Microsoft, taking a page from Apple’s playbook, has decided to open its own chain of retail stores.

CNET is reporting that Microsoft is opening the first two stores in Arizona and California starting this fall. Those are just the first couple of stores at which you’ll be able to buy hardware, like the HP laptop shown at left, software and assorted gadgets and devices.

It’s a bold and risky move for Microsoft. Yes, Apple does very well with its retail stores; but Apple also has a cachet, a coolness, that Microsoft lacks. That doesn’t mean that Microsoft doesn’t make good stuff, because it does. It’s just that it has a different perception and reputation than Apple. Folks (like me, for instance) will see the “me-too” attempt here to duplicate Apple’s success in yet another market, like the Zune tries to be iPod-like, without success.

On the other hand, the Apple stores have helped fans connect more intimately with the company, a strategy Microsoft would also like to emulate. But it’s a hard economy in which to do something as fraught with uncertainty as opening a chain of retail stores and all the overhead of floor space, product, staff, etc. If any company in the computer industry has the bankroll to to try it, it’s Microsoft.

It will also have a new operating system to sell, with the expected launch of Windows 7 expected to coincide with the retail store openings. Will the excitement over Windows 7 and the new retail experience be enough to make the stores a success? Time will tell.