With the Metered Pay-As-You-Go Computing Experience scheme, software and specific computing hardware usage will be recorded and pre-paid or billing account mode will be utilized to charge fees. Microsoft's plan is to track the usage of specific hardware such as disk storage, processor cores, memory, etc. during specific time periods. So, basically it's like leasing a computer while you just pay for power usage. However, this scheme is faintly reminiscent of an earlier personal computing offering of Microsoft unveiled way back in 2006.
Microsoft in the application said, "a user may buy a multi-core processor with a significant amount of memory and with advanced video support for gaming applications that are only used on the weekend, while the user's day-in, day-out activities may involve little more than word processing or web-browsing." The user will be charged based on the use of computing hardware components during specific time periods.
Fee structure is also relative, with low fees for low resource utilizing tasks and high fees for resource-intensive tasks. Microsoft will install a security module, which will meter the software package and the specific hardware used. This security module on the PC would be similar to that in a carrier-locked cellphone. The user will be charged on an hourly basis for software bundles used over the specific hardware. For example, the user would be charged at $1 per hour for the Office bundle, while the gaming bundle might cost him/her $1.25 per hour.
As attractive as the scheme might be, concerns arise about ownership and system security.
The cost of ownership for life might be higher than one-time purchase of a high-end computing system. However, Microsoft's scheme offers a deferred payment model to the user, and the system's life can be extended beyond that of a one-time purchase. There is no mention about security support if the system is severely infected and needs immediate repair. In such cases, users might end up wasting money by using infected systems.
We don't know if this scheme will ever be launched in the mainstream market, but it certainly has some pros and cons that are worth noting.
Source: Techtree.com
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