Microsoft has named a VP of Retail Stores, uh, confirming rumors that they were even doing such a thing. David Porter comes from Dreamworks, and before that spent 25 years at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart!
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Porter's first job is to figure out where the stores will be and when they'll launch. In the past, Microsoft has fiddled with concept stores around its campus. Either way, Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet is right that it'll be great to have a store to demo Microsoft tech and Windows laptops side by side, since so many chains are dropping away. If they're smart, they'll do some variation of the Genius Bar, too. [Microsoft via All About Microsoft]