Windows 8 will be a radical change for Microsoft in so many different ways. Along with a brand new interface, operating system, and the release of a line of hardware products (the Microsoft Surface), Microsoft is changing the way its store handles currency.
For years, Xbox 360 users have been forced to use Microsoft’s convoluted system of MS Points. Points could only be purchased in set amounts, and those set amounts rarely corresponded to the actual amount needed to purchase something. So, an expansion pack for your favorite game might cost 500 MS Points but MS Points could only be purchased in instalments of 400. Nice one Microsoft!
Thankfully, that system will be nothing more than a painful memory following the release of Windows 8. The Microsoft Store, which features apps, movies, music, and games, will accept real credit card payments.
Although Microsoft hasn’t said much about this issue thus far, this could be the end of the MS Points system. Unfortunately, Xbox Live is still accepting MS Points and has not yet changed to accepting credit card payments, although we hope that this will change sometime in the near future.