Mega-retailer Best Buy has invested some serious time into training employees at their brick and mortar stores about Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 8. Speaking to Forbes, Best Buy's merchant vice president for computing, Jason Bonfig, said that they have dedicated over 50,000 hours to making sure certain blue-shirts, Geek Squad consultants and "Microsoft Advisors" all have a working knowledge of Windows 8, so they can help customers feel comfortable with what is surely a change in what they are used to seeing on a Windows computer.
“When customers go through an OS transition, they want to touch and feel the product. They want to be able to talk to someone who is knowledgeable, who can ask them questions, and match them with the products that best meets their needs.”
Unfortunately for Best Buy, after heading to the store to see the product in person, they often go home empty-handed, only to buy it online at a cheaper price. In addition to what they hope will be a knowledgeable staff, Best Buy hopes to remedy that by offering things that online sellers, like Amazon, cannot.
The chain will carry exclusive Windows 8-based PCs. They will also offer buyers a 15-minute Geek Squad session which will cover the initial setup of the computer, email configuration, security software installation and general information rundown.
For those of us who have been to Best Buy and seen a "Let Geek Squad install it for you!" sticker plastered on the front of an Xbox game, this latest effort may not instill enough confidence to make us buy in-store, but at least they're trying. Hopefully, it will drive enough sales so the rest of us can go check out a device in person before we buy it online.

Is the RTX 3080 or the RX 6800 a better GPU for your next PC build?
Can't decide whether you should go with the NVIDIA RTX 3080 or the AMD RX 6800 for your next PC? We compare them to help you make the right choice.

Surface Laptop 4 specs leak online ahead of its announcement
Leaks recently emerged with specs for the Surface Laptop 4. The leaks include the processors that it will run, the sizes it will come in, and other aspects of the device.

Review: Acer's Predator X38 is the ultimate monitor for work and gaming
Acer's Predator X38 is a massive ultrawide monitor fast enough for high-end gaming and accurate enough for color-sensitive work. It's the ultimate package, but it doesn't come cheap.

These are all the best AMD Ryzen-powered laptops
Looking for a new laptop but you'd prefer to have something powered by AMD Ryzen rather than Intel? The choice isn't as wide, but fortunately, there are some excellent notebooks out there to choose from.