Across the board, Microsoft is out to beat Apple at its own game

By now, it's conventional wisdom that Apple was the innovator of the graphic user interface that's dominant today. The trash can, the mouse, the file menu system—they all came from the first iteration of the Macintosh computer in 1984. (True, there's a good argument that Apple lifted a lot of those things from Xerox.) As a consumer in 2009, you're unlikely to care who did what first. As Windows 7 gets glowing reviews, you could argue that although Microsoft wasn't the first to market, it now has the best operating system. But Microsoft is opening itself up for another round of Apple comparisons with its new retail stores. This video, shot in the company's first such store, which opened in Scottsdale, Ariz., this past weekend, makes it clear that as Windows is to Mac OS, so is the Microsoft Store to the Apple Store. Not only does the design mimic Apple's, with its rows of open laptops, but there's even an "Answer Bar," which a rep points out in this clip is similar to Apple's Genius Bar. It doesn't take a genius to see where Microsoft's inspiration came from. But then again, only an idiot would bet against Microsoft.

—Posted by Todd Wasserman