Microsoft Stores to Get a Beta Release

Software giant announces the location of its first two retail stores

Microsoft will be moving in right next door to Apple as promised but the software giant will first work out the kinks before it takes the iPhone maker on head-to-head.

Last month Microsoft's chief operating officer Kevin Turner said it was planning to open retail stores "right next door to Apple" in the fall. On Tuesday the tech giant said its first two stores will open in two places where Apple does not have huge flagship stores.

Microsoft plans to open two stores in Scottsdale, Ariz. and  Mission Viejo, Calif., according to the San Francisco Business Times. There is an Apple mall store in Mission Viejo.

Turner previously said Microsoft will be in the storefront business for the long haul and it will compete head to head with Apple's popular stores.

The company has moved quickly since it announced its plans to open stores. Just last week Microsoft filed a patent for its store logo with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The filing describes the Windows-esque logo as:

The mark consists of four squares arranged in a rectangular grid. Each square is colored to form three square-shaped regions within the square, with the color of each region gradating from dark to light toward the center of the design. The upper left square design is red, the lower left square is blue, the upper right square is green and the lower right square is yellow. The squares are separated by blank space.

Microsoft's first two stores are scheduled to open in the fall.

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