WASHINGTON: Microsoft, which has made billions of dollars selling packaged software, has opened its first online store in the United States offering its ubiquitous programmes for downloading.

In a possible death knell for the practice of selling software on computer discs which buyers install on their machines, the Redmond, Washington-based software giant has opened a Microsoft Store on the Internet.

The online store, which also offers hardware such as Xbox 360 consoles and Zune MP3 music players, launched on Thursday with no more fanfare than an announcement in a blog posting by a senior programme manager, Trevin Chow.

Noting that Microsoft already operates online stores in Britain, Germany and South Korea, Chow said: "With this launch, our customers in the US are able to buy first-party software and hardware directly from Microsoft offered in a comprehensive online catalog.

"In addition to shipping fully packaged products to your doorstep, we offer the additional advantage by making available many Microsoft products to buy and download," Chow said.

"You pay for an (EDS, Electronic Software Distribution) product just like you would for one that would be physically shipped to you," he added.

"The big difference is that after your payment is confirmed, you can immediately download the product to your computer and install it right away."