by , 1:15 PM EDT, April 11th, 2008

Microsoft may be taking a page from Apple's playbook and opening its own retail store chain. Sources close to the company claim that Microsoft is looking into creating its own stores to highlight Microsoft-specific products much in the same way that the Apple Store highlights the Mac, iPod and iPhone, according to Fudzilla.

If Microsoft does open its own stores, the company will likely staff the locations with Microsoft employees to help present its products exactly the way it wants. Presumably, Microsoft's stores would offer products like Windows Vista, the Windows version of Office, the Xbox 360, the Zune media player, and possibly even Office for the Mac.

So far, there is no word on how serious Microsoft's retail plans are, or when the company could potentially open its stores.

[Thanks to TMO reader rattyuk for the heads up.]