Roseville is now home to one of the only Microsoft specialty stores in the state.
The open-air, kiosk-style shop opened in the middle of a Roseville Galleria walkway for the first time Friday, displaying Microsoft phones, the Surface Tablet, touchscreen laptops running Windows 8 and the Xbox gaming console.
"We're able to demonstrate products and give a firsthand experience for what that product should look like," Store Manager Brent Klopp said.
According to Microsoft's website, the tech giant has 11 retail stores in California, including three of the smaller specialty stores. The next closest to Roseville is in the Bay Area.
On Friday, customers passing by the store stopped to examine cellphones, picked up and peered at Surface Tablets, all while employees danced to a motion-sensing Xbox game.
A few days earlier, Microsoft announced its next gaming console, the Xbox One. Klopp said "people are very excited" for that system, which will be available at the store later this year.
Many PC users are likely still adjusting to Windows 8, an operating system released last fall to mixed reviews. Klopp said the store is designed to allow for hands-on experience with the new Windows, and employees are "helping demystify some of that [unfamiliarity]."
The Microsoft specialty store is located in the Roseville Galleria, near Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn–and not too far from the Apple store.
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