In early 2004, Vertigo kicked off a project with a group of folks from Windows Client Marketing to significantly improve what was then called the Windows Catalog. They hoped to make it significantly easier for Windows users to find, buy, and download thousands of software products that work with Windows. Today, I’m proud to announce the result of that effort with the launch of the new Windows Marketplace, designed and built right here at Vertigo.

The new Windows Marketplace features the Digital Locker, a major new channel for electronic software distribution on the web. Customers can:

  • try and buy thousands of products online,
  • purchase software from multiple retailers in a single transaction,
  • and store all their licenses in one convenient place.
You can get support, receipts, and returns, and reviews for your software as well. The Digital Locker Assistant, shipping in Windows Vista and also available for Windows XP, helps you download your software securely, install it, and make backup CDs on your PC.

We’re especially excited about the titles available for Digital Locker. Direct2Drive is selling hundreds of great games (including World of Warcraft), twelve thousand mobile titles are available from Handango, and thousands more from Digital River, eSellerate, and Kagi. These retailers make it extremely easy for small ISVs to get a product into Windows Marketplace and available via Digital Locker.

Beyond the Digital Locker, the Windows Marketplace itself is brand new today as well, featuring a Windows Vista-inspired UI, improved search, and lots of great editorial content. It’s also the new home for the Internet Explorer addons website. We’re especially proud of the site from the technical side: the site’s entirely CSS-based UI can be completely redesigned by the editors without help from developers, and its content management system helps them keep the information current and fresh.

This project has been a major effort for Vertigo over the past two years—we’re excited to see it ship and hope you take a moment to check it out. Also, look for our feature on the home page this week at Microsoft.com and the Marketplace team’s interview on Channel 9, currently the lead video.