Microsoft Working On Shopping Engine To Tie into OS

[Brett_Tabke]

[pcworld.com...]

Microsoft is working on a new shopping Web site for software, hardware, and peripherals that it plans to advertise in the Windows XP Start Menu and the Internet Explorer Web browser. Called "Windows Marketplace," the Web site is slated to go live for U.S. Windows users by year's end, according to Microsoft, which plans to officially announce the online store on Monday at its Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto.

[Easy_Coder]

Wow... Going right to the desktop. That's gonna cause chaos seeing how they're stitching it right into the OS. I'm also not sure that I like new functionality coming down on my machine under the heading of Service Pack.

[skibum]

Sounds a little ahhem...anti-competitive. Why go to Best Buy, Circuit City, or anywhere else if MSFT integrates this with the start menu. At worst they take put companies like that out of business...years down the road, at worst, MSFT collects a toll from them for each sale.

[bcolflesh]

My first thought is how to get my stuff in there - wonder if it will be Froogle-esque and have a datafeed option which preceeds results from the MSN search?

[Easy_Coder]

If you've ever bought into CNET services you'll realize that only large business can get in this market. I used to work for a now gone .com that used cnet heavily and their fee's are large dollar annual contracts that are billed on a per sku basis.

[RichD]

If you install the XP SP2 release candidate it already adds a link to the marketplace on to the IE links toolbar. Unfortunately I've deleted mine - sorry!

[Leosghost]

every time I said that there was more like this and the other pre palladium stuff to come people sniggered and a talked about tinfoil hats...I just think it was case of being "ahead in thinking "...

New from Redmond "If you say pretty please.. where would you like us to consider maybe letting you even know about today?"

There is a link in the hackzonez that says it all in one jpeg.....but I daren't...maybe if Brett were to sticky me for the url and post it himself ;)?.

[blaze]

Doj will just punish MSFT for stuff like this.

[Teknorat]

This is really, REALLY bad news.

[cwnet]

I wonder what took them so long to do the obvious.

If you have something like 90% of all eyeballs focused on your medium (Windows/IE) it would be more than stupid NOT to take advantage and actually USE that advertisement space to push your own products or those of your friends.

All it needs, is to realize that Windows/IE actually IS a medium like TV/Radio etc....

Watch out for more...

[skibum]

Half the time when MSFT gets punished, part of the penalty is giving more MSFT software for free to some organization or coupons for discounts. Um...hello?

They should have to pay top dollar for software from other company and donate that. Nothing like punishing a monopoly by ordering them to expand their customer base at zero marginal cost.

[Receptional]

Of course they are going to the desktop. What did people think Microsoft would do?

I'm with Leo's Ghost. MSN aren't playing at this. They want to build a world beating search technology and they have the very best minds working at it.

There is a LOT more to come.

* Search that combines local files with internet search
* Personalised search results second to none
* Localised search results second to none if they want
* Search built into I.E. if they want

Longhorn has always threatened all these. If you are scraed now, you are going to be blown away when it all kicks off in earnest I think. Don't be misled by the puresearch of techpreview.

I'm going to love moderating in this forum :)

Dixon.

[sem4u]

Somehow I don't think MS will be able to get away with this...