Microsoft has added an option for users who wish to rent out Windows or Office to do so by paying an extra fee.
Until 1 January, the licensing terms for Windows and Office had prohibited such use, even though there are thousands of internet cafes, business centres and so on that rent out time on Windows-based computers.
A new 'rental rights' option now adds a waiver to the licensing terms, allowing such use in exchange for a one-time licence fee for each Windows PC or Office copy being rented out.
For more on this story, see Microsoft adds Office, Windows rental option on CNET News.
Talkback
... You could just junk all this licensing rubbish and use an OS that you already own and have the perfect right to use as you see fit. Quite frankly, if the Internet cafes are just renting out web access and occasional documents, then I see no good reasons NOT to use the likes of Ubuntu for this.
Is the fact that the machine is already fully licensed up for both the operating system and the office applications, I mean it doesn't leave the premises with the customer does it, so who are microsoft to dictate who can and cannot use the machine? after all ms does not own the PC format.