After the national Church IT Roundtable was over, I decided to hit up the Microsoft store to see what the big deal was. Apparently Microsoft has copied Apple, but added some more Microsoft touches, such as a sample living room with big screen TV capable of 3d movies and video games (not pictured), more than 4 products, and more than 2 colors. I love the Apple store, don't get me wrong, but Microsoft appears to have more money and is showing it off with some pretty elegant ways of implementing a video wall that wrapped around the whole store, but didn't change rapidly.
Each table held one genre of PCs, some with netbooks, some with touch screens, and other with power-house gaming computers. They even had a table full of netbook tablet PCs for around $550. (or you could throw in a few hundred more for a full blown tablet PC)
The staff were very polite and helpful, and when I started a geeky conversation it was obvious they knew their stuff. They told me I could bring my computer in for a free consultation, and they'd fix anything they could in 15 minutes. Anything longer and they'd give me a quote for buying support. (similar to Apple if you don't have a warranty)
Overall the impression was great, and because they had so many companies represented it was actually fun to walk around and play with stuff. (Especially the 3D TV, considering they also sold a 3D camera for making your own home movies that took advantage of the technology.) If you get the chance to visit one of these, definitely make the effort.
