Microsoft Launches Windows Shopping Portal
Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday quietly launched its new shopping portal for hardware and software, which the company claims will not be used to promote its own products.
Source: eWeekInstead, the Windows Marketplace will serve as a "virtual storefront" for hardware and software, said Dee Dee Walsh, director of the site for Microsoft. More than 93,000 products will be offered, she said, including products from Microsoft's competition. Microsoft will not receive revenues from sales of products sold through Windows Marketplace, however, Walsh said. Instead, the site will serve as a portal for retail partners. The site will provide reviews from the site users themselves, much like Amazon.com. Microsoft employees will moderate forums and explain how to connect everything together, she said. Eventually, the site will be more tightly integrated with the rest of Microsoft's other online properties, including MSN, whose engineers designed the site. "For customers, this can be a little overwhelming," Walsh said of the experience of buying and selling hardware and software. "We want to make it easy to find everything."
0