Microsoft's retail stores will be 'right next door' to Apple's

Buzz for branded Microsoft stores has been building since February, when the company first announced its formal intentions to open its own brick-and-mortar locations.

More detail is emerging about what they'll be doing and where they'll be doing it. Yesterday, a company spokesperson told PC World that the stores will not only be similar in concept to Apple's lauded retail spaces, they'll be nearby — in some cases, literally next door.

"There will be scenarios where we have stores in proximity to Apple," a Microsoft spokesperson explains. The company's chief operating officer is a bit more blunt. "We're going to have some retail stores opened up right next door to Apple stores this fall," COO Kevin Turner stated during a Webcast conference Wednesday, according to a report published by Reuters.

Still no word on what the product assortment will look like, or other real specifics of the store experience.