Linked by David Adams on Tue 30th Dec 2008 19:04 UTC, submitted by jeanmarc
A recently-filed patent from Microsoft gives us a glimpse into a possible future strategy from the software giant, wherein people buy a computer, but only pay for that portion of the computer's performance and capabilities they actually use. There's a pretty detailed summary of the plan in a Cnet article that's worth a read. It actually sounds a lot like a "cloud computing" strategy for the consumer, and it all seems to make sense, until you start to really think about it.
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Member since:
2008-12-30
The IBM iSeries servers have commonly shipped with double or more physical processors installed but not enabled. Then the business can decide if they have some peak needs and call IBM for an activation code either for a few days a month or forever. This has the advantage of being an immediate/temporary upgrade based on current actual needs. I've never done this so this may not be a perfect explanation.
I hope Microsoft is denied the patent based on pre-existing work.
I also don't like the idea personally because of the potential "Surprise" bill because "little johnny" left his Torrent software running all night for a month straight.