Microsoft Finds a New Way to Mail it in with a Phone (Premium)

I was excited today to see that Microsoft is finally selling the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ through its online store. But consider this an opportunity missed.

As you may recall, Microsoft revealed in late March that it, too, would be selling the then-new Galaxy S8/S8+ through its retail stores. There was some confusion at the time about what that meant exactly, with Microsoft fans hoping that those versions would be preinstalled with a custom Microsoft image. That wasn't the case, sadly.

"Customers who acquire Samsung S8 devices at Microsoft Stores will be provided a customized Microsoft image, after purchase, that provides Microsoft’s best-in-class productivity experience applications such as Office, OneDrive, Cortana, Outlook and more," a Microsoft representative told me at the time. "The image does not come preloaded on the device. Microsoft Store associates will set up each device in the store to ensure every customer is ready to work, play and connect on their device when they leave."

I actually found one of these handsets for sale at a pop-up mall kiosk version of the Microsoft Store in Seattle this past Spring. And I believe that those retail stores have continued selling them since. But thanks to a report in GSM Arena, I discovered today that Microsoft's online store is now selling the devices for the first time.

This is good news. And the prices are OK, too: An unlocked Samsung Galaxy S8 is $725, while an unlocked S8+ is $850. (And if you can wait about 10 days, both will be $150 off over Black Friday too.)

But all you have to do is look at the device description on the site to see what went wrong.

"Microsoft Launcher," the initial information point opens, giving me hope that we'd finally see a true "Microsoft edition" of these devices that are preloaded with the software giant's often-excellent Android wares.

Nope.

"Microsoft Launcher [is] available from the Google Play store," the listing continued. Which is true of Microsoft's other Android apps, too. All of which are available to users of other Android phones, too, of course.

And as was the case with Microsoft's initial Galaxy S8/S8+ offers, this is better than nothing. But only barely.

Now I'm wondering if a buyer online could someone get this Microsoft image. Perhaps from the web, similar to how it distributes Surface restore images? Just a thought.