a hard time getting their message through. If only Microsoft had some way to get their latest products in front of consumers and be able to show them the features of the product.

Consider Zune. Microsoft believes Zune to be every bit as good as–and in some ways better than–an iPod. The new Zune HD has been getting some good reviews. Microsoft needs to get the Zune HD out in front of people and let them see how good it is. If only they had some way of getting their products in front of consumers in an environment other than a big box store, like Best Buy.

In other words, take your message to the people. Apple did this by opening retail stores. You could actually play around a bit with a Mac before you bought one (and see that, contrary to what everyone said, you could actually use a Mac on the Internet). You could try out an iPod. And there were people there who would be able to answer any questions that you might have. If you wanted to check out what Apple was selling, you went to the Apple Store. You might even buy it there.

Microsoft is copying Apple for much the same reasons. If you’re considering upgrading to Windows 7, you can stop by the Microsoft store and try it out. You can get some idea of how well it will run on your machine at home. The assistants at the Microsoft store will be able to tell you which version of Windows 7 (Home, Basic, Ultimate, etc.) would be right for you. You can check out the Zunes and see that, contrary to what your hip friends say, Zune isn’t that bad. Maybe take an Xbox for a spin before you buy that PS3 or Wii.

1-2% market share a year is all Apple wants. They are cherry picking the top of the crop, customers who can pay top dollar. Apple has 80-90% of the premium market captured by many accounts. This translates to a very healthy bottom line. Dell, HP and the rest are in a race to ever lower prices and profits.

It’s not about market share. It is about dollar share!

I don’t know if the results of this shortcut to retail stores will work as well as it does for Apple because the clientele are likely to be much different. It may backfire badly since the Windows PC platform is so diverse when it comes to hardware. This venture still seems like it would be a waste of money for such little gains in terms of Windows awareness. Still, Microsoft has to try. They don’t want to sit back and let Apple Retail Stores get all the media attention otherwise Microsoft might be perceived as losing market share even though they aren’t. Hearing about Apple this and Apple that in the media surely doesn’t sit too well with such a huge company without trying to fight back in some way.

Apple isn’t getting anywhere at all as far as desktop market share is concerned. Apple is running in place. They’re just making money from small amounts of market share. Microsoft retail stores are not going to change that.